Fluffy pumpkin donuts rolled in spiced sugar and filled with a creamy pumpkin custard. This is fall in the form of a donut.
Why make these pumpkin donuts?
Another delicious recipe to add to your fall baking collection!
With fall in full swing there are so many delicious warming baked goods to be made, and these filled pumpkin donuts are a must make! Soft and fluffy pumkin dough that is fried to perfection, rolled in a cinnamon-sugar mixture and filled with a silky pumpkin puree.
This is fried pumpkin perfection!
Ingredients
Donut Dough
- Bread flour: Flour makes up the structure of your donuts. Bread flour is great for donuts as it has a higher protein content than regular flour. This allows more gluten strands to form, resulting in a donut that is fluffier with more structure
- Instant yeast: Yeast is the powerhouse behind all the rising in these donuts. The yeast produces gas which allows the bread dough to puff up. If you are using active yeast make sure you activate it in your milk before using it.
- White sugar: Aka granulated sugar adds sweetness to your dough, as well as giving the yeast fuel to produce more gas.
- Milk: Milk adds moisture to the dough. Milk adds a richer flavour, but feel free to replace this with water if you wish.
- Pumpkin puree: You can't skip the pumpkin puree in these donuts. The pumpkin adds that bright yellow colour to the dough, along with sweetness and extra moisture to the final product.
- Pinch of salt: Salt helps to balance out the flavours of the dough. It also strengthens the structure of the dough as it interacts with the flour.
- Unsalted butter: Butter helps give the dough more richness and softness. Make sure it's unsalted!
- White sugar: The second addition of sugar is for rolling the fried donuts in. You can skip this if you prefer them to be less sweet, oreven make a glaze, but trust me it's a game changer
- Spices: I use a mix of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg as my pumpkin pie spice mix, but feel free to add other spices like cloves and allspice
Pumpkin Custard
- Egg yolks: Egg yolks give the custard richness and help it thicken up
- White sugar: Helps to give the custard sweetness, you can increase or decrease this according to your taste
- Cornstarch: Cornstarch also helps to thicken the custard up. I prefer cornstarch over flour as it doesn't clump up as much
- Pumpkin puree: Pumpkin puree is necessary for that pumpkin flavour! Make sure you use a smooth pumpkin puree for the silkiest custard
- Vanilla extract: Vanilla pairs perfectly with the pumpkin puree for an extra level of flavour.
- Whole milk: Milk makes up the body of the custard. Make sure you use whole milk for the creamiest custard
- Unsalted butter: Butter adds richness to the custard!
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do these last?
Donuts are always best the day they are made, I recommend filling them just before you are ready to serve.
Of course if you have any left over they will last up to 2 days when stored in an airtight container in the fridge. You have to store them in the fridge as the custard is made of milk and egg yolks.
If you are eating them out of the fridge I would recommend letting them come to room temperature before eating. This gives the dough time to soften up as it'll get hard in the fridge.
You can even pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds or so until lightly warmed up. Be careful not to heat it up too much as it'll melt the custard.
Can I substitute the pumpkin?
While these are pumpkin donuts there are a lot of different substitutes if you want to switch up the flavor. Think sweet potato, ube, or taro. Any kind of starchy vegetable is a great substitute.
Why are my donuts dense?
There are a couple of reasons why your donuts could be dense:
- The yeast wasn't active, or the yeast was old
- The milk added was too hot, killing the yeast
- The donuts weren't proofed enough (didn't have enough time to rise)
Why are my donuts oily?
There are a couple of possible reasons as to why your donuts were oily:
- The oil temperature was too low
- The donuts were over proofed (allowed to rise for too long)
- They weren't drained on a cooling rack or paper towel after frying
Let's Get Cooking
If you liked this recipe make sure to leave me a comment and rating down below, I would love to know how you went. Also don't forget to tag me on Instagram @catherine.desserts so I can see and share your desserts.
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Print📖 Recipe
Custard-Filled Pumpkin Donuts
Fluffy pumpkin donut dough rolled in spiced sugar and filled with a creamy pumpkin custard. This is fall in the form of a donut.
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 6 Donuts 1x
- Category: Donut
- Method: Intermediate
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Donut Dough
- 200g Plain flour (1 ⅔ cup flour)
- 4g Instant yeast (1 tsp)
- 25g White sugar (2 tbsp)
- 90g Milk, room temperature (¼ cup)
- 120g Pumpkin puree (½ cup)
- Pinch of salt
- 25g Unsalted butter, softened (5 tsp)
- 200g Granulated sugar (II), for rolling (1 cup)
- ½ tsp Ground cinnamon
- Pinch of ground ginger
- Pinch of nutmeg
Pumpkin Custard
- 2 Egg yolks
- 25g Granulated sugar (2 tbsp)
- 1 ½ tbsp Cornstarch
- 120g Pumpkin puree (½ cup)
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 120ml Whole milk (½ cup)
- 15g Unsalted butter ( 1 tbsp)
Instructions
Donuts
- Combine flour, yeast, sugar, pumpkin puree, milk, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook
- Combine the ingredients on low speed, before increasing the speed to medium-high and kneading for 5 minutes, or until smooth
- Add the butter and continue to beat for 10 minutes
- When the dough is smooth and elastic it's ready
- Transfer the dough to your counter-top, dust lightly with flour, and shape into a ball
- Oil a large bowl, place the dough in it and cover with cling wrap
- Place the covered bowl in a warm area for 1-2 hours, or until the dough has doubled in size
- Dust your work surface with flour and remove the dough from the bowl
- Release built-up air by flattening the ball and divide it into 6 even portions
- Roll each portion into a ball and place it on an oven tray lined with baking paper
- Cover with cling wrap and let it proof for 30 minutes, or until almost doubled in size
- Heat a heavy-bottomed pot of oil to 170C/340F
- Cut the baking paper that the donuts are sitting on so that each donut is on it's own square of baking paper
- Carefully pick the donuts up by the corners of the baking paper and place them in the pot of oil, 3 at a time
- Fry for 2 mins on each side, or until golden brown, then drain on a wire rack or paper towel
- Repeat with the remaining donuts
- Combine the sugar (II) with cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg and roll the drained donuts in the sugar
- Remove from the sugar and cool completely
Custard
- While the dough is proofing make the custard
- Combine the egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch in a large heatproof bowl and whisk to combine
- Combine the milk and vanilla extract in a small saucepan over medium heat and heat until steaming
- Remove from the heat and pour into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly until smooth
- Return the mixture to the saucepan and heat over medium-low, whisking constantly until thickened
- The mixture should be thick enough to draw lines in it
- Remove the pan from the heat and add the butter, stir until melted
- Transfer the custard to a bowl and cover it with cling wrap, pressing the cling wrap onto the surface of the custard to prevent it from forming a skin
- Place in the fridge to cool completely
- When ready to assemble mix in the pumpkin puree
- Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a small round piping tip
Assembly
- Using a chopstick, or a thin and long utensil poke a hole on the side of each donut, taking care not to pierce the whole way
- Give the utensil a little wiggle to create a pocket for the cream to fill
- Place the tip of the piping bag into the donut and fill it, leaving a small dollop of cream on top
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