Lions and Tigers and Raccoons Oh My!

Holy moly, who ate way too much food this weekend? If you aren't raising your hand you are either lying to me or don't partake in Thanksgiving (the latter being absolutely fine, the former being a no-no liars don't make friends). I feel like I am still stuffed to the brim with the amazing delicious vegan food that was at our Thanksgiving meal. It was a delightful medley of winter squash, potatoes, dark greens, fall fruit, mushroom gravy, and pumpkin everything!

Hello Thanksgiving!

As you can see there was a lot to eat (scary part is that isn't even all of the food!!). What could be missing from that table... well the Pumpkin Pie Donuts for starters! These donuts were a hit and a half at the table, and I know I promised a while ago to share this recipe with you so today is the day!

But first, I am going to tell you a tale of the vicious raccoon gang that runs the Montana De Oro State Park in the Central Coast area of California. Oh yes that's right you heard me, VICIOUS raccoons. Disney paints a pretty picture with that Mico guy (shhh thats him right there acting all cute), but the truth is these furry friends are not to be trifled with.

Disney's Mico

My family is up in Northern California (north of San Francisco northern), and the manfriend and I thought it would be fun to drive up for the holiday and then drive slowly down the coast and camp along the way. Our last stop was in beautiful Montana De Oro. We set up camp, we made friends with the neighboring campers, and hunkered down for the night. The weather was perfect, and it seemed like the night was going to be smooth sailing. WRONG! At 4am in the morning we were awoken by a gang of unruly raccoons ransacking our campsite. The little fluffy tailed demons had figured out a way to get into our cooler, and they were wrecking havoc. Manfriend got out of the tent and tried to scare them off, but no amount of flashlight blinking, rock tossing, or foot stomping was going to prevent this massacre. There was 7 of them down there, and they did not take kindly to human intervention....So we did what anyone else would do, we hid in our tent and cursed the masked fuzzy bandits for stealing the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers.

The next morning the ranger rolled through the campgrounds to warn people of the "overly aggressive" raccoons (too late bud). He tells us this as we are cleaning up the remains of our once glorious campsite, and so we shared our tale of woe. The response from him was, and I quote, "good thing you didn't approach them as they have been cornering people for food handouts and not letting them go." I swear this is not an exaggeration, as I am prone to do from time to time, this is the truth verbatim! So next time you are camping in the Central Coast of California do not fear the bear or the mountain lion, instead fear the mighty raccoon!

Raccoon gangs, who knew! The saddest part of this tale is that the pumpkin donuts fell victim to the puffy tailed beasts of the forest. Luckily for you and me that means its time to share this recipe and make a million more!

Pumpkin Pie Donuts!

Makes about 10

Gluten-Free

(adapted from the sweet life online)

Ingredients:

1/3 cup sweet sorghum flour

1/4 cup tapioca flour

1/4 cup potato starch

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (and ginger optional) 

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup agave

1/4 cup grape seed oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients (flours, starch, baking powder & soda, spices and xanthan gum). Mix all the dry ingredients together. 

In a separate bowl combine your pumpkin puree, syrup, agave, oil and vanilla. Stir everything until it has blended together. Then pour your wet ingredients into the dry and stir until everything is blended and you have a nice pumpkin donut batter. 

Now bust out your donut pan. Trust me you will want one as donuts make the world go round. Even if your pan is non-stick I would advise putting something on it to prevent sticking. Pour the batter into the donut moulds (about 3/4 of the way full). And then bake for 15-17 minutes. The result is delicious gluten free donuts! 

Donuts need a glaze, so if you aren't worried about a little extra sugar here's the glaze recipe:

1 cup powdered sugar

3-4 teaspoons coconut creamer (or non-dairy milk)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Stir everything together until you have a nice thick glaze (you may need more creamer/milk as you go). Once the donuts have cooled put a little glaze on top and devour before the raccoons come find you. ;)