Pumpkin Donut Bites with Salted Caramel Glaze

Just look at all that glazey goodness...

Well, it's that time of year again! That time of year when shorts turn into pants, lemonade to hot cocoa, and a little bit of pumpkin goes into everything! I don't know if this is an extremely foodie nerd thing to say but, there's just something about that first smell of raw pumpkin that's so comforting. It's a little bit sweet with a hint of earthiness and a whole lotta love.
I also finally had the opportunity to use this awesome fall themed baking mold I received as a gift years ago. I used my former Pumpkin Donut Recipe but decided to switch up the topping and whip up a glaze, it also gave e a chance to use some leftover vanilla bean syrup and let me tell you, this glaze completes this muffin. I wanted to take a bath in this stuff! It's semi-sweet but also has elements of butterscotch and of course that little bit of saltiness takes it to the next level.

For the Donuts...

makes 12 regular sized muffins or 24 mini muffins

recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

10 TBS (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter (room temperature)
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 1/4 cups pure pumpkin puree (from a 15-ounce can)
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs

For the Glaze...

1 cup packed light brown sugar
4 TBS butter
1/2 cup half and half
pinch of sea salt
2 TBS of vanilla bean syrup*

*If you do not have this, you can use 1 TBS light corn syrup and 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease two doughnut pans (or muffin pans, or fancy pans) with cooking spray. Set aside.

2.In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk and pumpkin puree. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, scraping down bowl as needed. With mixer on low, add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with two additions pumpkin mixture, and beat to combine.

3.Bake the doughnuts for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

In the meantime, prepare the Salted Caramel Glaze
Combine all the ingredients in a sauce pan and whisk over medium low heat until sugar granuals have dissolved and mixture has thickened (about 4-5 minutes).
Dip the cooled donuts in the glaze and serve.