Ok so ummm… look how cute!
Ok so it is Halloween season. That means fall flavors and spooky decorations. And these have got it all. They might look a little intimidating, but they are actually pretty simple. Who said you couldn’t make something adorable, delicious, and easy?
But wait! Before we get into the donuts, we need to talk Halloween. I LOVE Halloween. Every year I spend months preparing for it. Fall is my favorite season, October my favorite month, and Halloween my favorite holiday! I have already talked about my spooky outfits, but I don’t know if I’ve talked about decorating. My family takes Halloween seriously so we go all out with decor. However, we live in the country so there are no trick or treaters to ooo and ahhh at it but that’s what I’m here for! So yeah, I obsess over Halloween. I also really look forward to the classic activities, like carving pumpkins, making caramel apples, and watching Tim Burton movies on rainy days by the fire. Halloween is truly in the air!
Question: What’s your favorite holiday?
And now, onto the donuts!
Describe These Donuts to Me
Taste: The main flavor you get is chocolate. It’s rich and fudgy and decadent, especially with that chocolate ganache on top. Then there is a subtle flavor of pumpkin. Unlike most baked goods with pumpkin, there are no spices to bring out the pumpkin flavor. We are relying purely on the pumpkin puree, so the flavor is very subtle, but it is there. And the two flavors mix together to create a different flavor. And it’s a good kind of different.
Texture: Like I said, these are very fudgy and moist. The pumpkin really helps with that. It adds a lot of moisture to the donut, which would otherwise be dry. And the chocolate ganache frosting adds another bit of melt-in-your-mouth texture.
Ease: These are actually quite simple! They are baked donuts so you don’t have to go through the hassle of frying them. This also makes them healthier! But I’ll talk more about that later. So the donuts themselves are quite simple to bake, and the batter is a quick, no mixer, one bowl recipe. We love a one bowl recipe. Less dishes, score! Now onto the decoration. The glaze is a simple chocolate ganache, which we just quickly dip the donuts in. Then for the bat decoration, we use piped melted white chocolate for the eyes and fangs, and dark chocolate for the wings. This step can be a little intimidating and finicky but with practice it can be mastered. I recommend making a few extra eyes, wings, and fangs just in case some break or something else goes wrong.
How do we Get Our Flavors
So how do we get these to taste delicious? Let’s start with the chocolate. Cocoa powder and mini chocolate chips. Simple, classic, and foolproof. For the pumpkin, we use pumpkin puree which adds natural flavor and moisture to the donuts. Now let’s talk about the less prominent flavors. For the sweetener we use maple syrup. This brings out the pumpkin flavor and makes these a touch more healthy than if we used plain sugar. I also like to use whole wheat flour to make it a lil healthier to, but you can also use plain all purpose flour.
How do we Make These Spooky?
Ok, let’s get to the fun part! The spooky decoration! You only need two ingredients to make the decorations: white and dark chocolate chips. For the wings, we just melt them and then use a small round piping tip to make the wings. Then we take the white chocolate chips and melt them just a little bit so that they are softened. Then we can carefully smooth out the tops to get rid of the pointed tops. To add the finishing touch on the eyes, pipe a small dot as the pupil in dark chocolate on top of the white chocolate eyes. Then lastly we pipe small triangles with more melted white chocolate for the fangs. Then we freeze them and stick them into the finished donuts. And then boom! We have cute little bat donuts!
Troubleshooting
Here are some tips to make sure your donuts turn out just right!
Piping the wings: This may take some practice! Piping can be very finicky and difficult, but with practice (and plenty of mistakes!) you can have almost perfect bat wings! Using a bat template (there is one in the recipe notes) underneath your parchment paper really helps you get the right shape so I suggest using it. I would also highly recommend you make more then you need. When dealing with chocolate it is very easy to mess up, whether its because your wings melted or because they broke, so I always make extra wings just in case. And if you don’t use them, then you just get a spooky snack!
Room temperature ingredients: Make sure your ingredients are at room temperature! I know it can be a little difficult to remember to get everything out in advance but it really does yield the best results.
Let the donuts cool: I recommend letting the donuts cool completely before you dip them in the ganache. They will actually only take about half an hour to cool, so you don’t have to wait long! If we don’t do this then the ganache might just slip off the hot donuts, and that would just make a mess. A delicious mess, but a mess nonetheless.
Let the ganache cool: If your ganache is still hot when you try and add the eyes, fangs, and wings to the donuts, they will melt and make a mess. Putting on the chocolate details is very finicky and it will be so much easier if your ganache is cooled. You still want your ganache to be a little bit warm though. If we waited too long then the ganache would set and our eyes and fangs might not stick.
