Bryanna Clark Grogan’s Vegan Feast Kitchen/ 23rd Century Table

HAPPY VEGAN HALLOWEEN!


 Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts

Just a quick post to give you a couple of our favorite Halloween doughnut recipes.  I don't know why, but I've always made doughnuts on Halloween!  We live so far in the "boonies" that we don't get trick-or-treaters, but my grandchildren and any close neighbor children always come over for some warm doughnuts!

Printable Recipe

BRYANNA’S BAKED PUMPKIN DOUGHNUTS
Makes 12
A great Halloween treat!  You will need 2 black, 6-count nonstick doughnut pans (or, if you only have one, make 2 batches) like this:



Liquid Ingredients:
1 1/4 c. soy, hemp or nut milk with 1 tsp. vinegar or lemon juice added
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. thick cooked, mashed and drained pumpkin (or squash), or canned pumpkin puree
(TIP: hang home-cooked mashed pumpkin or squash over the sink in a jelly-bag or in several layers of cheesecloth until it is as thick as canned pumpkin puree)
3 T. oil
Dry Ingredients:
1 c. wholewheat pastry flour (do not use ordinary whole wheat flour, or your doughnuts will be tough!)
3/4 c. unbleached white flour
1/4 c. soy or chickpea flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly-ground nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray the two 6-count nonstick doughnut pans with oil from a pump sprayer and sprinkle each one with a little organic unbleached sugar (this makes the bottoms crispy). Beat the liquid ingredients together in a medium bowl. Whisk the dry ingredients together in another bowl, then add to the liquid ingredients and stir briefly, just to mix. Divide the batter evenly between 10 doughnut molds and smooth it out evenly. Bake 10 minutes. Remove the doughnuts to a rack to cool.

If you like, roll the doughnuts in unbleached sugar which has been ground to a powder in a dry blender (add about 1 tsp. cornstarch to every 1/2 c. of sugar); or coat with  a powdered sugar glaze or White Glaze (below ). The glazed doughnuts can also be dipped in coconut or chopped nuts.

BRYANNA’S WHITE GLAZE
Makes 1/2 c.

This can be used on sweet yeasted breads, tea breads, cupcakes, doughnuts, etc..

1/2 c. good-tasting powdered soy milk (such as a Better than Milk-- do not use bulk soymilk powder!), or powdered rice milk.
1/4 c. Grade A light maple syrup
1/4 tsp. vanilla or other flavor extract

Mix the ingredients together thoroughly in a bowl. For a thin glaze, spread it on the hot doughnuts, bread or cake. For a firmer glaze, spread it on the cooled doughnuts, bread or cake.


This is what Picarones usually look like! My photo didn't turn out, but mine look like any drop doughnut, or kind of like messy "doughnut holes"!

Printable Recipe

BRYANNA’S QUICK PICARONE DROPS (Pee-kah-roh-nays) (PERUVIAN PUMPKIN DROP DOUGHNUTS)
Makes 52 drop doughnuts
Traditionally, these are shaped into a ring right in the hot oil, but I just make them as a drop doughnut. It takes some practice to get the dough to fall into the hot oil formed as a ring! (And they are often lopsided!) There are many versions of this treat-- some are made with sweet potato as well as squash. I "veganized" this recipe from an old (1950's) Peruvian cookbook of my mother's. It’s a great Halloween specialty!

DOUGHNUTS:
1 T. dry active baking yeast (or 2 teaspoons instant yeast)
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 c. warm water
1 T. cornmeal
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. crushed anise seed
3 c. unbleached white flour
1 c. beer, at room temp (can be dealcoholized)
1 c. canned pumpkin puree, or cooked, WELL-drained, pureed winter squash, at room temperature
(TIP: Hang home-cooked mashed pumpkin or squash over the sink in a jelly-bag or in several layers of cheesecloth until it is as thick as canned pumpkin puree)
2 to 4 c. oil for frying (peanut or canola, preferably)

SYRUP: (This is called "miel de chancaca" in Peru because it is made with raw unbleached sugar called "chancaca". It translates roughly to "honey of brown sugar".)
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
1 c. water
3 x 1/2” strip of organic orange peel
(some people also add a cinnamon stick and a couple of whole cloves, but that's up to you!)

In a small cup, dissolve the yeast and sugar in warm water. In a large bowl mix the cornmeal, salt, anise seed, 1 c. flour and the beer. Add the dissolved yeast. Mix well. Add pumpkin and remaining flour. Mix to form a soft dough. Cover and let rise in a warm place 2 hours, or cover with plastic wrap and let rise in the fridge 4-12 hours.

To make the syrup, mix the ingredients (including the orange peel) in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and boil gently until a thick syrup forms, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and discard the orange peel.

Heat the oil in a wok, stir-fry pan or deep pot (you use less oil in a wok), to about 375 degrees F. To test for proper oil temperature, drop a small spoonful of dough into hot oil. If it rises quickly to the surface, it’s hot enough.

Drop tablespoons of dough in the hot oil. Fry until golden. (If they are browning too fast and are raw in the middle, lower the heat a little.) Drain on paper towels.

Serve hot with hot syrup poured over them, on a dessert plate with a fork. Tip: Doughnuts can be kept warm in a 200 degree F oven for up to 1 hour.

To reheat pre-made Picarones, place them on baking sheets in a 350 degree F oven for about 5 minutes.

Have a great night!

Do you like doughnuts? Silly question--who doesn't? I love them, but I rarely eat them from doughnut shops and bakeries because they are a.) fried, probably in questionable fat, and b.) usually not vegan. But, over the years, I have discovered two ways to make yummy vegan doughnuts without frying them.

