Pumpkin Churro Doughnuts with Warm Chocolate Sauce

Recipe by The View From the Great Island

These churro/doughnuts are crunchy on the outside and lightly spiced and pumpkin-y on the inside. And that’s not even counting the to-die-for hot chocolate dunking sauce with a hint of cinnamon.

Ingredients

• for the doughnuts
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1½ cups sugar
• 1½ cups canned pumpkin (not pie filling)
• ¼ tsp each: cloves, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, allspice and cinnamon
• 1½ tsp salt
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• ½ cup whole wheat flour
• ½ cup oat flour
• for the coating
• 1 cup raw sugar
• for the chocolate sauce
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 4 oz bittersweet chocolate chips (about 3/4 cup)
• ¼ tsp cinnamon

Method

1. Set the oven to 350F
2. In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, oil, spices, sugar, pumpkin, salt and baking powder.
3. Fold in the flours, and mix until just combined. Don't overmix.
4. Lightly spray your doughnut pan with cooking spray, even though it is non-stick. Fill the molds 3.4 full with the batter. An easy way to do this is to put the batter in a large baggie and cut off the tip from one corner. Then pipe the batter into the molds. If you only have one pan, just cook the doughnuts in two batches, but remember to clean out the wells thoroughly between batches, and re-spray them.
5. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Don't over bake.
6. Let the doughnuts cool only briefly and then ease them out of the pan and onto a rack.
7. While the doughnuts are still warm, coat them with the sugar. I did this by putting the sugar in a paper bag and then, one at a time, putting in the doughnuts in and gently tossing them in the sugar. Be careful and do this one at a time, you don't want to break the tender doughnuts. It is important to do this while the doughnuts are still warm, so the sugar will stick.
8. To make the sauce, heat the cream and cinnamon to a simmer, then pour over the chocolate chips. Let them sit for 10 minutes, and then stir until the sauce is smooth and glossy. Serve immediately with the doughnuts.

View the recipe instructions at The View From the Great Island