Spiced Pumpkin Poppers
These little Spiced Pumpkin Poppers are everything I love, rolled into one little mini bite! I LOVE breakfast food, especially breakfast pastries. Anything from muffins to donuts, sign me up. Then there is the pumpkin, yep, it’s that time of year again, and I have no shame in my game of adding pumpkin AND pumpkin pie spice to everything I possibly can. Pumpkin pie spice can be bought at the store, but it is so much better when it’s made at home (check out my recipe here to see the secret spice I like to add in).
Donuts are definitely a crowd favorite, and I have tackled making them at home before, but it is a process. Between the rising, and then the rising again, and then the frying, then what do I do with the oil?? It can definitely be worth it on a special occasion, but for a perfect fall weekend when all you want is the sugared donut, pumpkin, spice flavor, baking is the way to go. Plus, anything that is bite-sized is fun! I like using mini muffins as a replacement for “donut holes,” because these have a lot of the same flavors as a cakey donut, but remain light, fluffy, and oil-free.
A couple things to keep in mind:
*Make sure all of your ingredients are room temperature
*Don’t over-mix once the flour is added
*Careful not to over-bake; check the poppers a minute or two early just to be sure; every oven is different and if it is the first time you are making a recipe, it’s always better to under-bake than over-bake
*You can check to see if they are done by inserting a toothpick into one of the mini muffins, and if it comes out pretty clean (without wet dough on it), then it’s done!
Spiced Pumpkin Poppers
Author:
Maria Provenzano
Serves:
48
Find the recipe for Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice on FromScratchWithMaria.com by searching “pumpkin pie spice”
Ingredients
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2 cups flour (unbleached all-purpose)
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1 teaspoon baking soda
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1 teaspoon baking powder
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2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
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1/2 teaspoon salt
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1/2 cup unsalted butter; room temperature
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1 cup sugar
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2 eggs; room temperature
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1/2 cup canned (or fresh) pumpkin puree
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1/2 cup sour cream; room temperature
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2 teaspoons vanilla
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Coating:
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1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
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3/4 cup sugar (plus more if needed)
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1 (heaping) teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
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*Preheat your oven to 350 degree
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*Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt in a bowl
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*In another bowl combine the sour cream and pumpkin puree
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*Cream together the butter and sugar in a stand-mixer, or using a hand-mixer, until light and fluffy
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*Add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture one at a time and mix until well combined
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*Mix in the vanilla
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*Make sure to scrape down the sides if needed
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*Add in the flour mixture alternating with adding in the sour cream/pumpkin; starting and ending with the flour
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*Combine until just mixed (being careful NOT to over mix)
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*Spray two mini muffin tins with cooking spray or brush with oil
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*Scoop the batter into the muffin tins; only fill about 2/3 of the way to make sure these don’t overflow
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*Bake for about 8-11 minutes or until the batter has puffed up and is set; careful not to over bake to avoid a dry popper
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*Mix together the sugar and pumpkin pie spice in a bowl
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*Pour the melted and cooled butter into another bowl
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*Allow the poppers to cool enough to be handled
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*Using a pastry brush to brush the melted butter all over the popper and then roll it in the sugar mixture; if you don’t have a pastry brush you can simply dip them in the butter then roll them in the spiced sugar. Either way your hands are going to get messy… enjoy it!
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*If the sugar starts to get clumpy from the butter, add in a bit more sugar and spice
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*Place on a cooling rack