Delicious Baked Pumpkin Donuts are perfectly moist and fluffy, with a warm, spiced pumpkin flavor, and covered in cinnamon sugar for a sweet treat that's perfect for any occasion!
Try my Pumpkin Roll, Starbucks Copycat Pumpkin Scones, Pumpkin Snickerdoodles, or this Pumpkin Cheesecake for more pumpkin-flavored desserts!
These pumpkin donuts are the perfect sweet breakfast for any Fall morning with a glass of cold milk! You can make these donuts any time of year, but they are perfect for the holiday season.
With the first cooler breeze of fall, or at the first hint of leaves turning color, out comes all things pumpkin and spiced.
We love donuts for a special treat. For more delicious homemade donuts, try my Baked Chocolate Donuts, Apple Cider Donuts, Baked Strawberry Donuts, Paczki Jelly Donuts, and Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Doughnuts!
Why We Love This Recipe
- We'll be baking and not deep frying these bad boys, so they're basically healthy, right?!
- Use your favorite toppings to make these baked donuts exactly how you like them.
- This easy recipe makes fresh donuts in just 30 minutes without heating any frying oil!
What You'll Need
Scroll down to the recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
- Milk - I used whole milk, but lower-fat milk will work here too.
- Apple Cider Vinegar - Helps the donuts rise and not be dense.
- Flour - Use all-purpose flour for these donuts.
- Sugar - Brown sugar will give these donuts a sweet, caramel flavor.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda - These leavening agents used in tandem make light and fluffy donuts.
- Spices - A combination of warm spices makes these donuts perfect for fall. Use ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves, and salt for the donuts, and ground cinnamon for the topping too.
- Pumpkin Puree - You can find pumpkin puree in grocery stores even out of pumpkin season, or you can use my recipe for Real Pumpkin Puree to make your own with real sugar pumpkins.
- Oil - I used vegetable oil to keep the donuts moist, but you can use canola oil or even olive oil if you prefer.
- Vanilla Extract - Compliments the warm spices, adding a bit of sweetness too.
- Butter - Use melted salted butter to make the top of the donuts moist so the cinnamon sugar sticks to them.
- Sugar & Cinnamon - Granulated sugar and cinnamon mixed together make the cinnamon sugar coating.
How to Make Pumpkin Donuts
- Make flour mixture. Add together all the dry ingredients needed to make the donuts into a large mixing bowl.
- Mix well. Stir the dry ingredients together with a wooden spoon.
- Add wet ingredients. Firstly, mix together the milk and vinegar in a small bowl and let it sit for at least 5 minutes. Then, add the vegetable oil, pumpkin puree, vanilla extract, and milk mixture to the flour mixture.
- Stir. Stir the donut batter mixture well with a wooden spoon. You can use a stand mixer for this batter if you prefer, but you may run the risk of overmixing it.
- Put batter in pan. Pour, spoon, or pipe about ¼ cup of the batter into each donut cavity. The batter should fill the donut cavities about ⅔ of the way up.
- Bake. Bake the donuts for about 13 minutes, using a toothpick to check when they are done. Allow the donuts to cool for at least 10 minutes on a wire rack before adding any toppings.
- Make cinnamon sugar. Make the topping by mixing together the cinnamon and sugar.
- Dip donuts into cinnamon sugar. Once the donuts are cool, dip them in the melted butter, then cover the donuts in the cinnamon and sugar mixture by dipping, rolling, or sprinkling the mixture over them.
Recipe FAQ's
Yes! We think they absolutely are, especially when you add some type of topping to them!
No. This recipe has been made specifically for baking the donut batter in donut molds in the oven. The batter is quite liquidy before baking and has not been tested with frying. If you want a fried pumpkin donut recipe, I would suggest starting with my apple cider donuts and replace the apple with pumpkin.
White sugar and brown sugar (both light & dark) go well in the cinnamon-sugar mixture to top these donuts. The donuts in the photos used white sugar in the cinnamon sugar topping mixture, but use whatever sugar you have on hand.
