It’s finally time for fall baking and I want all the pumpkin treats, including these baked pumpkin spice donuts! They’re loaded with pumpkin spice flavor and incredibly moist on the inside. It doesn’t stop there though! Dip these homemade donuts in a maple glaze or coat them in cinnamon sugar and everyone will go NUTS!!!
Why this is the best recipe for baked pumpkin donuts:
I hate those recipes that only use a small portion of a can of pumpkin puree and leave you with the rest. I never know what to do with the leftover! Luckily, this recipe uses the ENTIRE CAN of pumpkin and results in super soft, tender donuts because of it! These pumpkin donuts are also baked, not fried, so you don’t have to worry about using a donut cutter or messing around with hot oil!
My top tips for making homemade pumpkin donuts:
- Spray the donut pan with non-stick spray before filling. You want the donuts to remove easily!
- Use a ziploc or piping bag to fill the donut cavities: this makes it MUCH easier to control where the batter is going and results in picture perfect donuts!
- If you opt to dip them in cinnamon sugar, make sure you brush them with unsalted butter beforehand so that the sugar will stick!
- Bring out your wire cooling rack for this recipe. It makes flipping the donuts out of the pan and glazing them A BREEZE!
Ingredients you’ll need for these baked spiced donuts:
- Pure pumpkin puree
- Milk
- Butter
- Vanilla extract
- Brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Eggs
- All-purpose flour
- Pumpkin pie spice
- Ground cinnamon
- Baking powder
How to make the best pumpkin spice donuts:
- Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients (you really only need one bowl for the batter)!
- Prepare your donut pan so nothing sticks!
- Transfer the batter to a piping bag and snip off the corner.
- Pipe the batter evenly into the donut pan and bake.
- In the meantime, make the glaze and/or cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Flip the donuts out of the pan and onto a wire rack to cool.
- Dip or coat the donuts in water topping you choose and place them back on the wire rack to set.
- These are best enjoyed day of!
Here’s the deal with the maple glaze and sugary coating:
Because I love the flavor of both the maple glaze and cinnamon sugar on these pumpkin spice donuts, I wanted to give you the measurements for both! The recipe card shows the measurements for each option as if you were only going to make one. If you decide to do both like I did, you can cut the measurements in half for the maple glaze as well as the cinnamon sugar to avoid waste!
FAQ:
These donuts are not traditional cake donuts because they aren’t fried. They do a very similar texture to cake donuts though. In fact, these donuts are like mini sponge cakes themselves!
The melted butter will help the cinnamon-sugar mixture stick to the surface. If you are like me and want lots of coating on the outside of your donuts, don’t skip this step!
You could easily turn this recipe into pumpkin muffins if you don’t have a donut pan. Make the recipe as is, they will just have a different baking time. I’s recommend checking them for doneness after 20-25 minutes in the oven.
For best results, these donuts are definitely best enjoyed right away, but you can store them in an airtight for up to 2 days after baking. If you dipped them in glaze, I would avoid stacking them so that you don’t disrupt the pretty tops of the pumpkin donuts!
Pumpkin Spice Donuts
Equipment
- 1 whisk or spatula for mixing
- 1 piping bag (plastic bag works too)
- 1 donut pan
- 1 wire cooling rack
Ingredients
- (1) 15 oz can pure pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup butter melted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp baking powder
For the maple glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar add more if glaze looks too thin
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp milk add more if glaze looks too thick
For cinnamon sugar coating:
- 1/4 cup melted unsalted butter for brushing
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine pumpkin puree, milk, melted butter, vanilla extract, brown sugar, granulated sugar and eggs. Whisk until smooth.
- Sprinkle in flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and ground cinnamon. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
- Spray your donut pan with nonstick spray or grease with butter.
- Transfer the donut batter to a plastic bag or piping bag and cut off the end tip. Fill the donut pan cavities with batter (you may have to repeat this depending on the size of your donut pan).
- Bake for 16 to 18 minutes or until they are puffed and spongey to the touch.
- In the meantime, grab two separate bowls and combine the ingredients for the maple glaze in one and the ingredients for cinnamon sugar in the other (or just choose one).
- Flip the pan of warm donuts onto a wire cooling rack and let the donuts some to room temperature.
- If using the maple glaze, dip the tops of the donuts in the glaze and return them to the wire rack to set.
- If tossing in cinnamon sugar, melt butter and brush the surface of each donut with the unsalted butter, then liberally coat them in cinnamon sugar. Make sure to not use too much butter or else the sugar will clump.
- Enjoy with a warm cup of coffee or tea for the ultimate experience!
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