This Blue Zone pumpkin fritter dessert recipe is a healthier doughnut alternative that's mind-blowingly good

• I made Blue Zones pumpkin fritters, and they're a seasonal and decadent dessert.
• The recipe is simple, but frying can be tricky and messy if you're not used to it.

Move over, pumpkin spice lattes. I tried a dessert based on the eating habits of some of the longest living, healthiest people in the world, and it's perfect for fall.

This recipe for sweet pumpkin fritters, comes from Sardinia, Italy which is known as a Blue Zone, a region where people live to 100 (or older) at much higher rates than the rest of the world.

While longevity is complicated and involves a ton of factors including genetics, author Dan Buettner has pioneered research into whether Blue Zones diets may play an important role.

Blue Zones diets are high in carbs, but they're not big on highly-processed junk food like commercial cakes, cookies, or candy.

However, they don't skip dessert, and enjoy healthier sweets like chocolate and honey. I've tasted other Blue Zones desserts including chocolate black bean brownies — it's a hard job, but someone has to do it.

The pumpkin fritters are my favorite Blue Zones recipe yet, and a great special occasion treat to impress your friends or enjoy a better-for-you seasonal indulgence.

Pumpkin may be a seasonal treat, but it's also a humble superfood

Blue Zones include areas of Italy, Greece, Costa Rica, and Japan, and their cuisines have many similarities — they focus heavily on plant-based foods and rely on ingredients like beans for important nutrients such as protein and fiber.

Another common ingredient linked to longevity is squash. Surprisingly, squash is technically a fruit, not a vegetable. It's packed with fiber, a type of carbohydrate that can help improve digestive health and reduce long-term risks of illnesses like heart disease and cancer. Squash (which includes pumpkin) is also full of nutrients like vitamin B6, vitamin A, iron, and potassium. It even has some protein, too, particularly in the seeds.

How to make pumpkin fritters

Making the sweet pumpkin fritters is simple, although you do need some kitchen confidence to successfully fry them to golden crispiness in canola or olive oil (don't call the seed oil police!)

The first part of the recipe couldn't be easier, though. Mixing the canned pumpkin, flour, lemon zest, applesauce, and baking powder with a pinch of salt only took a minute. I omitted the saffron because, while I've cooked with it before, it felt like my attempt to fry an expensive spice would be like setting money on fire. Without it, the recipe was cheap enough that I could use trial-and-error to perfect the process.

Then it was time to heat up the oil. I'll admit, my frying technique could probably use some work. Fried foods are fine, but they aren't even my particular vice, so you're welcome for me taking on the burden of eating all these pumpkin goodies.

The tricky part of the recipe was managing the heat so the fritters would cook evenly. Getting the oil to the right temperature went okay, but as soon as the first batch went in, I felt anxious that some were looking too dark, while others seemed barely cooked. In my head, I could hear Paul Hollywood grouching about raw dough.

However, the fritters smelled amazing. And despite the mismatched color, the first batch made for a showstopper dessert.

Still warm, the fritters were lightly sweet with a crispy outside and soft creamy interior full of pumpkin flavor. They're not quite a doughnut, but reminded me of other fried dough treats like beignets in New Orleans, or zeppole from an Italian carnival.

Then I had two problems. First, the initial batch was too delicious, and didn't last long enough for me to take a picture. Fortunately, I had doubled the recipe — but that led to the second problem, which was that I dramatically underestimated how many fritters would result. The recipe says it makes four servings, but it felt like I had doomed myself to an eternity of frying tiny, delicious dough balls.

Ok, it wasn't that bad, but it did take my 40 minutes to finish, and my kitchen was a bit of a mess after. Someday I will learn that not every recipe should be made in bulk, but not today.

In total, I made roughly four dozen small fritters, which was more than enough to share after I ate [redacted] of them.

Blue Zones are all about balance, so enjoy the sweet treats in moderation

With some quick recipe math, I estimated that one serving of six to eight fritters (based on the size I made) had roughly 280 calories and 13 grams of sugar, but also almost five grams each of protein and fiber.

In comparison, a serving of four fried mini donuts like you'd find at a fair has about 220 calories, 14 grams of sugar, and only about a gram each of protein and fiber.

While the sweet pumpkin fritters are still a treat, the addition of the protein and fiber makes them more filling.

It's worth noting that frying is notorious for being an unhealthy cooking technique because the oil used will increase the amount of fat in the final product. In addition, frying at a high temperature, especially repeatedly as in commercial fast food restaurants, can produce chemical compounds linked to increased risk of cancer.

As such, the sweet pumpkin fritters are a fun way to enjoy squash, but are more of a special treat than a staple of a healthy diet.

"While nothing is off limits for the Blue Zones way of life, deep-fried foods are not an every day or every week occurrence and are saved for celebratory occasions," Buettner writes in the recipe notes.

That said, I feel like the recipe is a winner in the healthier junk food category, and it will definitely show up on my holiday dessert roster or my next fancy gathering with friends.