How To Make Homemade Pumpkin Cake Doughnuts

As Pastry Chef Mallory Staley says, "everyone does pumpkin pie, so why not do something different with pumpkin?" She makes these cake doughnuts that have savory notes so that you can actually taste the pumpkin in them without the flavor being drowned out by sugar.

Whisking the wet ingredients (pumpkin puree, eggs, yolk, buttermilk, melted butter, vanilla extract) plus the sugar.

Quick Tip: Add the melted butter in last so it doesn't harden back up since the other ingredients are somewhat cold.

The thoroughly whisked wet ingredients before they are added into the dry ingredients. And as Staley says, "Here's where the fun comes in."

Staley suggests using your hand as a spatula to mix the dough, and says that this part would be a lot of fun for kids (it's pretty great for adults too).

Though Staley rolls the dough out between layers of sprayed parchment paper at the restaurant, she remembers her grandmother rolling dough on floured surfaces in her kitchen at home. She also remembers that eventually everything seemed to be covered with flour — you can try the same at home, but hopefully it won't be as messy as Staley remembers.

Instead of tossing away the doughnut holes, Staley fries them too because she thinks they're one of the best parts of the doughnut, "kinda like muffin tops."

Instead of making traditional doughnuts, try using seasonal shapes like leaf cutters for fall or anything else you'd like for some  variety.

Fry the doughnuts for about 45 seconds on each side until golden brown. These doughnuts have a crisp exterior  with a soft bite inside that has savory hints of pumpkin (making them taste more cake-like than traditional yeast doughnuts).

Drain these just-fried doughnuts on paper towels to remove any excess oil and allow to cool briefly. (And get excited to eat them!)

Staley makes a quick pumpkin glaze for her doughnuts by combining pumpkin puree, powdered sugar and a splash of water. But you can also dust these doughnuts with powdered sugar, cinnamon sugar or enjoy them as they are.

Staley carefully dips one side in the glaze. (If you choose to make your own glaze, that's what it should look like.)

Staley pipes white chocolate across the doughnuts on top of the glaze to finish.

The finished doughnuts can be made in under 30 minutes. Try them at home, whether with pumpkin or another ingredient, and let us know what you think!