Keep your chocolate details very cold: This might be the most important step of all. Once you have finished piping them I recommend immediately putting them in the freezer, and keeping them there until right at the moment you need them. They are small and thin and will melt or snap very easily. I suggest taking the wings, eyes, and fangs out one set at a time and just work on that set. This way the others can stay cold. I also highly recommend having a bowl of ice water nearby. You can dip your hands in it, which might sound ridiculous, but it will keep your hands cold and make it less likely for the chocolate to melt. Make sure you gently pat your hands dry though, because we don’t want wet chocolate wings.
Chocolate Pumpkin Bat Donuts
Ingredients
Method
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the bat wing stencil (found in notes) under the parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a small bowl melt your semisweet chocolate in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring after each. Allow the chocolate to slightly cool, about 3 minutes. Place the chocolate in a piping bag fitted with a very small round tip. On the parchment paper, pipe the outline of the bat wings, using the stencil underneath as a guide. Then fill in the inside, I like to pipe random squiggles and then spread in out carefully with a toothpick to fill the inside. The first few times you do this, the wings might not loo great but practice makes perfect! I recommend making extra wings in case some of them break. I make around fifteen (you will have to carefully move the stencil to the side underneath do you can make more). Place this baking sheet in the freezer until used in step 4. You should have some leftover melted chocolate, which you can keep in a piping bag to use in the next step.
- Place around 30 white chocolate chips on a microwave safe plate. Microwave them for 15-20 seconds or until softened. Then, using a toothpick, smooth out the tops to create a flat circle. Use the remaining semisweet chocolate in the piping bag to pipe small dots on top of the white chocolate. These will be the pupils of the white chocolate eyes. Place this plate in the freezer for 10 minutes. Then, using a spatula, pop the eyes off of the bottom of the plate as they will have stuck a little bit. Then immediately place the loose eyes back in the freezer, still on the plate. Freeze until ready to decorate.
- Put the remaining white chocolate chips in a small microwave safe bowl. Heat in 30 second increments until fully melted, stirring after each. Add the melted chocolate to a piping bag fitted with a small round tip (I use the same piping bag and tip that the dark chocolate was in, but make sure to rinse it out!). On the sheet that has the bat wings on it, pipe small triangles. Again, this will take some practice as they are very small so make extras. Place this baking sheet back in the freezer until you are ready to decorate.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Using a pastry brush grease a 10 count donut pan with melted butter. Set aside.
- In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, pumpkin puree, whole milk, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and apple cider vinegar together. Add the whole wheat flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and whisk until fully combined. There may be a few lumps at first but keep whisking until they are gone. Add the mini chocolate chips and salted butter and whisk until combined and smooth.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared donut pan. I like to use a piping bag fitted with a round tip to do this, but you can use a ziplock bag with the tip cut off instead. Alternatively, you can just spoon the batter into the pan.
- Bake the donuts for 12-13 minutes or until they bounce back when gently poked. The time may vary depending on your oven. Once baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pans before carefully transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the donuts cool, make the chocolate ganache. In a small sauce pan, heat the heavy cream until simmering. Then, pour over the chopped chocolate and allow to rest for 3-5 minutes. The chocolate will begin to melt during this time, which is what we want. After resting, stir the ganache until fully melted and smooth.* Whisk in the vanilla and salt until combined. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before using on the cooled donuts.
- Carefully dip the cooled donuts in the slightly cooled ganache. Place on a wire cooling rack once dipped. I recommend tapping the cooling rack gently on the counter to get rid of any bubbles in the ganache. Allow the donuts to cool at room temperature for 5-10 minutes, or until the ganache is no longer hot, but not set. Then, carefully place your frozen chocolate eyes and fangs. Allow them to set at room temperature for 5-10 minutes.
- Using a small knife, cut a slit horizontally on both sides of the donut. Carefully insert the chocolate bat wings (rectangular end first) into the slits until the rectangle is fully inside the donut. You want to be very careful during this process because the wings are fragile and can easily break. Also be aware of how deep and wide your slits on the sides of the donuts are. You want to make sure they are just the right size for the wings. Chill for at least half an hour before serving. This just makes sure they are a little bit stronger and less likely to fall apart.
- Donuts stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
*if you don’t have a 6 count donut pan, then you can use any count donut pan, as long as you end up with 9 greased and ready cavities. You can also use a muffin pan, with 9 cavities lined with wrappers.
*If you still have lumps of chocolate in your ganache, set the bowl over a pot of simmering water and stir. This should melt any remaining chunks of chocolate.