Baked Pumpkin Spice Glazed Donut Holes

I love to throw a little something sweet into my kids lunches. My kids love to see the other kids reactions when they bring a fun lunch to school. It’s like those old Snack Pack commercials where all the kids get jealous and excited because they see their classmate with a Snack Pack.

Okay, that wasn’t THE original commercial, but you really don’t want to know how much time I spent trying to find the Snack Pack commercial that I grew up with.

But we’re not talking Snack Packs today. We’re talking donut holes. They are perfect to make up and then stick in the freezer. Pull out a few and stick them in a lunch for an easy and simple little lunch treat. I guarantee it will be original!

PUMPKIN SPICE GLAZED DONUT HOLES

• 1 3/4 cups white whole wheat, whole wheat, or unbleached all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice or ginger
• 1/8 teaspoons ground cloves
• 1/3 cup applesauce
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup canned plain pumpkin
• 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk, soy, or other milk alternative

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour a 24 cup mini muffin pan. Set aside for later use.

In a mixing bowl, place your dry ingredients and mix them together until well blended.

In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the applesauce, egg, vanilla, and pumpkin. Whisk until mixture is well incorporated and smooth. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredient mixture. Stir until just combined. Do not over stir!

Place approximately 1 tbsp of batter into each muffin cup. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven, then wait 5 minutes for muffins to cool slightly. Remove muffins to cooling rack to finish cooling. Glaze once muffins have cooled.

Makes approximately 36 muffins.

PUMPKIN SPICE MUFFIN GLAZE

2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

*Tip: Place parchment paper or aluminum foil under your cooling rack for quick and easy cleanup!

In a saucepan, mix together the milk and powdered sugar over low-medium heat until mixture becomes warm. Slowly dip each donut hole into the glaze, turning until donut hole is completely covered in glaze. Remove donut hole with a slotted spoon, allowing excess glaze to drip back into the saucepan. Place glazed donut back on cooling rack to allow glaze to harden and excess to drip off. Continue glazing donuts until completed.

TO FREEZE: Place donuts in single layer on cookie sheet in freezer for approximately 1/2-1 hour. Transfer donuts to a freezer safe bag for storage and label. Pull out desired amount of donuts and place in lunchbox frozen. Donuts will thaw by lunchtime!