Menu Plan Monday and Homemade Pumpkin Donuts..

Once a year, I indulge my family (and myself!.. who am I kidding) with homemade donuts.  It's a fall tradition around here.  Since everything these days has to do with pumpkin, I used my home-grown pumpkin for this.  I am posting a recipe for what I think I did.  

Keeping in mind that you CAN make donuts as easily as getting a package of frozen bread dough or even those refrigerated biscuits, or you can come up with your own version of dough like I have.  I like YEAST donuts, not cake donuts.  Of course, I'm not a real fan of cake in general.  

(Notice the pumpkin shaped donuts--thanks to a pumpkin cookie cutter!)

So, this whole thing started with me trying to figure out what to do with my already cooked pumpkin..  I was going to make another batch of pumpkin butter, but the kids kept drinking my apple cider! By the time they had consumed 4 gallons of cider, I gave up and mixed the pumpkin with some evaporated milk.  But then, do I really want to make a pie? 
...

when I can fry? 

Oh, the yummy deliciousness of a homemade donut! 

Recipe:

Wet ingredients:

1 15 oz. can of pumpkin (or your own cooked pumpkin)

1 15 oz can of evaporated milk (or you can probably use regular milk)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 t. each of: nutmeg, ginger, allspice 

1-2 t. of: cinnamon

Mix these up in a separate bowl

In the big mixer: Add 2 cups warm water with 3 T. dry yeast/ and 1/3 cup of honey 

Make sure the yeast "proofs"

Add the pumpkin mixture

Add: whole grain flour apx. 4 cups ( I used 2 cups wheat and 2 cups spelt)

Add 1 T. salt and  1/2 cup oil

Mix for 6 minutes on low speed. (Or if you are mixing by hand, mix well)

Gradually add apx. 6 cups of white flour to the mix until you get a bread-dough consistency.  

Roll out your dough and shape little donut blobs.  

While they are rising, heat the oil.  This usually takes 1/2 hour.

Fry the donuts-- a few minutes on each side.  You may have to experiment with how long to fry  each one. 

We use a glaze or a cinnamon and sugar mix to flavor the donuts. 

Glaze: Put 2 cups of powdered sugar in a bowl, add 1/4 salt, 1/2 t. vanilla 

Add the half and half (or milk) gradually until a glaze forms.  Start with just 2 T. of half and half because a little goes a long way.  

Or: cinnamon and sugar mix:  Put apx. 1 1/2 cups of sugar in a bag,  add 2 T or more of cinnamon.  Throw the hot donut in the mix and shake!   

Menu Plan for week:

Monday: homemade bread/ clean out the fridge soup

Tuesday: Grandma Marilyn's wild rice and chicken salad

Wednesday: signature noodle dish

Thursday: pork loin, potatoes, salad, apple sauce

Friday: cheese burgers!

For more good menus, look at the organizing junkie's MPM.