This is a super easy recipe for ” Gebackene Mäuse” which are similar to fried donut holes. It’s a traditional Austrian recipe which got pimped up with homemade pumpkin puree and cardamom. The perfect fall recipe, breakfast recipe, sweet treat! I love this recipe because it’s made in under 30 minutes .

What are “gebackene Mäuse” ?!?

“Gebackene Mäuse” means translated baked mice . My fried little balls got their name because of their unique form and are very popular during the carnival season in Austria. Baked mice / donut holes are a smaller variation of our famous Austrian donuts which are also called “Krapfen” and are filled with apricot jam. Baked mice are more common on the countryside.

Traditional Austrian Donuts (Krapfen) are made of a soft yeast dough which is slightly sweetened.They then get formed into balls and afterwards fried in lard.

We have 2 dough variations in Austria on how baked mice( Austrian donut holes) get made.

The first is a classic soft yeast dough and the second is a batter made with curd cheese, flour, eggs and baking powder. Formed with 2 spoons into little dumplings and fried in oil.

Since my recipe takes only 30 minutes , my mice are made of the baking powder, curd cheese batter variation.

pumpkin recipes, fried donuts , no yeast donuts

Austrian Donut holes with pumpkin and cardamom

Whenever we visited my grandma during the winter month she always welcomed us with baked mice. It was a tradition that we could only leave her when all the fried donut holes were gone. I mean the first batch was gone in under 15 minutes. Somehow she always managed to serve us a second batch at the end of our visit ?.

In honor of our grandma I wanted to recreate her baked mice but liked to add my personal touch to the recipe.

donut recipes, gebackene mause, austrian recipe , fall recipe

Lets get to the important part – the RECIPE

“Baked mice” – fried Austrian Donut holes with pumpkin and cardamom

The ingredients

150g cream cheese – for all Austrian people you can use curd cheese too of course
40g milk
90 g brown sugar – I just love that caramel flavor
80g pumpkin puree, homemade or canned
1 egg
300g all purpose flour
2cl cointreau
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
8g baking powder
oil for frying
Powdered sugar for sprinkling

The Instruction

Firstly I’m starting with creaming the cream cheese, milk and sugar until pale and fluffy in a bowl of my kitchen aid with a whisk attached.
Secondly I’m adding the egg, the cointreau and pumpkin puree and beat for 2 more minutes until homogenous.
In a small bowl I’m mixing together the dry ingredients.
I’m adding these to the wet batter and mix them in with a spatula. I don’t want to over beat it.
I let the batter rest for 10 minutes.
After the batter has rested start with heating the oil in a deep frying pan to 185 degrees Celsius or about 365 degree Fahrenheit. Use a thermometer to control the heat of the oil.
When the oil has the right temperature start forming little round dumplings with the help of 2 spoons. the spoon is about half full .
Drop the formed dumplings into the hot oil and fry them for a couple of minutes on both sides until golden brown.
Put the fried donut holes on paper kitchen towels and sprinkle them with powdered sugar before serving

Why you should give this delicious donut holes recipe a try

Firstly I love easy recipes that don’t need many ingredients.
Secondly everybody should try from time to time recipes from other cultures. Especially sweet ones right?!??
I love treats that can be shared with many people therefore this baked mice recipe is perfect for that.
My family loves it when our house is smelling of sugar and freshly baked good.
They are whipped up in no time and if there are to many just freeze them for later.
I like that they aren’t super sweet but crispy on the outside and soft and moist on the inside.
And lastly I think that cardamom is an underrated spice and you’ll be surprised how tasty and full of flavor the donut holes are because of the cardamom and pumpkin.
There can never be enough pumpkin recipes for me during fall season .

These Austrian “gebackene Mäuse” (donut holes) can be enjoyed for breakfast as well as to a cup of coffee in the afternoon or bring them to a friends party. They will be the first thing gone at the cake buffet. ❤️?

Sweet warm cardamom hugs Nina

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