Love me a good doughnut. In Portland we have several well-known bakeries that are all about the doughnuts. My kids love going to VooDoo Doughnuts with all their weird flavors. Pips Originals is another one, but can you believe I’ve never been there? They give away a dozen doughnuts if you come in on your birthday, so that’s in the works for next June!
I posted a pumpkin doughnut recipe on here almost two months ago, but they were baked. Totally not a bad thing, but sometimes you just get a hankerin’ for a real doughnut – and these are fried, baby! This recipe is from the authors of Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day and they are genius. Genius, I tell you. Their new cookbook is called Holiday and Celebration Bread in Five Minutes a Day and they have the most amazing pumpkin doughnuts in there. The dough is so simple to make. Mix it up at night and refrigerate it. In the morning, heat up some oil, and you’ve got fresh doughnuts coaxing those teenagers out of bed.
These would be perfect to serve if you have guests coming in for Thanksgiving. Being able to make the dough ahead of time and simply cooking them the morning you serve them is totally doable.
I hope you get a chance to make these. Post a pic to Instagram and tag me @fig_and_fork so I can see your lovely creations!
pumpkin brioche doughnuts
Ingredients
- 7 1/2 cups | 37.5 ounces all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 –12 ounce can pumpkin puree
- cinnamon sugar for rolling the doughnuts
- oil for frying
Instructions
- Mix together all dry ingredients in a 5-quart food storage container. Combine the liquid ingredients, then add to container. Mix with a wooden spoon until no trace of flour remains. Dough will be loose.
- Cover the dough with a non-airtight lid and let sit at room temperature for two hours. Then refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight works well, too. Can be stored in the fridge up to 5 days.
- When you are ready to bake, remove dough from refrigerator and lightly flour a work surface. Pull out approximately one-pound piece of dough and roll to 1/2″ thick. Add flour as needed to prevent rolling pin from sticking. Using a doughnut cutter, cut out as many doughnuts as you can from the dough and allow to sit for 20 minutes or so while oil is heating.
- In a large pan, heat 3 to 4 inches of vegetable or canola oil to 360-375 degrees. Using a skimmer ladle, place doughnuts into hot oil and allow to cook 2-3 minutes, flipping once and cooking an additional 2 or so minutes, until golden brown on both sides. Strain on paper towels and dip doughnuts into cinnamon sugar mixture (1 cup sugar+2 tablespoons cinnamon whisked together).
- Enjoy the same day!
How many donuts does this make? Seems like a massive recipe with over 7 cups of flour!
Hi Julia, This brioche recipe does make a massive amount of dough! It’s meant to be used for several recipes. I make a lot at once so I can make doughnuts, cinnamon rolls, or star bread. For a one-pound chunk of dough, it will probably yield 6-8 doughnuts, depending on how big your cutter is.