SHIFTING ROOTS

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Pumpkin Yeast Doughnuts with Chai Glaze

Call me weird, but whenever I want to make pumpkin donuts, I never make the dough just for doughnuts. You see, yeast donuts never taste great the next day, and nobody needs to eat 30 doughnuts in one sitting!! (Although you might want too. . .this chai glaze is seriously addicting.. . .anyway.)

So in our house, I always make enough bread dough for 2 loaves of bread, plus something else. Usually it’s a small batch of cinnamon buns, sometimes it’s elephant ears (fried bread sprinkled with sugar), and this fall, it’s doughnuts.

Growing up, I always thought that donuts were some crazy-complicated thing. Whenever my family made them, it seemed like some giant production with lots of oil and icing and sprinkles and it took forever. Now that I’m older, I realize that it’s really not that hard. If you can bake bread and fry something in a frying pan, you can make doughnuts.

I personally don’t fry them in a deep fryer or in a pan with lots of oil. I fry mine in a regular frying pan with about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch layer of oil, then just flip them when they get golden brown. It worked great and didn’t waste as much oil.

This easy pumpkin donut recipe is based off of my Pumpkin Bread Recipe. In fact, I recommend you stick most of the dough in some bread pans, and only use a third of it to make doughnuts, unless you’re making them for a large crowd. The amount of glaze in the recipe is meant for just that size–not the full loaf.

Doughnuts taste best fresh, so try and serve them within two hours or so of making them if you can. However, they will still taste great for up to 24 hours, but they will be tougher.

What if I don’t have a donut hole cutter or pan?

No sweat! I made this short little video to show you an easy hack for making fairly smooth looking donuts with just your hands.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this easy pumpkin donuts with chai glaze recipe. Let me know if you tried them in the comments!

Yield: 8 doughnuts & 2 loaves of bread

Pumpkin Doughnuts with Chai Glaze

chai glaze pumpkin doughnut with a bite taken out of it.

A fun treat for family and friends when you're making bread.

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 3 minutes
Additional Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 53 minutes

Ingredients

  • For the Bread & Doughnut Dough:
  • 2 cups pumpkin puree
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 Tbsp yeast
  • 1 Tbsp white sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 5 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup oil
  • 1/2 Tsp salt
  • 1 Tbsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • For the Chai Glaze:
  • 1/2 cup icing sugar
  • 1 tea bag of chai tea. (I love PC Chocolatey Chai)
  • 2 Tbsp cream. Whipping cream is best, but any percent will do.

Instructions

    1. Set out one cup of warm water and dissolve sugar. Add yeast and let sit 10 minutes.


    2. Add pumpkin puree, eggs and oil then stir. Add in salt and 2 cups flour, then mix with your dough hook. Keep adding in flour until your dough forms a ball. Usually 5 cups, but depending on the humidity it can take as little as 4 1/2 and as much as 6.


    3. Grease a clean bowl, put in dough, cover with a clean towel, and set to rise in warm place. Once it has doubled (anywhere from an hour to 2 hours depending on the humidity that day), punch down and divide into 3 portions--one for the doughnuts and two that will go into two greased bread pans.


    4. Let the bread rise until it reaches the top of the pan. In the meantime, here are the doughnut instructions.


    5. Divide up the remaining dough into 8 equal sized balls. Smooth them out as shown in the video and poke a hole in them with your fingers, stretching out the dough into a donut shape.

    6. Heat a frying pan filled with 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch of oil. When it is hot (you can put in a wooden chopstick to test it. If bubbles come up, the oil is ready), fry the doughnuts, about a minute and a half on each side, or when each side is golden brown. Set on paper towel to cool.

    7. Rip the chai tea bag open and mix ingredients for the chai glaze. Dunk the donuts in it. Serve immediately.


    8. Once the bread has risen, Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes, or until golden brown and hollow sounding when knocked.

    9. Enjoy your pumpkin bread and donuts!

Notes

It is really important that you've read the post & recipe and understand that we're making both bread AND doughnuts.

How to Grow Garlic in Zone 3 (and other cold climates)

Garlic is an easy to plant vegetable that’s perfect for beginners. The catch? If you want to eat garlic this July, you need to plant it this October. Unlike most vegetables, garlic should be planted in the fall instead of spring. But don’t worry, the process is really simple! I’ll show you what you need to know to decide each year when the best time to plant garlic is, where to get garlic, and how to plant it in a zone 3 garden (or other cold climates) so it grows in the Spring.

The garlic growing advice I’m giving is best suited to zone 3b in Saskatchewan, but should be relevant for most other zones as well.

When is the right time to Plant Garlic?

Garlic can be planted anytime after the first fall frost. Where I live in Saskatchewan, that tends to be around September 15th. Check your area’s first fall frost date and adjust accordingly.