It took quite a bit of experimenting because "veganizing" the baked doughnut recipes that I found did not seem to work, so I had to start from scratch. Below is what I have come up with, and the recipes are open to variation!

RECIPE #1:



Printable Recipe

BRYANNA'S BAKED MAPLE-SPICE CAKE DOUGHNUTS (Wheat-free? Possibly!)
Yield: 12 doughnuts

If you are lucky enough to have some of those black, nonstick baked doughnut pans (you need two pans for this recipe, or you can make 2 batches in succession), you are in for a treat! These are truly satisfying for doughnut cravings! WHEAT-FREE VERSION? I haven't tried this yet, but I think this recipe would work with my High-Fiber Gluten-Free Flour Mix in place of the pastry flour— see recipe here.

Liquid Mixture:
1 cup soymilk
1 tsp lemon juice or vinegar
2/3 cup light unbleached sugar
2 Tbs oil
1 tsp vanilla
Dry Mixture:
2 cups cake or pastry flour (white or wholewheat, or a mixture)
1/4 cup soy or chickpea flour
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp freshly-ground nutmeg
Glaze and Topping
1 cup organic powdered (icing) sugar
1/4 cup real maple syrup (Grade B is good)
1 cup chopped roasted nuts of choice (walnuts, pecans or hazelnuts/filberts are excellent choices)

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Spray the pans (see photo of pans below recipe) with an oil pump-spray bottle and sprinkle each one with a little unbleached sugar (this makes the bottoms crispy).

Beat the liquid ingredients together in a medium bowl. Whisk the dry ingredients together in another smaller bowl, then add to the liquid ingredients and stir briefly, just to mix.

Divide the batter evenly between 2 nonstick doughnut pans and smooth it out evenly (use about 3 Tbs. batter per doughnut). Bake 15 minutes. Remove the doughnuts to a rack to cool.

Whisk together the sugar and maple syrup. Dip the doughnuts in the glaze, or spread it over the top of the doughnuts. Sprinkle the tops with chopped roasted nuts while the glaze is still wet.

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per doughnut): 227.1 calories; 36% calories from fat; 9.6g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 184.0mg sodium; 172.3mg potassium; 33.5g carbohydrates; 3.6g fiber; 16.2g sugar; 4.5g protein; 4.6 points.



Nonstick doughnut pan


RECIPE #2:



Printable Recipe

BRYANNA'S VEGAN MINI DONUT MAKER DOUGHNUTS
Yield: 30 small doughnuts

I found one of those old Salton mini donut makers at a thrift store. It looks like a big white doughnut and has 6 nonstick doughnut-shaped depressions for the dough, with a lid with matching depressions that comes down over it.  There are quite a few new models on the market now-- for example, here and here and  another one.




Also look for these in thrift stores, at garage sale, or online auctions, etc.

Most of the recipes I found online contain not only eggs, but a fair amount of fat. I have been experimenting with vegan doughs and have found out that, contrary to the directions for this type of machine (other companies make similar ones), a pourable vegan batter does NOT work. You need a thicker batter. It's a bit more trouble spooning the batter into the bottom depressions than pouring it, but it works beautifully! This batter contains no added fat, but the doughnuts are tender and tasty.

Cooking Tips
Glaze these doughnuts with a plain glaze of organic powdered sugar and hot water (1/2 cup powdered sugar and start with 1 tbs. boiling water-- mix, adding more water as necessary, but in minute amounts, until a dipping consistency), or any favorite glaze. Then they can be dipped in colored sugar, etc., if you wish. OR use a chocolate icing. OR brush with melted Earth Balance and dip in cinnamon sugar.

WET MIX:
8 oz medium-firm tofu OR extra-firm SILKEN tofu
3/4 cup vegan sugar
1/2 cup water
1 Tbs vinegar or lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond extract
DRY MIX:
1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
6 Tbs corn flour (grind cornmeal in a coffee mill until fine, if necessary)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp powdered ginger

VARIATIONS:
Spicier Version:
Use brown sugar, if you like. Use 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. powdered ginger, and 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg. Optional is 1/4 tsp. ground cloves or allspice.
Chocolate Version:
In the basic version, use 6 Tbs. organic cocoa instead of the corn flour. Omit spices and almond extract and use 1 Tbs. vanilla. You can use cold liquid coffee or coffee substitute instead of water

Instructions:
Plug in your donut maker. Spray the top and bottom depressions well with oil from a oil pump sprayer. Close the lid and let heat for about 10 minutes.

Blend the Wet Mix ingredients in a food processor or blender until smooth. Whisk the Dry Mix ingredients well in a medium bowl. Add the wet mix and whisk in just until blended-- briefly, like a muffin batter.

When ready to cook, scoop out EXACTLY 1 level Tbs. of batter (use a measuring tablespoon, not a soup spoon) and use your finger to scoop it into one of the bottom depressions, evenly spreading it around the center. Repeat until all are filled. Immediately close the machine and set a timer for 4 minutes.

When 4 minutes is up, the cover should open easily and the doughnuts will be golden-brown. Use a wooden skewer to loosen and remove the doughnuts to a baking rack. Repeat until all of the batter is gone.

Glaze the doughnuts while still hot, setting them on a baking rack over a cookie sheet to let the glaze drip.

Nutrition Facts (analyzed without glaze)
Nutrition (per doughnut): 46.6 calories; 5% calories from fat; 0.3g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 57.7mg sodium; 54.5mg potassium; 10.1g carbohydrates; 0.8g fiber; 5.1g sugar; 1.4g protein; MyPoints 1.1

Enjoy!