Moist donuts made with pumpkin and lots of fall spices are a sweet way to start your fall morning. Delicious baked donuts are ready to eat in just 20 minutes.
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This fall make homemade donuts that are ready to eat in just 20 minutes. A delicious treat that is perfect for a weekend breakfast or brunch with friends or family.
Made with pumpkin and lots of fall spices, these melt-in-your-mouth moist donuts aren’t fried, they are baked. You can almost think of them as somewhere in between pumpkin bread and a donut.
With a beautiful orange color to match the changing colors outside, you’ll want to make these all season long. Enjoy your warm pumpkin donuts with a mug of coffee or cup of tea.
Pumpkin Donuts Ingredients
- Sugar - brown sugar
- Baking soda
- Baking powder
- Flour - all-purpose flour
- Sugar - granulated sugar
- Ground nutmeg
- Pumpkin pie spice
- Cinnamon
- Ground cloves
- Salt
- Butter - melted
- Egg - beaten
- Vinegar
- Heavy whipping cream
- Vanilla extract
- Pumpkin puree - make sure you buy pure pumpkin puree and not canned pumpkin pie filling
- Sugar - powdered sugar
- Half & half - you can make your own half and half cream by mixing equal parts heavy whipping cream and milk
Baked donuts are so easy to make at home, with no complicated methods or ingredients, all you need is an oven and a donut pan. To make getting the batter into your donut pan simple, you can fill a disposable pastry bag or a Ziploc bag with the donut batter. Then snip the corner off and slowly pipe the batter into the mini donut pan.
To prevent the donuts from spilling over as they rise make sure to only fill each donut mold halfway full. If you don’t have a donut pan you can also use this recipe to make fun donut holes in a mini muffin pan. Fill the mini muffin tin ¾ full and reduce the baking time by two or three minutes.
Top finished pumpkin donuts with a pumpkin glaze, brown sugar icing, maple glaze, or cinnamon sugar topping. Use a pastry brush or spoon to glaze the donuts, or dip them into the glaze for a thicker topping. While the glaze is still warm you could add cinnamon sugar, chopped nuts, toasted coconut, or even sprinkles.
How to Make Pumpkin Donuts
FIRST STEP: Preheat oven to 350°F.
SECOND STEP: In a small bowl, melt 1 tablespoon butter in the microwave. Remove and let cool.
THIRD STEP: In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients: brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, flour, sugar, ground nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, ground cloves, and salt. Using a fork to stir.
FOURTH STEP: Once melted butter has cooled, add beaten egg, vinegar, heaving whipping cream, and vanilla extract. Whisk together.
FIFTH STEP: Add egg mixture to dry mixture in a large mixing bowl. Stir well.
SIXTH STEP: Add pumpkin puree to the mixture. Stir until all ingredients are evenly combined.
SEVENTH STEP: Spray the donut pan with nonstick cooking spray.
EIGHTH STEP: Using a disposable piping bag, fill with mixture. Try to eliminate air bubbles, pushing the mixture toward the tip. Using scissors, snip the tip of the piping bag.
NINTH STEP: Slowly fill each donut cavity halfway full.
TENTH STEP: Bake the first batch of mini cake donuts for approximately 10 minutes. Remove. Let cool. Use a butter knife or spoon to gently release the donuts or turn the pan upside down and gently tap the pan on the counter. They should fall onto the countertop. Watch out or one will probably fall right into your hand, begging to be eaten while it’s warm.
ELEVENTH STEP: Wipe the donut pan clean and repeat steps 9 and 10.
TWELFTH STEP: Combine all ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Stir well with a whisk or fork. Reduce or add the amount of powdered sugar to get the desired consistency.
THIRTEENTH STEP: Using a brush or small spoon, add glaze to donuts. Let it set for 10 minutes.
FOURTEENTH STEP: Serve with sprinkles, if desired.
What if I don’t have a donut pan?
If you don’t have, or can’t find, a 12-cavity mini donut pan, you can use this recipe to make fun pumpkin holes using a mini muffin pan and filling the tin ¾ full. Reduce the baking time by two or three minutes when making pumpkin donut holes.
How do you melt the butter?
Butter can easily separate when melting it in the microwave. To prevent the butter from separating don’t melt it completely. Remove the butter while there are still a few lumps remaining and then swirl the butter gently.
What toppings can I put on my donuts?
Top the donuts with a pumpkin glaze, or add a tablespoon of maple syrup to the glaze for a different flavor. While the glaze is still warm you could add a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar or pumpkin pie spice. You could also top your donuts with finely chopped nuts, toffee pieces, toasted coconut, or sprinkles.
How to Store Pumpkin Donuts
ON THE COUNTER: Baked donuts are best served the day they are made, but leftover donuts can be stored in a single layer in an airtight container for 1 to 2 days.
Pumpkin Donuts
Ingredients
Pumpkin Donuts
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ tablespoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup flour
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅓ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon butter melted
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup pumpkin puree
Pumpkin Glaze
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ¼ cup half & half
Instructions
For the Pumpkin Donuts
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a small bowl, melt 1 tablespoon butter in the microwave. Remove and let cool.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients: brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, flour, sugar, ground nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, ground cloves, and salt. Using a fork to stir.
- Once melted butter has cooled, add beaten egg, vinegar, heaving whipping cream, and vanilla extract. Whisk together.
- Add egg mixture to dry mixture in large mixing bowl. Stir well.
- Add pumpkin puree to mixture. Stir until all ingredients are evenly combined.
- Spray the donut pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Using a disposable piping bag, fill with mixture. Try to eliminate air bubbles, pushing mixture toward the tip. Using scissors, snip the tip of the piping bag.
- Slowly fill each donut cavity halfway full.
- Bake first batch of mini cake donuts for approximately 10 minutes. Remove. Let cool. Use a butter knife or spoon to gently release the donuts or turn the pan upside down and gently tap the pan on the counter. They should fall onto the counter top. Watch out or one will probably fall right into your hand, begging to be eaten while it’s warm.
- Wipe the donut pan clean and repeat steps 9 and 10.
For the Pumpkin Glaze
- Combine all ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Stir well with a whisk or fork. Reduce or add amount of powdered sugar to get desired consistency.
- Using a brush or small spoon, add glaze to donuts. Let set for 10 minutes.
- Serve with sprinkles, if desired.
Great recipe! Simple but looks amazingly delicious. Would love to make this one this weekend.
Hmm yummy looks legit that donuts, 🙂
I really wanna try this recipe. What sort of vinegar does it use?
Hi Bekki! It uses regular white vinegar for this recipe.
Baking powder is listed in the written description, but not the ingredient list. How much baking powder should be used?
Thanks for catching that! I've just updated the recipe now! You should use 1/2 tps baking powder.