However, just because the first frost happens, doesn’t mean that the weather is going to stay cold! A week or two of unusually high temperatures can signal garlic that its time to start growing–which you definitely don’t want. It can be a bit tricky to find that magic window of cold weather-but-the-ground-isn’t-frozen.

I’ve heard of gardeners having success planting garlic anywhere from early September to late October. Most gardeners in my area seem to favour planting anytime from October 1st-15th. If you’re from another area, try to plant your garlic 2-4 weeks after the first frost date.

What is the best Spacing for Garlic?

Garlic should be planted 3-4 inches deep, 5-6 inches apart. Even though the garlic bulb is small, the stalk and leaves get quite large.

How to Prepare the Soil for Garlic

Before you plant your garlic bulbs, remove any plant matter that was there, add some compost, and lightly mix the soil (if you’re planting in a small area) or rototill if you’re gardening in a large garden. Those of you who use no-till methods can plant directly into the ground.

In zone 3 and other cold climates, cover the area with a 2 or 3 inch thick layer of leaves. If you’re worried about keeping the leaves in place before the snow flies, put a net over the leaves (like the kind you’d use to keep birds out of your berries) and stake it down or weigh it down with rocks or bricks at the edges.

Related: 6 Ways to Store Carrots all Winter Long

Where do I buy Garlic bulbs?

In Canada, you can order garlic online from larger seed companies like Veseys and T&T Seeds. There are a couple of niche growers around the country, such as

Local garden centres that are open year round usually also stock garlic, and sometimes you can also purchase bulbs at your local farmer’s market.

Garlic goes on sale at the beginning of September and often sells out quickly–especially if you are purchasing from niche growers who specialize in unique varieties. If you are reading this in October, most varieties will be sold out by now, but the larger seed companies and possibly your local garden centre will still have some.

After you buy garlic cloves once, you can easily set aside the largest bulbs in your harvest for your own seed.

Plant garlic with the pointy end up and the other end down.

How to Plant Garlic

  • Once you have your garlic bulbs, separate them into individual cloves.
  • Plant the cloves with the pointed side up in a hole that’s approximately 3-4 inches deep, and spaced 6 inches away from another garlic clove
  • Cover the garlic with soil and cover that soil with 2-3 inches of dried leaves or grass clippings for insulation. This step is probably not necessary in warmer areas, but it’s a good idea in zone 3.
  • Secure the leaves by layering a sheet of landscape fabric or bird netting overtop. This step is not necessary, and the fabric should be removed in spring. The fabric or netting keeps the leaves from blowing away before it has snowed for the year.
  • In the Spring, remove the leaves once the garlic starts poking through with green shoots.

Related: How to Harvest Onions so they’ll last until Spring

Should I Plant Hardneck or Softneck Garlic?

You can plant either kind of garlic, but there are a few things to consider. Hardneck garlic is best suited for Northern climates (such as my zone 3 garden!) and will generally do best in the Northern United States and Canada. The purple striped and rocambole varieties are especially hardy.

Softneck garlic tends to be better suited to warmer climates and generally has a longer shelf life. These rules are not hard and fast, as there have been gardeners who successfully grow soft neck varieties in a northern climate and hardneck varieties in a southern climate.

However, only hardneck garlic produces garlic scapes–a flowery growth that must be removed and can be used in cooking. I find garlic scapes have a beautiful garlic flavour and I love adding them to eggs, soups, and any recipe that calls for garlic or onions.

What is the Best Variety of Garlic to Plant?

There is no one-best-variety of garlic to plant. Read through the seed catalogues description of each variety to see if you think it would be a good fit for you and your family. Each variety will have its own benefits, such as long storage life, larger bulbs, stronger flavour, or milder flavour. Or you might be silly like me and buy the Music variety simply because its called music and that’s a big part of your life. To each their own.

If you buy locally or from a seed seller who lives in your geographic region, they will likely only offer varieties that work for your area.

Buying from a big box store is risky, as they are more likely to sell something that might not work where you live. (This is more of a concern for those of us in lesser populated areas in zone 2 and zone 3. You can probably take your chances if you live in a large metropolitan area in zone 5, 6, or 7.)

Will you plant garlic this fall?

How to Prepare Your Garden for the First Frost (PLUS 18 Vegetables That will Survive)

You’ve planted the garden, it’s come up great, it’s the end of the gardening season, and to be honest, you’re kind of sick of the gardening. But now fall is in the air and the first frost of the season is looming. And now you have questions. What vegetables will survive a frost? How cold is too cold for a garden? And so many more. In this post I’ll tell you what you need to do when frost is in the forecast, and what can wait until later.

These tomatoes will not survive a frost, you’ll have to pick them even if they’re green.

