Pumkin Doughnut Holes Stuffed with Cream Cheese

You guys are going to think I'm crazy, but... I'm not a huge fan of doughnuts for breakfast.

I know, I'm sure you imagine me waking up every morning and eating custard filled long johns and crepes smothered in Nutella and mountains of pumkin waffles with piles of whipped cream and candied nuts. You probably think I start my day off by basking in a warm pool of maple syrup and smashing my face into piles of whipped cream.

Well the truth is, I don't have a warm pool of maple syrup or piles of whipped cream to smash my face into. Otherwise I probably would.

Besides that, I'm not crazy about eating sugar when I first wake up. I usually have to wait at least, like, fifteen minutes in the morning before my face becomes a sugar vacuum for the day, and by then I've usually already had something shockingly unsugary, like oatmeal with (don't freak out) nothing but melted peanut butter on it. Heavy on the peanut butter, light on the oats. A little cinnamon and vanilla if I'm not too lazy to walk five steps to the cupboard.

I do have a soft spot for doughnut holes when they're the appetizer for my lunch though.

It is mandatory that every doughnut hole must have a crispy, crunchable crust and a super moist center. I've eaten far too many dry doughnut holes in my life (read: I've eaten way too many crunchy outsides of doughnut holes and returned the dry centers to the box), so I'm always very careful to make the dough of my homemade doughnuts nice and moist.

A nice sticky dough means nice moist doughnuts. Of course I had to add a glob of cream cheese to the center too, just in case.

By the way, don't try to roll the dough into a ball in your hands. Just gently cover that cream cheese with the dough and then plop it in your deep fryer. You don't have to try to make them look perfect. The perfection will come on it's own.

P.S. I'm not usually one for cinnamon sugar covered doughnuts (I'm more of a glaze kind of girl), but... whoa. This sugar.

Pumpkin Doughnut Holes Stuffed with Cream Cheese
Makes about 1 1/2 dozen-ish doughnut holes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour*
3/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger
dash of cloves
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup pureed pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
Cream cheese cut into cubes

1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar (light brown would be fine too)

Heat up your deep fryer or a pot filled with peanut oil to about 350ºF-375ºF (I'm not very exact).
Mix together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Add in the melted butter and mix until incorporated. Mix together the pumkin, egg, and vanilla and add to the dry ingredients. Mix just until combined. Dough will be sticky.
Get a spoonful of the dough and place a cube of the cream cheese in it. Gently cover the cream cheese in the dough. Plop the doughnut hole into the grease and cook a few minutes on each side until browned (you should be able to cook a few at a time). Remove from grease and drain on a rack over paper towel.
Mix together the 1/2 cup white sugar, cinnamon, and dark brown sugar. Roll the doughnuts in this mixture. Allow to cool before eating, they tend to finish cooking a little as they cool.

*You can sub 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose gluten free flour!

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