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When I started making babysitting money around the age of 12, one of my favorite things to spend it on wasn’t clothes or toys, it was donuts. There were two bakeries in town that sold the most unbelievably decadent donuts and I was addicted to them.
Even before entering either shop, the rich, delightful smell of the light, sweet, floury treats would envelope me and once inside I would press my face against the glass case, trying to decide which flavor was calling my name the loudest. Both bakeries were pretty amazing and while all of the flavors were yummy, the seasonal donuts were some of my favorites.
Now that fall is here, so is my love of making all things pumpkin. And why not pumpkin donuts? And while fried donuts are a nostalgic treat, I’ll leave that kind of preparation to the bakeries.
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Baking them in a donut pan is simple and it allows you to remove all the danger and mess of a pot of hot oil but retain the same fun factor of eating a delicious donut at home!
If you make these beauties and post them on social make sure to tag #weelicious so I can see them!
Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts
Ingredients
Pumpkin Doughnuts:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/3 cup milk
- Cinnamon Icing:
Cinnamon Icing:
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Combine the first 5 ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
- In a standing mixer or bowl using a hand mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar.
- Add the egg, the pumpkin puree and milk.
- Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined.
- Place the dough in a large zipper bag, seal the bag airtight and then cut off ½ inch of one corner.
- Pipe the dough into a greased doughnut pan. Bake for 15 minutes and allow to cool.
- To make the icing, place all of the ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine.
- Drizzle icing over each doughnut and serve.
I made these today for breakfast and I loved them! There were some ingredients I didn’t have, so I just substituted. I used whole wheat flour and coconut oil instead of butter. I also didn’t have powdered sugar so I just drizzled the doughnuts with honey and sprinkled with cinnamon. Delicious!
Mmmm, I can’t wait to try this! I enjoyed reading the posts. I sooo need a donut pan! And i second the idea about apple cider donuts. Love the idea for cinnamon topping. I would love to look into that Lakanto. Thanks everyone!
i made these last night with apple puree instead of pumpkin and cinnamon instead of pumpkin spice. they were FABULOUS! they flattened out a little looking more like a scone than a donut but they were so good! i will definately make them again. i just love weelicious.com!!!!
I just made two batches of these and they taste amazing! One thing I noticed is that my first batch rose more, they kept a bigger hole and the surface is very smooth. The second ones are lower and the surface has little holes in it. What could be the reason for that? The only thing I could think of is that for the first batch I melted the butter, used a little less sugar. Could that be the reason?
Would it make any difference if we swapped in pastry flour or cake flour? I happen to have several types of flour on hand and wondered if it would work too.
Any thoughts on Baked Apple Cider donuts?
I love adding flax to foods. Did you have to add moisture into the recipe?
I’m interested in using ground flax seed as well Katie. Could you taste the flax in the donut?
These were amazing! Such a great recipe, Thanks Catherine! I made them with ground flax instead of egg (my little girl has an egg allergy) and they were perfect. Everyone loved them! I also used pumpkin pie filling and cut down on the pumpkin pie spice and it seemed to work. Thanks again!
Bake your donuts with Lakanto, a brown sugar-looking granulated wonder: expensive and worth it. Buy it at sarayahealth. Glycemic index-free, calorie-free, doesn’t feed candida, you can bake with it, and it has nothing artificial. I find it very delicious and super sweet. They say it is equal to sugar but it is sweeter to my taste. I have used it for 5 years and I love it to make muffins, chocolate, mousse, everything delicious and wheat-free. Lakanto was created by Donna Gates of bodyecology.com. Body Ecology Diet advocates it, and diabetics will love it, I’d imagine. Aloha!
I’m type 2 diabetic …. has anyone tried this with non-sugar sweeteners?
I made some with more powdered sugar too and the icing was a lot thicker and more white. In the recipe I kept it a little less sugary but by all means, add some more!
Just made these!!! I used my mini-donut pan just cause I already had it. Would rec 12 min cooking time instead of 15, bottoms were a little brown. Also, I could seem to get the glaze to stay on like in the picture. It seems a little too soupy so I added more conf sugar but it just slightly coated the tops. I tried it both cool and warm. Otherwise really good!!! My peanut allegry kid could have a treat this Halloween!!
These sound good … and, though I use canned pumpkin, too, I also puree the fresh pumpkins I get around this time of year. It isn’t all that hard to do, guys ….. I usually wash the pumpkin well and cut it in half, put it in the oven and bake until soft. Then I scoop out the flesh and put it through the blender – it does have a fresher taste than the canned. I usually divide it up in small portions and freeze. I’m gonna try this recipe with the pumpkin sitting on our front porch (not carved!). 🙂
I just made them with whole wheat pastry flour (I always sub that for white in weelicious recipes) and it worked great!
I think white whole wheat would work great.