In a large bowl, combine your dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, pie spice, and salt.

In another bowl, whisk your wet ingredients: pumpkin puree, sour cream, eggs, butter, and vanilla extract.

Combine the wet and dry ingredients thoroughly to make a dough. Cover the dough and let it chill for 15 minutes in the refrigerator to firm up.

Set up your frying space: pour oil to a 3-inch depth in a heavy-bottomed pot and set over medium-high heat and insert a thermometer, if using. Place a baking sheet next to the stove, either lined with paper towels or a wire rack. Place the bowl with the glaze near the rack.

On a floured surface, roll out the donut dough to ½ inch (1.5cm) thick and cut using a 3-inch (7.5cm) round cutter, cut circles of dough. You can reroll the scraps to make more circles.

Using a 1-inch (2.5cm) cutter, cut holes in the center of your dough circles.

When your oil is hot, roughly 350°F (180°C), drop 2 or 3 donuts (or 5-6 holes) at a time in the oil. Fry for about 2 to 3 minutes, until lightly browned on one side, then flip and fry until the other side is browned.

Remove to the wire rack and immediately dip both sides of the hot donuts in the vanilla glaze and set on the rack to dry before proceeding with the remaining donuts and holes.

Enjoy when just cool enough to devour! Donuts are best eaten the day they are made, but you can store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.