Pumpkin Donut Holes

Directions

1. 1
   In a large bowl, cream butter.
2. 2
   Add sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder and remaining spices.
3. 3
   Mix well. Scrape bowl as needed.In a small bowl, combine buttermilk, egg, egg yolk and vanilla. Whip until combined well.
4. 4
   Pour liquid mixture in with butter, sugar and spices. Stir together.
5. 5
   Add in pumpkin, followed by flour. Be sure to scrape your bowl well at this stage and mix until all flour and pumpkin has been encorporated into the batter. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours.Flour a work station (I used one of my silpats this time because you know how much I detest cleaning up the counter after playing with dough) and roll dough out to roughly 1/4" thick.If you do not have a donut cutter, as I don't, use other household items such as a small glass for the outer portion and a shot glass for the inner portion. I only made donut holes, so I only used a shot glass and it worked perfect. I believe the diameter of the opening was roughly 1" maybe a teeny bit more. Sorry, I didn't measure it.After cutting your donut or holes, transfer cut pieces to a sheet of waxed paper or a large platter until ready to fry. Repeat rolling and cutting process until you have used up all of your dough.
6. 6
   Heat oil to 365 degrees. Do not overcrowd the pan or fryer. I found frying 5 or 6 holes at a time worked well. Fry holes for 1 minute and 30 seconds to a maximum of 2 minutes. Flip them and move them around the pan as they're cooking, you want the color to be evenly golden.Using a slotted spoon or similar item, transfer cooked donuts to a paper towel lined baking sheet to cool. Continue fying process until all donuts are cooked.
7. 7
   Let sit for several minutes before eating. The longer you wait, the more the dough has had time to cool and set resulting in a better donut eating experience.You can choose to store yours in an airtight container or as we did, leave them out uncovered overnight. I had hoped to crisp them up a bit... kind of like how donut shop donuts get crusty and stale like. Another day would have been better for that result and they didn't last that long.