Pumpkin donuts are soft and moist baked pumpkin donuts filled with classic fall spices like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. These pumpkin spiced pumpkin donuts are dipped in melted butter and rolled in a homemade cinnamon sugar mixture for the perfect contrast of textures and flavors. Grab your donut pan, a couple of mixing bowls, a whisk and make the best fall donuts the next time you want a warm, cozy and extra special breakfast treat.
Jump to:
Why Should You Make This Recipe
I have several baked donut recipes on the blog that I absolutely adore. My Maple Donuts, Cinnamon Sugar Donuts and Chocolate Donuts make the best breakfast treats. I am so excited to add these baked pumpkin donuts to the mix! I know you’ll love this pumpkin spiced donut recipe because:
- It has the perfect moist, dense and tender texture. These baked pumpkin donuts coated in cinnamon sugar stay wonderfully moist for days. They bake up wonderfully soft and fluffy which pairs deliciously well with the sweet, spicy and crunchy cinnamon sugar coating.
- Tons of fall flavor. Almost a full tablespoon of the best fall spices are baked into the pumpkin donuts. These made for fall donuts are also rolled in cinnamon sugar.
- Easy to make with simple ingredients. These homemade pumpkin donuts are made using the same simple ingredients used to make muffins. This donut recipe comes together in two bowls with no fancy equipment; just some good old fashioned mixing, baking and rolling.
Ingredients
This pumpkin donut recipe requires only a handful of ingredients to make and you probably already have them in your house! Here’s what you’ll need.
For the Pumpkin Donuts
Dry Ingredients: Gather all purpose flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, ground cloves and salt.
Wet Ingredients: Gather melted butter, light brown sugar,granulated sugar, eggs and pumpkin puree.
For the Cinnamon Sugar Topping
Gather melted butter, granulated sugar and ground cinnamon.
Substitutions
Here are my recommended ingredient substitutions to make these homemade baked pumpkin doughnut just in case you need them.
- All purpose flour: This recipe hasn’t been tested with an alternative flour. However, if you want to make this recipe gluten free, use a good 1-1 flour and measure by weight rather than cups. Note that the donuts will need to bake for a few minutes longer.
- Ground Spices: Feel free to use any blend of ground spices. Pumpkin spice, chai spice or apple pie spice would all be wonderful in this baked pumpkin donut recipe. The total amount of spices for these cinnamon sugar donuts is about 2 ½ - 3 teaspoons.
- Unsalted Butter: Use salted butter if needed. Just make sure to omit the added teaspoon of salt listed in the recipe. Plant based or dairy free butter can also be used if needed.
- Granulated Sugar and Light Brown Sugar: Make these pumpkin pie donuts refined sugar free by swapping the brown sugar and granulated with maple sugar.
- Eggs: This recipe hasn’t been tested without eggs.
- Canned Pumpkin Puree: You can use the same amount of fresh pumpkin puree if you have some on hand. Do not use pumpkin pie filling.
Variations
- Baked Pumpkin Mini Donuts (aka, pumpkin donut holes or munchkins): Prepare the pumpkin donut recipe according to the recipe directions. Grease a 24 ct. mini muffin pan or doughnut hole pan. Use a tablespoon sized cookie scoop to scoop the batter into the prepared pan about ¾ full. Bake the pumpkin donut holes in a 425 F (218 C) oven for about 7 - 8 minutes. Cool, drip in the melted butter and roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Maple Glaze: Swap the cinnamon sugar coating and top the pumpkin donuts with a quick and easy maple glaze. Mix 1½ cup (180 g) powdered sugar with 3 - 4 tablespoons (45-60 ml) maple syrup, ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract and 1 - 2 tablespoons (15 - 30 ml) milk as needed. After the donuts have cooled on the cooling rack, dip the tops in the maple glaze. Return the donuts to the cooling rack to set.
How To Make
Learn how to make pumpkin donuts in a few easy steps.
- Preheat the oven to 350 (177 C). Grease two 6 ct. donut pans. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, ground cloves and salt together until well combined.
- In another large bowl, pour the whisk the melted butter, light brown sugar, granulated sugar and eggs together until smooth and well combined. Whisk in the pumpkin puree until smooth and well combined. Mix the dry ingredients to the wet until well combined.
- Spoon or pipe the pumpkin donut batter into each of the prepared donut cavities in the donut pan. This should fill about ¾ of each cavity of the donut pan. Bake the donuts for about 14 - 16 minutes. The donuts are done when the tops bounce back quickly when lightly pressed. Cool the donuts in the pan for 5 minutes before gently taking them out to cool on a cooling rack.
