Pumpkin Doughnuts

[celiacmaine-iac]

This one's for you teacherpat. These doughnuts are so good I dare you to eat just one. Great served with ice cold cider or hot mulled cider.

Pumpkin Doughnuts
Makes about 24 doughnuts with matching holes (very important )

2 eggs
1 c. sugar
1 c. canned pumpkin
1/3 c. milk
2 T. oil
3-1/2 to 4 c. GF flour blend, I used 6-2-1 (do not add xanthan and guar gum if your mix already contains it.)
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. xanthan gum
1 tsp. guar gum
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ginger
Oil for deep frying such as canola oil.
Extra flour blend for rolling doughnuts
Plain sugar, or cinnamon sugar for coating cooked doughnuts.

Mix 3-1/2 c. flour blend with the baking powder, salt, guar gum, xanthan gum, cinnamon, and ginger. Set aside. Measure out the extra 1/2 c. flour, and set aside.
Beat eggs and sugar together until mix is light yellow. Add pumpkin, milk, and oil. Blend well. Add dry ingredients, but do not add the reserved flour yet. Mix till well blended. If your mix is really soupy, add reserved flour mix until you get a soft dough. You want your dough to be a little softer than biscuit dough, but you want to be able to handle the cut doughnuts.

Start by heating your oil to 375 degrees. If you are using a fryer, follow manufactures directions for depth of oil. If you are using the stove top, put oil in a kettle to a depth of 3 - 4 inches, over medium to medium high heat, depending on your stove. Use a good thermometer and watch the temperature carefully. While oil is heating, roll doughnuts 3/8"- 1/2" thick on a floured surface. Re-roll scraps until all dough is used up. I use a silicone mat, and my sil-pin. Don't dust with more flour than necessary when rolling. Cut doughnuts with a doughnut cutter. When oil is the right temperature drop 2-3 doughnuts into the oil. Add a couple of the doughnut holes as well. Doughnuts will initially sink but rise to the top fairly soon. If any doughnuts are overlapping, nudge them apart gently. When doughnuts are browned on the bottom, and starting to brown on the top, turn them over gently to cook the top side. You might want to test cook a couple of holes first, to be sure you are cooking them enough on the inside. Remove doughnuts from fryer, and place in cake pan you have lined with paper towels. Let doughnuts cool for a bit, then put them in a bag to which you have added sugar or cinnamon sugar. Shake well to coat the doughnut, and place on a platter (I guarantee they won't stay there long!)

Notes:
Frying doughnuts can be dangerous. Make sure if you use an electric fryer, that your cord does not dangle over the counter. The kitchen is not the place for children when you are deep-frying. Assign a responsible person to make sure they are kept out of the cooking area. Accidents can happen in an instant.

I really recommend an electric fryer. You have more control of the temperature that way. If your fat is too cool, you get greasy doughnuts. If it's too hot you will get doughnuts that are too brown on the outside, and raw in the middle. It's hard to regulate on a stove top.

I use a long handled two-tined cooking fork for flipping doughnuts and holes and for removing them from the fryer. A skimmer with holes works fine too. If you use the fork, be careful not to pierce the doughnut while it's cooking.

I like the combination of guar and xanthan gum in the recipe. Use it if possible, but you can use one or the other as well. It's a tip I picked up from Carol Fenster's latest cookbook.
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Steph

[cruelshoes]

[teacherpat]

Thank you! I just need a couple of blocks of lard and some guar gum (goes off to order guar gum)
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Pat

[greenmatter]

Gonna give it a go, thanks!
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I'm new this Gluten free diet!

[celiacmaine-iac]

[celiacmaine-iac]

BTW- welcome to the board greenmatter!
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Steph

[HadassahSukkot]

I would think that if you flash freeze these prior to, or after baking - they should freeze well. Sometimes with GF breads/sweets, it's a tossup.

I've been able to flash freeze one of our pretzel-bread recipes fine in the raw state, but it comes out with a grainy texture if we do it after it's been baked.

I have however been able to do hushpuppies and similar breads in either state just fine. It's just trial and error.
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