When Do I Need To Start Worrying About the First Frost?

Three weeks before the typical first frost in your area, you’ll need to start checking the weather every day to see what your nightly forecasted low is. When the forecast is predicting temperatures ranging from 2 degrees Celsius or lower, it’s time to get your garden ready for the first frost of the year.

Unsure when your first frost date is? Google the search terms “first frost date” and [your location, ex. Saskatoon, SK]

Next, you need to decide if you’re going to cover your plants when the frost hits, or pull everything and keep letting it grow. If you decide to cover everything, you’ll want to source out some old sheets and blankets now, so you’re ready for the first risk of frost. Sheets will protect your vegetables from approximately 2 degrees Celsius to -2 or -3 degrees Celsius.

What’s the difference between a frost and a hard frost or killing frost?

Speaking of frosts, not all frosts are created equal. A normal frost happens when the temperature reaches 0 degrees Celsius, or 32 degrees Fahrenheit. A hard frost or killing frost happens when the temperature reaches -5 degrees Celsius or lower. At this point, all but a few varieties of kale and most root vegetables will be okay. There are always exceptions, of course.

If you decide to pull your garden, here’s which vegetables must be pulled and which ones can wait until a hard frost is imminent.

What Vegetables are not Frost Tolerant?

All heat loving vegetables, like tomatoes, squash, eggplant, and cucumbers need to be pulled, or they will be ruined by a frost. Pick the tomatoes and squash even if they are green. They will continue to ripen indoors.

Other vegetables I would typically pull, but that could also tolerate a light frost if needed. Vegetables like pumpkins, corn, and potatoes will all be fine up to -2 degrees Celsius.

18 Frost Tolerant Vegetables

Thankfully, there are many cold-tolerant vegetables that will survive a frost without you doing anything. Some of these are fine until -2 Celsius, while others will hold up until around -10 Celsius. Here’s a list of vegetables that can stand the cold:

  • arugula
  • asian greens (bok choi, pak choi, etc.)
  • beets
  • broccoli
  • brussels sprouts
  • cabbage
  • carrots
  • cauliflower
  • collard greens
  • corn
  • kale
  • lettuce
  • parsnips
  • peas
  • pumpkins
  • spinach
  • Swiss chard
  • turnips

Will My Flowers in Containers Die in a Frost?

Yes. Almost all of your annual flowers will die, except for Snapdragons, rudbeckia, chrysanthemums, and petunias. There may be others that will hang on, but most will not make it. If you want to avoid your pots dying, bring them indoors or put them in a sheltered place, like a garage or shed. Then take them out again in the morning. You could also put a blanket over them if you need to keep them indoors.

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The 3 Easiest Cut Flowers to Save From Seed

I love growing an annual cut flower garden from seed, but the costs can quickly add up. Every year I spend over $200 on flower seeds–and that’s after I try and pare down my choices!! Over the last couple of years I’ve been saving seed from more and more of the flowers that I grow, and it’s really starting to make a difference in my budget.

Seed saving cut flowers doesn’t have to be complicated. In this post I’m going to share 3 super easy annual flowers that you can save from seed. Can you imagine buying cut flower seeds once, and never having to buy them again? Here’s my picks. . .

P.S. For those of you who prefer to watch videos, you can watch this YouTube video instead.

Snapdragons

To save snapdragons, wait until the flower has almost finished blooming and there are little balls all the way up the stem. We want a few blooms left just so we know what colour we’re collecting! Cut off the stem, keeping as many of those little balls as possible–they contain our future seeds!

Let the snapdragons dry until they are golden brown. I leave mine indoors on a paper plate for around 2 months before I try to collect the seeds. The plant should be very brittle and dry at this point. Then, you can lightly shake the seeds out of the little pods.

Snapdragon seeds are very small, so make sure you shake them on the paper plate or some other spot where they are easy to collect. Store the seeds in an envelope and label for future use.

Marigold

I love saving marigold seeds–they’re so easy to collect and I almost always have good germination. Once the marigold is finished blooming and ready for deadheading, cut it off and leave in a hot and sunny location. Once the head is dry and brittle, tear it apart. You’ll be left with lots of marigold seeds like these below. . .

Zinnia

Zinnias are one of my favourite flowers in the cut flower garden, and they’re also so easy to save from seed. Let your favourite zinnia grow so that it looks either like a big cone or a stack of pancakes (it will depend on the variety). Cut it off (or leave it on if it’s the end of the season) and leave it to dry for at least two months. Once it’s completely dry, tear the cone (or pancake) apart and you’ll see little seeds that look kind of like daggers or trowels. Those are your new zinnia seeds!

Love Cut Flowers? Here’s Where to Find the Best Seeds, The 10 Easiest Cut Flowers to Grow, and how to arrange the prettiest bouquets.

