Whole Wheat Pumpkin Donuts

I've always been intrigued by the idea of making donuts, but it always sounded super messy and I just didn't want to deal with all the grease. But last fall I bought several pumpkins and butternut squash to cook, puree, and freeze and now I am finding myself looking for recipes to use it all in. Plus I have this refined coconut oil that I accidentally bought and I really don't like very well, so I needed something to use it all in. Not sure why, but for some reason pumpkin donuts sounded amazing, so Ben and I gave some a try. The results were addictingly delicious.

I started with a recipe I found here and then adapted it a bit to use what I had on hand and to cut down the sweetener. I totally forgot to take pictures and they were so tasty that I took them over to my parents house so I wouldn't eat them all.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Donuts

3 1/2 - 4 cups white whole wheat flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup sucanat or brown sugar
3 Tablespoons melted butter
2 eggs beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup +1 Tablespoon butter milk (I subbed 1/2 cup unsweet almond milk + 1 Tablespoon lemon juice)
1 cup pureed pumpkin

1 1/2 quarts oil for frying - I used expeller pressed refined coconut oil, but I'm sure canola or some other oil without a lot of flavor would work well.

Mix the first 8 ingredients together. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla and pumpkin. Fold milk mixture and melted butter into the dry mixture using a wooden spoon and mix just until well combined. Dough should be soft but not overly sticky. Add more flour as necessary. Sprinkle flour onto counter top and roll dough to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut out using a floured cookie cutter or upside down cup. Use a smaller cookie cutter to cut a hole in the center of the donut and set it aside for donut holes. (our donut holes were mini hearts because that was the only small cookie cutter I had.) Heat oil over medium heat in a 4-5 quart soup pot. When oil is hot, drop a few donuts at a time into the pot and cook 2 minutes before flipping with a slotted spoon. Continue cooking until both sides are golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and sprinkle with powdered sugar or glaze with a powdered sugar and milk combination. These are best when still warm, but will stay crisp and delicious even after cooling.