Life and Pumpkin Donuts

I'll share a yummy recipe with you in a moment, but first I need to explain my absence and why I'll be "out of the office" for the next week or so.

We've been busy with vacation bible school at our church!  It's been fun!  I'm the craft lady and I get to do all sorts of fun things with the kiddos!  They are a great bunch of kids! We've made creation banners, Bible sunglasses, God's eye crosses, paper plate 3-D art, and twirly birds.  Tonight is our last night and we'll be creating dinosaur suncatchers and pipe cleaner spiders.  (They all tie in with the Bible stories for each night...really!) 

I've received several orders on my Etsy shop for the wooden signs I make.  Actually, it's a group effort.  Hubby buys the wood and cuts it if needed, our oldest son sands the wood for me with the power sander, I paint the signs, then the girls help me package them up for shipping.  The 4 orders are definitely keeping me busy this week!

We have a wedding open house for my brother and sister - in - law on Saturday to attend.  Saturday also begins our week of 4-H judging.  Our second oldest son, Isaac, will be showing his doe, Pixie, on Saturday.  (We'll be shaving her and bathing her today!) Sunday afternoon three of our 4-H-ers will be making their foods items for judging on Monday.  The girls will be showing some sewing projects and the boys will be showing their Lego creations.  The girls also have dolls to show in the arts and crafts area, Isaac will show a punched tin artwork he made for me for the kitchen (he's a sweetie!), and Noah will be showing a drawing and a bookshelf (both of which need to be completed this weekend -- eek!).  Not to mention all the paperwork, workbooks, and record sheets that need to be filled out for each entry!  Wowsers!  (I'll be sharing the latest judging news on Facebook so you'll want to tune in there for ribbons and placement announcements ... if you're interested.  *smile*)

(Isaac and Pixie last year....they won Reserve Champion)

We are going to be busy around here!  But...before I take a little break I thought I'd leave a recipe for you! 

I'm making good on my promise to share the pumpkin donut recipe I shared a photo of on Facebook a few weeks ago!  It's from The Happy Housewife blog.

Enjoy!


Pumpkin Donuts

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
2 Tablespoons butter (room temp)
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup buttermilk (find my substitute HERE)
1/2 cup canned pumpkin

 Oil for frying (I used shortening)

Cream together sugars and butter.  Mix in egg, vanilla, pumpkin, and buttermilk.  Add salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice.  Slowly mix in flour until the dough is easy to work with and can be rolled out without sticking on a lightly floured surface.  Fill the fryer (I have a Fry Daddy) with 3 inches of oil and heat to 350 degrees. Make sure you use a thermometer because the wrong temperature will ruin the donuts (I just started frying when I put a drop of dough in and it started sizzling...that's when I started putting in donuts).  Roll out to about 1/4 inch thick on a floured surface. Cut out large circles (I used a large drinking glass and a small cap for the middle). Drop donuts in frying pan (or fryer) two at a time. Fry for one minute and then flip. Fry an additional 1 to 2 minutes. Do not over cook.  Place on paper towels to cool (line the counter with paper bags or newspaper so the counter doesn't get greasy).

I made a glaze of milk, cream cheese, vanilla and powdered sugar. Keep the glaze a little runny so you can drizzle it over the donuts.

We made these on the 4th of July and even though they were pumpkin (an usual fall treat) they were enjoyed!!  We hope you enjoy the donuts as much as we did!