Baked Pumpkin Spice Donut Holes

I know, I know, I just made baked apple cider donut holes, what's up with the mini-muffin-masquerading-as-donut-hole party going on over here? I can't help it. Some may find this hard to believe, but up until a week ago, I didn't own a mini muffin pan. *gasp* I have such limited space in my kitchen, I wasn't sure if I had room for what I considered a frivolous purchase. Um, now that I have my mini muffin pan, I don't know why I waited so long. I usually have a hard time stomaching an entire muffin - I feel like I ate lead afterwards, so I usually split muffins and only eat half at a time. Hence the perfection of the mini muffin - one or 2 of these little guys is a perfect serving! Hence my donut hole (well, mini muffin) party - I'm super excited about my new mini muffin pan. The baked apple cider donuts were SO good and so quick and easy, so when I saw this recipe over at Two Peas and Our Pod, I immediately checked the fridge to see if I had the ingredients - I did. I even had leftover pumpkin that needed to be used up! Sometimes the stars just align, you know? And these little donut holes are delicious - perfect for a little fall treat. 

Baked Pumpkin Spice Donut Holes 

adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

makes 24 mini muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup canned plain pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1/2 cup 1% milk
• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon
• cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 24-cup mini muffin baking pan with cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. 
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the canola oil, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin, and milk until smooth. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
4. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups (I like to use a cookie scoop - just the right amount of batter). Bake for 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. 
5. While the muffins bake, put the melted butter in one bowl and mix the sugar and cinnamon in another. When muffins are done baking, let them cool in the muffin pan (on a cooling rack) for 2 minutes. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the tops of each muffin with a tiny bit of melted butter, then roll the muffin in the cinnamon sugar. Serve warm or at room temperature.