Baked Pumpkin "Doughnuts"

Really, they are mini-muffins, as I don't own doughnut tins. Which works out for me, I'm terrible at getting things into tins neatly, and this is simpler. A friend gave me a "holiday" themed mini-muffin pan, so when I saw this recipe on King Arthur Flour and also on their blog!), I decided it had to be done that way. Since the tin only makes a dozen though, and I am not crazy enough to make one batch, clean, re-grease and bake the second, I've been making half in funny holiday shapes and half as mini-muffins.  The nice thing about the mini muffins is probably the same thing that is nice about the doughnuts, they have a nice sugar-cinnamon crunch to cake ratio, you get a bit of both in every bite. So, feel free to make regular muffins, but the smaller ones might be ideal for this.
I had my doubts about the holiday pan, I fully expected the first batch to stick and me to spend the next two days slowly removing the dough that was caked in the crevices. But so far, it's been excellent, with no sticky edges making life more annoying than it needs to be. The only thing that does take a little more time is greasing the pan. You do have to get into all those edges.
(It's also cast aluminum, which I did not realize was a thing before looking into it because of this pan. This is probably the nicest muffin tin I have! Followed very closely, of course, by my regular mini muffin tin. (We will not talk about my cupcake tin, which no longer gets used without decorative wrappers on the cakes...speaking of things that are stubborn to clean.)

 Mini Muffin and Holiday Mini Muffin tins

Greased muffin tin.
So, now preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).

Dump your oil, pumpkin, spices, baking powder and eggs in a bowl. Oh, and the sugar. Stir til combined.



Add the flour, stir til it is all mixed in.

Spoon into mini-muffin tins, or your shape of choice. I found a heaped tablespoon per mini muffin is about right.

Bake for about 10-15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when stuck in the middle of a muffin.  I found the holiday shapes take a few minutes longer, so I fill those first and put them in right away, by the time the second tin is filled and goes in, the first has had all the extra time it needs, so they come out of the oven at the same time. Also, the amount of batter is pretty consistent, so I actually don't bother to grease those last 7 mini muffin spots.

Once the muffins come out of the oven, let them cool for 5 minutes. Then, pour some cinnamon and sugar (or, if you are me, the entire jar you keep around for, well, everythnng . if you are not me, mix a half a cup of regular sugar and two teaspoons cinnamon. Any leftovers can go in a jar, and suddely you have your very own!), into a bowl, and one by one, peel the muffins out of the tin, and roll them into the sugar. If you do this right away, the moisture still coming off the muffins will help stick some of the sugar to them. Which I like. If you want a little less sugar, wait 5 minutes after taking them out of the tin, then roll them in sugar. 
This is where the holiday pan is also very fun - since the shapes are baked upside down, the sugar sticks nicely to the prettier side when you take them out. The mini muffins all wind up with a coating on top, yes, but also a heavier one on the bottom and sides. 


Now, try to make them last overnight.

Pumpkin Cake Mini- Muffins

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C)
Lightly grease two mini muffin tins.
Beat together until smooth:
1/2 cup (99g) vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cup (300g) sugar
1 1/2 cups  (340g) pumpkin puree
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Add, stirring just until smooth
1 3/4 cups plus 2 tbsp (227g) all-purpose flour

Fill the wells of the tins about 3/4 full, bate until a tester comes out clean, about 10-15 minutes.
Remove from oven, let cool 5 minutes, then remove one by one from tin and roll in cinnamon and sugar.
Let cool completely. if you can, or eat while hot. They keep, apparently, for several days.. Let me know if they last long enough to find out.

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