Sure they might be very similar to mini doughnuts, but pumpkin poppers are way healthier (you can tell yourself that, at least). In any case, these delicious little balls are irresistible and full of cinnamon sugar goodness. The soft pumpkin gives them a melt-in-your mouth texture that’ll have you reaching for “one more” quite a few times.
ALSO TRY: Butternut, fennel and ginger soup with toasted pumpkin seeds
Pumpkin poppers recipe
Pumpkin poppers
Ingredients
- 300g pumpkin, peeled and diced
- 10ml (2 tsp) avocado oil
- 15ml (1 tbsp) treacle syrup
- 1,25ml (¼ tsp) ground cinnamon
- 1,25ml (¼ tsp) ground ginger
- vegetable oil, for deep-frying
- 30g (3 tbsp) butter, melted
- 125ml (½ cup) treacle sugar
- 1 large egg
- zest of ½ orange
- 125ml (½ cup) buttermilk
- 140g (1 cup) self-raising flour
- 1,25ml (¼ tsp) salt
- 5ml (1 tsp) ground cinnamon
- 2,5ml (½ tsp) allspice
- 1,25ml (¼ tsp) dried chilli flakes (optional)
- 100g (½ cup) sugar
- 10ml (2 tsp) ground cinnamon
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Combine the pumpkin, avocado oil, treacle syrup, cinnamon and ginger, and place on a baking tray. Roast until tender, 15 – 20 minutes.
Heat oil in a pot for deep-frying.
Mash the pumpkin until fine, but leave a few bite-size chunks in between for added texture. Stir in the melted butter.
Combine the treacle sugar, egg, orange zest and buttermilk, and whisk until smooth. Whisk this into the pumpkin mixture.
Stir in the flour, salt, cinnamon, allspice and chilli flakes.
When the oil is hot enough, drop in teaspoons of batter. Do not overcrowd the pot, as the poppers need space to puff up and cook evenly. (To test the heat of the oil, drop in a small piece of bread – if the bread floats and starts to bubble and sizzle, then the oil is hot enough.)
When the poppers are puffed and golden, drain on paper towel.
Mix the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Drop the warm poppers into the mixture and coat evenly.
Eat the poppers warm or leave to cool for a packed lunch or treat later in the day.
FOR DESSERT, MAKE THIS: Pumpkin and dark chocolate pie
