Celebrate all that’s warm and cozy this pumpkin season with these Easy Baked Pumpkin Donuts! So tender and soft, these pumpkin donuts are made with pumpkin puree and topped with a crunchy cinnamon sugar topping!
If you’re in the mood to bake, you’ll love some of my best fall baking recipes, like Mamaw’s Old Fashioned Apple Cake, Pull Apart Apple Muffins, Best Ever Cinnamon Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, or Cinnamon Apple Quick Bread!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- This recipe is SO easy! It doesn’t even require an electric mixer.
- No frying. I love a fried donut as much as anyone… well, maybe more, but frying does require a lot of clean up. These donuts bake in the oven using a donut pan and could not be more simple.
- No yeast. This is a cake donut, not a yeast donut, so no waiting for dough to rise.
- 30 minutes and you’re eating the softest, most incredible, melt-in-your-mouth fall donut every created! It’s really amazing!
- Pick your own topping. I love the cinnamon sugar topping described in the recipe, but I also show you how to make a maple glaze and a cinnamon glaze for the donuts too. And I won’t lie. These pumpkin donuts are also good with no topping at all!
- They are loaded with pumpkin and all the warm spices we crave this time of year.
- Dunk them in a steaming cup of Crock Pot Caramel Apple Cider, Pumpkin Mocha Coffee or a tall glass of milk.
- Perfect for tailgating, breakfast, dessert or as a fall treat!
Other Topping Options
These baked pumpkin donuts are coated with a cinnamon sugar topping because I love the contrast between the incredibly soft cake donut and the crunchity crunch of the sugar coating. But if you are jonesing a soft, warm glazed donut, check out these two yummy fall-flavored options:
Maple Glaze:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons of maple syrup OR maple bourbon syrup
- 3-4 tablespoons whole milk
Cinnamon Glaze:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ vanilla extract
- 3-4 tablespoons whole milk
Ingredients & Recipe Overview
I’ll walk through an overview of ingredients & steps in these next sections along with helpful tips!
Look for specifics at the end of the post in the recipe card.
- pure pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
- all purpose flour
- light brown sugar
- granulated sugar
- eggs
- canola oil
- vanilla extract
- ground cinnamon
- pumpkin pie spice
- baking soda
- baking powder
- salt
- butter
If you want to make your own Pumpkin Spice Blend: 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, ¾ teaspoon nutmeg, ¾ teaspoon ginger, ½ teaspoon allspice, ½ teaspoon ground gloves
How To Make Baked Pumpkin Donuts
- Mix together the wet ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.
- Mix together the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- Pour the pumpkin mixture into the dry ingredients to make your batter. Combine just until mixed, and pipe or spoon the pumpkin batter into a greased donut pan.
- Bake donuts in a preheated 375°F oven for 10 minutes or until the donuts spring back when lightly touched.
- Brush donuts with melted butter and dip into cinnamon sugar topping.
- Serve & Enjoy!
Can You Make These Without a Donut Pan?
I love having a donut pan. Almost any homemade muffin recipe can be turned into a donut with this pan. It’s a brilliant pan and very inexpensive.
But if you don’t have one and don’t want to buy one, then you can still make this recipe to make DONUT HOLES using a mini muffin tin! Oh yeah!
Simply grease the tin, fill the mini muffin cups about ¾ of the way full. Bake at 400°F for 15-16 minutes. Brush with butter and roll in cinnamon sugar.
Tips for Making the Best Homemade Pumpkin Donuts
- Always use fresh baking soda when baking so that you get a nice fluffy texture and good rise. How to Test if Your Baking Soda is Fresh
- Don’t use pumpkin pie filling for this recipe! Pumpkin pie filling is flavored and prepared before canning for pie, so it will not be good for this recipe at all.
- When combining your wet and dry ingredients to create your pumpkin batter, mix JUST until all of the ingredients are combined and there are no more streaks of flour. Over mixing puts the gluten proteins in the flour into overdrive, creating tough donuts.
- Your donuts are done when they spring back when lightly touched. They will still be light in color. Mine only take 10 minutes, so I would start watching around minute 9.
- If you over bake them because you think the color is too light, they won’t be as soft. So don’t go by color.
- Gently run the tip of a knife around the inside and outside of the donut to detach it from the pan if your donuts don’t slide right out of the pan when turned upside down.
How to Store or Freeze Pumpkin Donuts
Pumpkin donuts don’t have to be refrigerated and can be stored at room temperature if tightly covered for up to 3 days. After that, the sugar coating begins to seep into the donut.
To freeze pumpkin donuts, just make sure you freeze BEFORE topping them. Put wax paper between donuts if you stack them in an air tight container to freeze. Thaw on the counter overnight, then top as desired and serve!
More Pumpkin Recipes To Love
Equipment
Ingredients
- 15 ounces canned pure pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
- ¾ cup white granulated sugar
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup canola oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 ¾ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
Cinnamon Sugar Topping
- 1 stick butter, melted
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon (generous)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Generously spray donut pan with non stick cooking spray (I recommend this even for non stick pans.)
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients- pumpkin puree, white and brown sugars, oil, eggs and vanilla- until there are no lumps.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together the dry ingredients- all purpose flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, salt, baking soda and powder.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients by pouring the pumpkin mixture into the dry ingredients. Stir just until the ingredients are all combined. You don't want to over mix- this makes for tough donuts.
- Spoon or pipe the pumpkin batter into the donut pans, filling them ¾ of the way full. Tap pan on the counter gently to evenly distribute the batter and place in the preheated oven to bake for 10 minutes. When donuts are done, they should spring back when gently touched. They will be light in color.
- Remove donuts from the oven. Turn pan over on a cooling rack to remove the donuts. Gently run the tip of a knife around the edges if any donuts need help coming out.
Topping
- Mix together ground cinnamon and sugar in a shallow bowl big enough to dip a donut into.
- Brush with or dip (I prefer to brush) each donut into the melted butter. Then dip each donut into the cinnamon sugar. Coat on all sides. Place onto your serving tray and serve!
Notes
- Always use fresh baking soda.
- Don’t use pumpkin pie filling for this recipe!
- When combining your wet and dry ingredients to create your pumpkin batter, mix JUST until all of the ingredients are combined and there are no more streaks of flour.
- Your donuts are done when they spring back when lightly touched. They will still be light in color. Mine only take 10 minutes, so I would start watching around minute 9.
- If you over bake them because you think the color is too light, they won’t be as soft. So don’t go by color.
- Gently run the tip of a knife around the inside and outside of the donut to detach it from the pan if your donuts don’t slide right out of the pan when turned upside down.
Nutrition
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