Pretty cool that anyone can bake doughnuts at home. Now I hear you. Some folks believe that doughnuts can only be called “doughnuts” if they are deep fried. After eating these baked beauties, I’m here to say that’s just not so.

Pumpkin spice. Apple Cider. Chocolate.

That’s plenty of fall flavor right there to perk up anyone’s morning. So I got up early on Sunday, ambitiously setting out to make not one doughnut recipe….but three!

Crazy. I know. But that’s what I really wanted to do.

I think when I made doughnuts the previous time, I wanted more flavors and more variety. Come to find out, doughnut recipes are all pretty similar. At least these were.

Flour. Baking soda. Baking powder. Salt. Butter or Oil. Sugar. Egg. Milk. Vanilla. Flavor specific ingredients such as pumpkin spice, cinnamon, cocoa, apple cider, etc.

The proportions vary slightly, but they are all pretty much the same. So why not pull out the ingredients and knock out a few different recipes for a bounty of fall breakfast flavors?

I’m so glad I did. And so was my family.

Prior to this fall, I had never made doughnuts before. Thankfully, there are so many great recipes out there. I got all three of these from Sally’s Baking Addiction. They are all full of flavor with great texture.

Pumpkin Doughnuts

These were just about everyone’s favorite. That included my wife, Alecia, who doesn’t really like pumpkin. They were just so soft and full of flavor. Coupled with vanilla icing, for a little punch of sweetness, and this made for a really good doughnut.

Last time, I made them with the recommended brown sugar frosting, and that was too thick and sweet. That’s probably because I let it cool too much, and it was a bit overwhelming. I found it was challenging to keep the temperature high enough. Plus, with that recipe, it was recommended to dunk the face of the doughnut into the frosting. But these doughnuts are too soft for that and started coming apart or just getting stuck. And that wouldn’t make anyone happy. So I was determined to try something new.

This time, the vanilla was nice and thin and easy to control just how big of a dose each serving got. The end result was a much better balance and I think everyone appreciated that. No dunking required. Perhaps next time I’ll experiment with a cream cheese drizzle.

Apple Cider Doughnuts

I made these for the first time and was very pleased with the results. They call for a reduced apple cider and apple pie spice for flavor. I bought some Simply Apple cider, which is 100% apple. Then cooked it down on the stovetop to concentrate the flavor more. I used this apple pie spice recipe to save a few dollars and am pleased with the results.

The texture of these doughnuts was similar to the pumpkin, but a little more firm, which was totally fine. They had just the right amount of apple flavor to me. My wife said they needed a little more for her tastes. And that’s to be expected and it totally fine. Everyone is different. These were my daughter’s favorite, but just a slim margin over the pumpkin. See what I mean.

Apple cider was a perfect pairing with pumpkin spice for fall flavors. But there was just one more I was dying to try….chocolate.

Chocolate

I was so excited to try these, but unfortunately, I kinda messed them up. No. I really did. Not kinda.

If you look at the pictures below, you may notice something’s not quite right. When I made these, I first noticed there was less batter and it was quite a bit thicker than the others. I loaded it into the doughnut pan, and it was very pasty.

I tasted the batter just before putting them in the oven. It was a bit bitter, heavy on the cocoa.

I thought, that’s weird. But then my ADHD brain said, “It’ll be alright.” Those are notoriously famous last words.

I didn’t think any of it until it was too late.

Oh no!

Sugar. I forgot sugar.

When I read the recipe, sugar was listed right after flour. In an attempt to keep sugar with the wet ingredients (not what Sally recommended), I deferred the sugar until later. But you know now, later never came (Wait. How does that even work? Never mind. Just go with it. : )

After taking so many amazing photos, I was more than ready to take a bite of chocolate doughnut.

It did not go well.

This is what happens when I say “it’ll be alright.”

Remember that bitter, heavy cocoa flavor I tasted in the batter? Surprise, surprise — no, no it shouldn’t be a surprise at all! That same flavor was in the doughnut. Doh!

Sally, I’m sorry I messed up your doughnut recipe. I’ll give it another try and hopefully be able to indulge in yet another of your delicious breakfast treats.

Vanilla Icing

Due to popular demand, I sought out a thinner, more neutral tasting icing. Enter a hybrid Sally edition.

This vanilla icing met all the criteria. Starting with some confectioner’s sugar, I opted for milk instead of heavy cream, to keep it thin. I also added a little lemon juice to cut the sweetness of the sugar. And of course, some vanilla extract.

The results were pretty nice.

Fall Doughnut Harvest Gallery

These doughnuts really were a lot of fun to bake and enjoy with my family. Three recipes at one time actually wasn’t that difficult because the ingredients were so similar. To stay organized I wrote everything down on a note pad, side by side. Then I highlighted the dry ingredients to keep them separate.

I did half batches of pumpkin and cider. Why? Because I like doughnuts. But it’s really not a good idea to have 30-40 of them in my kitchen.

Also, it took me about two hours to make all of three batches, which I didn’t think was too bad. Consider this: I had only one 6-count pan and one cooling rack; I had to wash bowls, spoons, and spatulas a few times each; and I had not made two of these recipes before.

With exception of the sugar oversight in the chocolate doughnut, I declare this harvest a success!

If you missed the recipe links above, here they are one more time:

Pumpkin Spice / Apple Cider / Chocolate with Glaze / Vanilla Icing

Feast your eyes on the delicious delicacies below. Then when you have some time, I hope you’ll try making some doughnuts of your own.