Baked CHOCOLATE PUMPKIN SWIRL DONUTS
1/4 cup pumpkin puree...……...……………....... 1/4 cup (4 TB) butter, softened
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
2 cups flour ………………………………………..2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda …………………………....... 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp. cinnamon...……………………………... ….1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves...……………………........ 2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream or buttermilk
(TIP: I keep a tin of powdered buttermilk in my pantry to make up as needed for recipes. It's found by the other powdered or cans of milk on the baking aisle at grocery store.)
2 heaping TB dark unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup dark chocolate syrup
GLAZE:
about 1 cup dark chocolate chips
OPTIONAL SPRINKLES
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Preheat oven to 350. Spray 2 6-hole donut pans with non-stick baking spray and set aside. (You might get 18 donuts from the recipe. It depends how full you fill the pans. This recipe can easily be cut in half though, if you don't want that many donuts.)
Whisk flour, baking powder, soda, salt and spices together. Cream butter and sugar in your electric mixer; add eggs and mix well. Next, beat in the pumpkin. Then gradually beat in 1 cup of flour ~ then gradually beat in the sour cream or buttermilk ~ gradually beat in the last cup of flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and give a quick beat to be sure all ingredients are well incorporated.
Put half of the pumpkin batter into another bowl. Now put the cocoa powder and chocolate syrup into the mixer with the rest of the pumpkin batter and beat it in. (If you need a little more liquid, add about 1 TB more sour cream/buttermilk/chocolate syrup {your choice}.) Fill the donut pans about half way with the pumpkin batter; then the rest of the way with the chocolate batter. I used a butter knife to lightly go down through the batter in each hole to marbleize it; then smooth the top of each hole.
Bake for about 20-30 minutes (depends on your oven ~ the color of your pans & how full they are). Let the donuts cool in the pan about 5 minutes before turning out onto a rack or paper to cool completely. (TIP: If they're a little ragged on the sides, trim them even with a kitchen scissors. And, if the hole closed up, carefully cut the hole through with a tiny kitchen knife.)
GLAZE: Melt the chips in a glass bowl for 1 minute in the microwave (stir with a spoon until all the chips are melted). Then spread on top of each donut. Top immediately with sprinkles before the chocolate hardens.