- While the cinnamon donuts cool, melt the butter in one bowl and whisk the cinnamon and sugar until well combined. Dip both sides of the cooled donut into the melted butter. Quickly roll the entire baked donut into the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place each cinnamon sugar pumpkin donut on the cooling rack. Repeat until all the donuts are coated in the sweet and crunchy coating and enjoy!
How To Store, Freeze and Thaw
Like donuts you get from a donut shop, these pumpkin cake donuts taste best the day they are made. However, if needed they can be stored and enjoyed later.
- Store: These pumpkin spice cake donuts are truly best when enjoyed the same day they are made. To enjoy them beyond the day they are made, store them in an airtight container lined with paper towels on the bottom. Place them in a single layer in an airtight container. Store them at room temperature for up to 2 days.
- Freeze: Wrap each cooled pumpkin cake donut in plastic wrap. Place the uncoated donuts in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. I recommend rolling the donuts in cinnamon sugar after freezing and thawing.
- Thaw: To thaw these pumpkin donuts, set them out at room temperature for a few hours. Then dip them in the melted butter, roll in the cinnamon sugar and enjoy!
M’s Expert Tips
- Bring cold ingredients to room temperature: This allows the ingredients to mix together more evenly.
- Measure the flour properly: I highly recommend using a food scale to get perfectly measured dry ingredients every time.
- Don’t overmix the pumpkin donut batter: Make sure to mix the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined.
- Pipe the pumpkin cake batter: The easiest and cleanest way to get the pumpkin donut batter into the donut pan is to pipe it into the pan. Transfer the batter to a piping bag or ziplock bag and pipe into the pan.
- Cool the donuts in the pan for no longer than 5 - 10 minutes.
- Fully coat the donuts in the cinnamon sugar mixture. You must use melted butter to get the cinnamon sugar to fully coat the donuts. These baked donuts truly taste incredible with the sweet and crunchy topping so really go for it!
FAQs
Baked pumpkin donuts are essentially cake donuts. The flavors and textures are a lot like pumpkin muffins. Yeasted pumpkin donuts like the ones from Krispy Kreme taste like the original glazed donut with pumpkin spice.
Yes, canned pumpkin is the same thing as pumpkin puree. However, they are both different than canned pumpkin pie mix which has pumpkin plus other ingredients like spices and sugar.
Fried donuts are yeast based. When fried they become light and airy when fried in hot oil. Baked donuts have a denser, more cake like texture and rely on leaveners such as baking powder to provide some lift.
Other Pumpkin Recipes to Try
- Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
- Pumpkin Banana Muffins
- Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Chewy Maple Pumpkin Cookies
- Pumpkin Pie Cookies
If you try this Pumpkin Donuts recipe please rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Doing so helps other readers decide if this is a great recipe to bake. Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using @olivesnthyme so I can see what you’re baking! Happy Baking! - M
Pumpkin Donut Recipe
Equipment
- 2 6 ct. donut pans
- 1 whisk and flexible spatula or spoon
- 1 ziplock or piping bag
Ingredients
Pumpkin Donuts
- 1¾ cups (210 g) all purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- ¾ cup (150 g) light brown sugar
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1½ cups (390 g) canned pumpkin puree
Cinnamon Sugar Topping
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, melted
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 (177 C). Grease two 6 ct. donut pans. In a mixing bowl, melt the butter and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, ground cloves and salt together until well combined.1¾ cups (210 g) all purpose flour, 1½ teaspoons baking powder, 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves, 1 teaspoon salt
- In another large bowl, whisk the melted and cooled butter, light brown sugar, granulated sugar and eggs together until smooth and well combined. Whisk in the pumpkin puree until smooth and well combined.½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled, ¾ cup (150 g) light brown sugar, ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar, 2 large eggs, room temperature, 1½ cups (390 g) canned pumpkin puree
- Mix the dry ingredients to the wet until just combined with no visible streaks of flour.
- Spoon or pipe the pumpkin donut batter into each of the prepared donut cavities in the donut pan. This should fill about ¾ of each cavity of the donut pan.
- Bake the donuts for about 14 - 16 minutes. The donuts are done when the tops bounce back quickly when lightly pressed. Cool the donuts in the pan for 5 minutes before gently taking them out to cool on a cooling rack. While the cinnamon donuts cool, melt the butter in one bowl and whisk the cinnamon and sugar until well combined.¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar, 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- Dip both sides of the cooled donut into the melted butter. Quickly roll the entire baked donut into the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place each cinnamon sugar pumpkin donut on the cooling rack. Repeat until all the donuts are coated in the sweet and crunchy coating and enjoy!½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, melted
Leave a Reply