Baked Buttermilk Pumpkin Donuts with Brown-Butter Maple Glaze

The blog has been on a pretty significant hiatus for the last two months or so while I studied for a major exam (which I passed Wednesday! Yay!) and I'm so excited to be back and have the time to cook again! Not to mention it's my favorite time of year and I plan to make as many pumpkin, apple, and fall-themed dishes as possible.

One of my weaknesses is donuts. I love them in all forms: glazed, cake, creme-filled etc. But who doesn't love a pumpkin donut??

I've never made donuts before but figured it couldn't possibly be too difficult. I made a trip to my local Bed, Bath, and Beyond and picked up Wilton donut pans for about $10, plus if you have one of their awesome coupons you can knock off another 20%. These are also easily found on Amazon.

The recipe I used can be found here: http://thecafesucrefarine.com/2013/11/baked-buttermilk-pumpkin-donuts/

The part I had the most trouble with is browning the butter in the microwave. On my first attempt, there was a lot of popping and scary noises so I stopped it only to find butter all over everything. My second try didn't fare much better but I managed to keep more of the butter contained. I couldn't get it to brown though and ended up just using melted butter. The glaze tasted great but I wonder if it would have had an even better color and flavor had it successfully browned. Anyone have any tips?

These donuts tasted great for several days after I made them, it took a while for them to start tasting stale. They came out very cake-like but moist and were devoured pretty quickly by everyone who came in contact with them. I've already been asked to make them again!