This recipe has not been tested with gluten-free flour. You can easily make these donuts vegan by replacing the milk with any type of non-dairy milk (such as soy milk or almond milk) and replacing the butter with a vegan substitute.
Store cool donuts in an airtight container or in a Ziploc bag on the counter for up to 3 days. These donuts are best enjoyed the same day they are made or the same day they are thawed from the freezer.
Absolutely! I'd recommend putting them in a freezer bag or freezer-safe container (before adding the topping) and freezing them for up to 3 months. Let the donuts defrost, and then add the topping fresh so it doesn’t seep into the donuts prematurely.
Tips for Success
- The toothpick test. When checking if the donuts are done, the toothpick should come out clean, maybe with a few crumbs. There should not be any batter on the toothpick, though. If there is gooey batter on the toothpick, bake them for another 1-3 minutes.
- Piping bag trick. Use a piping bag with a large tip, or a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off, to transfer the donut batter into the donut pan.
How to Use Excess Pumpkin
Having excess pumpkin around the holidays is a common thing when you're into pumpkin carving and Jack-O-Lanterns! So is having partial cans of pumpkin puree since many recipes (this one included) don't use the whole can.
Here are some ways to use up your excess pumpkin so it doesn't go to waste.
Substitutions and Variations
- Change the topping. These spiced donuts are coated in simple cinnamon sugar, but you can use other toppings if you prefer. Try my Cream Cheese Frosting, Vanilla Buttercream Frosting, a brown butter glaze, or a simple maple glaze made of powdered sugar, water, and maple syrup.
- Use other spices. These Pumpkin Spice Donuts can be made with pumpkin spice plus cinnamon instead of the ginger and cloves we use here.
- Muffin version. Use a muffin pan or mini muffin pan if you don't have a donut pan. The baking temperature and time may vary, though.
More Delicious Pumpkin Recipes
Did you make this recipe?
Let me know what you thought with a comment and rating below. You can also take a picture and tag me on Instagram @houseofnasheats or share it on the Pinterest pin so I can see.
Easy Baked Pumpkin Donuts Recipe
Equipment
- Donut Pan
Ingredients
Donuts
- ½ cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, scooped and leveled (125g)
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping
- ¼ cup salted butter, melted (optional)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease the donut pans, unless you're using silicone donut pans.
- Mix together the milk and vinegar in a small bowl and let sit for at least 5 minutes.
- Stir together all of the dry ingredients for the donuts.
- Add in all of the wet donut ingredients and stir well.
- Pour, or spoon, about ¼ cup of the batter into each donut cavity. The batter should fill the donut cavities about ⅔ of the way up; if it doesn’t, adjust it until it does.
- Bake the donuts for about 13 minutes, using a toothpick to check when they are done. Allow the donuts to cool for at least 10 minutes on a wire rack before topping them.
- Make the topping by whipping together the cinnamon and sugar.
- Once the donuts are cool, dip them in the melted butter, then cover the donuts in the cinnamon and sugar mixture by dipping, rolling, or sprinkling the mixture over the donuts.
Notes
- When checking if the donuts are done, the toothpick should come out clean, maybe with a few crumbs. There should not be any batter on the toothpick, though. If there is gooey batter on the toothpick, bake them for another 1-3 minutes.
- Adding the melted butter before the cinnamon and sugar is optional but enhances the flavor, making it fuller and richer. Since this is a very moist donut the cinnamon and sugar will still stick to the donut without the butter, especially if frozen and defrosted first, just not as well as if using the melted butter.
- Store: Store cool donuts in an airtight container or in a Ziploc bag on the counter for up to 3 days. However, these donuts are best enjoyed the same day they are made or the same day they are thawed from the freezer.
- Freeze: Absolutely! I'd recommend putting them in a freezer bag or freezer-safe container (before adding the topping) and freezing them for up to 3 months. Warm up by thawing at room temperature for about 2 hours. Then, add the topping fresh so it doesn’t seep into the donuts prematurely.