Cut Flower Seed Saving Tips

Some of these tips are going to seem painfully obvious to more experienced gardeners, but I include these tips only because I have actually made these mistakes when I should have known better.

Save the Best Flowers

Is there a flower that’s really large, has a unique colour, or some other quality that you like? Earmark that flower and make sure you save that one!

The Bees Might Have Other Plans

Last year I saved a lot of Calendula seeds, expecting them to look a certain way. Little did I know that the bees had cross pollinated my 4 different varieties and the calendula that came up looked different than I expected them to. Thankfully I loved the looks of them, so it wasn’t a big deal. Just know that unless you put a mesh bag around them to avoid cross pollination, you might get some surprises.

Don’t Leave Seeds Outside to Dry

Yes, you can leave some seeds outside to dry and they’ll be just fine. However, some seeds like sunflowers make amazing snacks for birds and mice–ruining your future flower garden. So don’t let your seeds get eaten and take them indoors.

Learn to save even more cut flower seeds

Honestly, there’s so many more seeds you could save from seed, easily saving you more than $200 on your cut flower gardening bill. If you’re tired of spending so much money on your flower garden every Spring, you need Savvy Seed Saving. It will teach you how to save 18 different annual cut flower seeds, putting money back in your pocket.

Yes, I want to save $$!

Grab your copy now or learn more here.

How to Make Chokecherry Jelly

Just as the Saskatoon berries start to dry out, a new prairie berry emerges: Chokecherries! Chokecherries are very astringent, so they don’t taste good when you eat them straight off of the tree. However, when you extract the juice and copious amounts of sugar, they’re downright delicious.

There are plenty of chokecherries at my Mother-in-law’s acreage, and for once the birds didn’t beat me to them. I was also lucky enough to be at a campsite that was completely surrounded with chokecherry bushes–what luck!! (Please tell me I’m not the only person who likes to go berry picking on their lake vacation.)

So the Hermit and I picked around 25 cups of berries, juiced them up, and made them into this delicious chokecherry jelly.

I’ve included this video so you can see the process. If you’re brand new to canning, you might want to start with this post on canning basics, and this one with all the equipment you need for home canning.

Where do you find Chokecherries?

Both wild and commercially crown chokecherries are good for making jelly. Wild chokecherries grow in the same sorts of places that wild Saskatoon berries do, so if you come across a patch of Saskatoon berries, you might also find chokecherry bushes there a few weeks later.

If you’re purchasing chokecherries, you can get them from online stores that specialize in fruit trees, or from larger garden centres. If you want to order more trees and your garden centre currently does not carry them, you could always ask if they would be willing to put in a special order for you.

Related: 28 Hardy Fruits you can grow in zone 2 and zone 3

Are Schubert Chokecherries Safe to Eat?

Yes! You’ll often see Schubert chokecherry trees used in landscapes, and these chokecherries are perfectly edible too. I’ve made batches of chokecherry jelly with them, and they taste just as good as the wild ones and ones that aren’t used in landscaping.

Back to the Jelly–Will this one actually Set!?!?

I feel you, I’ve had many a batch of jelly end up being syrup. And while I love syrup, it’s really annoying when I intended to make jelly. Over the years I’ve tweaked my recipe so that I’m actually guaranteed success in getting my jelly to set up. It might not be the ratios you’re used to seeing, but it will set for you.

Yield: 6-7 250ml jars

Chokecherry Jelly

Chokecherry Jelly

Chokecherry jelly that will actually set, with instrucitons for using a steamer juicer

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Additional Time 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours

Ingredients

  • 4 cups chokecherry juice
  • 6 cups white sugar
  • 2 packages of pectin (57 grams each)
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice

Instructions

  1. Pick, clean, and wash a large amount of chokecherries to be steamed in your steamer juicer. 1 large ice cream pail should get you enough liquid, but I can't guarantee it or give you an exact amount because it will vary with how ripe your chokecherries are and what variety you picked. No need to remove the stems if you are steaming them.
  2. If using a steam juicer, steam the chokecherries for approimately 60 minutes and collect the juice.
  3. Sterilize 7 small (250 ml) jam jars.
  4. Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Boil for 5 minutes, stiring constantly.
  5. Turn off heat and remove as much foam as possible.
  6. Transfer liquid to jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Clean any spills and secure lids.
  7. Boil for 10 minutes (15 if you live in a higher altitude)
  8. Remove and let sit for 24 hours. Put any jars that don't seal into the fridge and use first.

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Welcome!

Hi, I’m Kristen and I help new gardeners learn to grow their own vegetables and beautify their yards. I also share recipes that use all that delicious garden produce. Grab a coffee (and your gardening gloves) and join me for gardening tips, simple recipes, and the occasional DIY, all from the lovely city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

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