SANTA PAULA, CA - Does anyone else have the “Spooky Scary Skeletons” song stuck in their head the minute October starts? No? Just me? From fall harvest soirees to pumpkin patch excursions to Halloween parties, there’s endless opportunities to get the season’s best song stuck in your head. And this October, thanks to Megan Roosevelt’s seasonal citrusy goodies, consumers will probably be switching up the lyrics to sing “Spooky scary skeletons make eating citrus divine” instead.

Taking out the guilt of splurging on Halloween treats, Limoneira and Megan Roosevelt are releasing autumn-themed recipes, including Pumpkin Orange Donuts, on the company’s YouTube Channel all month long. Everyone join in with me to sing in celebration, “Spooky scary skeletons make eating citrus divine!”

Pumpkin Orange Donuts

While “healthy” and “Halloween” might not seem to intuitively go together, these deliciously gluten- and dairy-free donuts are just the thing to change that.

Dry Ingredients:

• Gluten free baking mix:
  • 1 cup brown rice flour
  • ½ cup almond flour
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 tbsp flax seeds
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Wet Ingredients:

• ¾ cup Limoneira navel orange juice
• 3 tbsp pumpkin puree
• ¼ cup coconut oil

Glaze ingredients:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp Limoneira orange juice
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder
• ¼ tsp pumpkin pie spice
• ½ cup dark chocolate chips

Directions: In a medium bowl, mix together all dry donut ingredients. In a small bowl, mix together the wet donut ingredients. The coconut oil may be slightly lumpy – which is perfectly fine. Add wet ingredients to bowl with dry ingredients and stir until well mixed. Let sit for three minutes as the flax seeds absorb water and thicken the batter. Pour, scoop, or pipe the batter into a donut pan and bake and bake in a preheated oven at 350 F for 18-20 minutes. When finished baking, remove donuts from oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Flip the pan over onto a drying rack and let cool for an additional ten minutes.

While the donuts are cooling, add the glaze ingredients (sans chocolate chips) into a mixing bowl and whisk until smooth. For chocolate glaze, simply melt chocolate chips in a double boiler. Next, it’s time to decorate! Dip the rounded side of each donut into the glaze, and place back onto the drying rack to let the glaze set. Glaze and add chocolate drizzle/orange zest to taste.

For a helpful demonstration, you can watch Megan create the donuts above here on the Limoneira YouTube channel. And, according to a press release, new videos detailing citrus living and recipes tips and tricks will be uploaded every Friday, so don’t forget to subscribe.

To stay in the know on the endless possibilities of produce all season long, keep following AndNowUKnow.

Limoneira