Ingredients
Method
Make the chocolate decorations
- 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.
Make the donuts
- 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.
Make the chocolate ganache
- 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.
Dip and decorate the 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.