Pumpkin Cake Doughnuts

Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two standard doughnut pans. If you don’t have doughnut pans, you can bake these in a standard muffin pan; they just won’t be shaped like doughnuts.
2. To make the batter: In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the oil, eggs, sugar, pumpkin, spices, salt, and baking powder until smooth.
3. Add the flour, stirring just until smooth.
4. Fill the wells of the doughnut pans about three-quarters full; use a scant 1/4 cup of batter in each well. If you’re making muffins, fill each well about three-quarters; the recipe makes about 15 muffins, so you’ll need to bake in two batches (unless you have two muffin pans).
5. Bake the pumpkin doughnuts for 15 to 18 minutes, or until a toothpick or sharp knife inserted into the center of one comes out clean. If you’re making muffins, bake them for 23 to 25 minutes or until they test done.
6. Remove the pumpkin doughnuts from the oven, and after about 5 minutes, loosen their edges, and transfer them to a rack to cool.
7. To coat: While the pumpkin doughnuts are still warm (but no longer fragile), gently shake them in a bag with the cinnamon sugar. If you’ve made muffins, sprinkle their tops heavily with cinnamon sugar. Only coat the number of doughnuts that will be consumed that same day; otherwise, they’ll get soggy.
8. Storage information: Cool completely, and store any untopped pumpkin doughnuts at room temperature for several days. Don’t wrap them tightly in plastic; store them on a plate covered with a cake cover; or in a plastic bag that’s not fastened shut. Add cinnamon-sugar coating just before serving.