Happy October First! I’m so so so so so so SO happy that it’s October! If I haven’t made it annoyingly clear enough, I love October and it’s my favorite month ever. Halloween is the best holiday, and October is Halloween season. Every day is spooky, autumnal, and fun. I LOVE OCTOBER.
And that love for the month is translated into what I bake. Every year I make spooky treats all throughout the month that are just so much fun to make. Here’s a short lil list of the last two years recipes.
– Raspberry Black Velvet Cake
– Pumpkin Spice Filled Ghost Donuts
– Spiderweb Mocha Hazelnut Cheesecake
– Pumpkin Cookie Butter Truffles
– Pumpkin Patch Cookies
– Pumpkin Chocolate Bat Donuts
– Jack O’ Lantern Macaron
And coincidentally, every October I end up posting a donut recipe. I’m not sure why, it just sorta happened that way for the past two years so I just leaned into it this year. I’ll get more into these donuts in a bit, but first I’m gonna give you a little sneak peak into the rest of the month.
After this recipe, the next five recipes will be based off of spooky movies. I guess it’s kinda like a series, but I don’t know if I’m cool enough to be able to call it that. In case anyone was wondering, it’s time to dramatically reveal what those movies are that I took inspiration from. Drumroll please.
- Nightmare Before Christmas
- Corpse Bride
- Scooby Doo
- Beetlejuice
- Coraline
Yayyyyyy! Those recipes will be popping up over the next few weeks so stay tuned!
Ok let’s talk donuts. Before I get too deep into the post I’m just gonna say this. These donuts are not for everyone. A lot of my recipes are a lil funky and people are skeptical, but pretty much everyone tends to like them. However, these donuts are not liked by all. That doesn’t mean they’re bad, if they were I wouldn’t be posting them. It just means they’re an acquired taste.
Personally, I love them. Black sesame is one of my favorite flavors, and I think it goes really well with pumpkin. Plus, it looks really cool. But lots of people aren’t a fan of black sesame, I have learned. But I still strongly recommend giving these a try because they really are delicious.
Describe these Donuts to Me
Taste: The cake has a sweet and salty nuttiness vibe to it. Black sesame sorta tastes like peanuts in baked goods, but much more subtle and dignified. Mixed with the sweet pumpkin spice from the glaze, these donuts are perfectly balanced.
Texture: These are the perfect baked donut texture. Fluffy and light, with a moist crumb so they aren’t dry at all. Plus you have the glaze in there to balance it all out.
Ease: These are actually super easy to whip together. The batter comes together in about 20 minutes, they only have to bake for 12 minutes, and they also cool super quickly. The glaze is also simple, just whisk together a few different ingredients and dip!
Black Sesame and Pumpkin
So black sesame lattes are a thing. And pumpkin spice lattes are obviously a thing. So if they both go well with coffee, they should both go well together right? That’s essentially the thought process behind these donuts. The logic there is pretty far from sound, but it worked out because these two flavors actually do go really well together. The donuts are not super sweet because of the nuttiness from the black sesame, and the glaze is perfectly spiced to compliment. Plus the sweetness from the pumpkin really ties everything together.
The Batter
The batter here is pretty simple and looks very similar to cake batter. (Pssst. That’s because it pretty much is just cupcakes in the shape of a donut 😉). For the black sesame flavor, we start by making a black sesame sugar in the food processor. Then, mix that up with some brown sugar and salted butter. The butter’s gotta be salted to really bring out that sesame flavor. Add some eggs and vanilla, and then whisk together your dry ingredients. Toss that in with some milk and boom. Black sesame donut batter, ready to be piped into a pan and baked.
The Glaze
This glaze is super duper simple. It’s just confectioners sugar, pumpkin puree, a splash of milk, a little salt and vanilla, and a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice. Mix that all up and dunk your cooled donuts in. Since the donuts aren’t super sweet, the glaze goes so well with them.
You know how I said pumpkin and black sesame both go really well with coffee? Well that means these are the ultimate coffee donuts. These are unbelievably good with a warm cup of black coffee in the morning, trust me on this one.
Also, if you’re feeling extra spooky, I highly recommend topping these off with some Halloween sprinkles. It really just completes the look.
Black Sesame Donuts with Pumpkin Glaze
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat the oven to 375℉. Grease the wells of two 6 count donut pans thoroughly with butter. Set aside.
- In a food processor, pulse the granulated sugar and sesame seeds together until the seeds are broken up and you're left with a gray sugar. Don't over mix it, or it might turn into a paste from the oils in the seeds!
- Add the sesame sugar to a large mixing bowl and add the brown sugar and butter. Using a hand or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat on medium speed until fluffy and combined. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat on medium speed until combined. Set aside.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer running on low speed, add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in thirds, alternating with the milk. Do not over mix.
- Spoon or pipe the batter into the previously prepared pans, filling almost to the top. I find a piping bag makes this easy and less messy. I don't use a piping tip, I just snip off the end of the bag.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the donuts bounce back when lightly poked. Let the donuts cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely before icing.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together 1 cup of the confectioners sugar, pumpkin puree, milk, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla. It might seem thick at first, but the sugar will break down as you keep mixing and it will be very thin. Whisk in the remaining 1 cup of confectioners sugar until smooth. Dip the cooled donuts in the glaze and top with sprinkles if desired.
- Donuts stay fresh sealed in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.