Pumpkin Donuts
Our favorite pumpkin donuts only take 30 minutes to make! Coat these fall donuts in cinnamon sugar for classic pumpkin spice donuts. Baked donuts are easy to make in the oven with only 10 ingredients. Plus they are egg-free and include gluten free instructions.
Typically I only make donuts for special occasions, it’s definitely not even a monthly occurrence. But every time I make baked donuts, like vanilla baked donuts or oreo donuts I remember how much I love them.
I’m thinking I need to make pumpkin donuts a regular, weekly thing during the fall. They are like a warm hug. I like mine dipped twice in cinnamon sugar 😍
Ingredients
- pumpkin puree: adds moisture and flavor
- brown sugar: adds sweetness and flavor
- vegetable oil: adds fat and moisture
- milk: adds fat and moisture
- all purpose flour: flour is necessary to build structure
- baking powder: helps to leaven and lift the batter
- pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon & nutmeg: adds warm spice flavor
- salt: just a pinch to balance the sweetness and enhances the other flavors
These donuts are egg-free because pumpkin puree binds all the ingredients together similar to how eggs would.
How To Make Baked Pumpkin Donuts
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spray a donut pan with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, vegetable oil, and milk. In a smaller bowl combine the flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing with a spatula just until combined.
- Transfer the batter to a piping bag or ziplock bag, cut off the corner. Pipe the batter into each donut cavity. Evenly divide the batter among the 6 donuts.
- Bake for 15-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the donuts to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Flip the pan upside down to release the donuts onto a cooling rack.
How To Coat Donuts in Cinnamon Sugar
Use a pastry brush to coat the cooled donuts with melted butter. If you don’t have a pastry brush, quickly dip each side of the donut in the melted butter.
Combine the cinnamon sugar mixture in a bowl. Place the donut in the sugar mixture, flipping to be sure to coat both sides.
If the donut is covered in too much warm butter, the cinnamon sugar will dissolve instead of stick to the donut.
Total Time Required
- 10 minutes to prep the batter and fill the donut pan
- 15 minutes to bake
- 10 minutes to cool
- 5 minutes to coat in cinnamon sugar
How To Freeze Donuts
Allow the pumpkin donuts to cool completely. Wrap each donut in plastic wrap, then place inside a freezer ziplock bag or container.
To thaw: microwave for 20 seconds or place on the counter for 30 minutes. Re-dip in cinnamon sugar mixture if desired.
How To Make Gluten Free Pumpkin Donuts
I’ve made these donuts with both regular and gluten free flour with awesome results on multiple occasions. I recommend King Arthur’s Gluten Free Measure for Measure Flour. Use it as a one for one substitute for regular flour.
Baking Tips
- Spoon and sweep flour into the measuring cups.
- Be sure to use pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. The only ingredient on the back of the pumpkin puree can will be pumpkin.
- To cleanly pipe the batter into the pan, use a piping bag or ziplock bag with the corner cut off.
More Fall Desserts
Pumpkin Donuts
Ingredients
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- ¼ tsp salt
Cinnamon Sugar Coating
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spray a donut pan with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, vegetable oil, and milk.
- In a smaller bowl combine the flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing with a spatula just until combined.
- Transfer the batter to a piping bag or ziplock bag, cut off the corner. Pipe the batter into each donut cavity. Evenly divide the batter among the 6 donuts.
- Bake for 15-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the donuts to cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
- Flip the pan upside down to release the donuts onto a cooling rack. Allow the donuts to cool for at least 10 more minutes.
Cinnamon Sugar Coating
- Melt 2 tbsp butter in the microwave. Use a pastry brush to coat the cooled donuts with melted butter. If you don’t have a pastry brush, quickly dip each side of the donut in the butter.
- Combine the cinnamon sugar mixture in a bowl. Place the donut in the sugar mixture, flipping to be sure to coat both sides.
Your donuts look perfect! I love its color and texture so much, thanks for sharing the recipe!
Can you tell me what kind of donut baking pan you use and where you got it.
Thank you very much.
Nancy
Hi Nancy! I use these donut pans from Wilton: https://amzn.to/2F7FzzU
They are so good and I think I will make them again!!!
We made them today – I used my cupcake tin and swapped sugar for honey. Oh they are so delicious!! Pumpkin spice season is on here in Berlin! Thx for sharing that awesome recipe 💕
I made these and brought them to work today, my co-workers said they are way better then Tim Hortons!!
Will be making these again for sure!
I just made these donuts for the October 2021 Challenge. This was such an easy recipe and it turned out amazing. Just the right amount of spice and pumpkin without being overwhelming. The whole family loved them. I’ll be making these again but doubling the recipe. (They didn’t last long!)
used gf flour and had to bake longer. still fell apart. kind of wet. followed to a T. wondering why no egg as a binder?
Hi Andrea! What GF flour did you use? If they were still wet, I’m wondering if they needed more time to bake. When I was testing this recipe, I did try it with an egg, but it made the texture extra spongy and gummy. Pumpkin puree is a binder, just like eggs.
Just made these donuts and they’re delicious! Mine however are brown and not pumpkin colored like yours (not a huge deal). Any idea how to get them more of an orange color?
Thanks in advance!
Hi Sarah! They definitely aren’t bright orange, but an orange-y brown color. Did you use light or dark brown sugar? I used light brown sugar.
Beth, what kind of milk do you use for your pumpkin donuts?
I’ve used 1%, whole milk and almond milk before – all with great results!
May I know that calorie count for whole recipe or the each donut?
Thank you
The calorie estimation is for one donut, if you make 6 donuts.
I decided to make these this morning , even though the temperature is not quite cooled off yet. They tasted wonderful and have now put me in the mood for FALL!!
this one is definitely a keeper.
Trust me you want to double this recipe it’s that delicious! I had to use 1/2 light and 1/2 dark brown sugar since I ran out of light brown and they were absolutely delicious 🤤 tried this recipe for the October challenge but it will be a go to for Fall now !!
Can you substitute and use almond flour? Would you then do anything different?
So good and easy to make. Doesn’t take long at all
I made these donuts for Beth’s October recipe challenge. I was intimidated to make donuts since I’ve never made them before. They were very easy and fast to make and turned out fantastic!! Great flavor and fluffy!
I made these Pumpkin donuts for the November challenge and they are absolutely amazing!! So soft, moist, and full of flavor. I’ll be making them again this week!