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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 just made these and the kids love them! Having allergies and being in Australia I had to make a few substitutions. I used a gluten free flour mix and some chic pea flour. I used rapadura sugar and rice milk. Also we don’t have canned pumpkin in Australia so just used cooked and pureed.
They are great. I didn’t ice them as I thought I would see if the kids like them without and they do! I would ice them is I was making them for visitors or a special occassion as my kids are used to things not being as sweet. Even my ASD son loved them and I have had to hide the rest! Thanks for all your great recipes.
Just tested this out on my kids this morning – yet another great recipe! They came out soft and the flavor wasn’t too overwhelming. I piped a dozen donuts onto my baking sheet but still had some batter left over, so I piped a bunch of donut holes too and they also worked great! Just pipe a blob about the sized of a golf ball and use a spoon to smooth out the peak at the top. I drizzled glaze on the donuts and dipped the tops of the munchkins to coat. So good!
Oh, and if you can find “apple cider molasses” to dip the donuts in, I highly recommend it – yummmmm!
well after having to substitute in 1/2c whole wheat pastry flour, adding too much molasses to the white sugar to make brown, putting in a full cup of pumpkin puree instead of the 1/2 called for, then adding more flour, baking powder, and baking soda to compensate – these still came out pretty good! It was just one of those mornings. Look forward to making them again following the recipe this time.
I did not have pumpkin pie spice , used allspice instead – worked fine. Didn’t have a “silpat,” I found out was a handy little silicone baking mat; and I discovered I was out of parchment paper. I used the large cookie scoop (1 1/2 in diameter) from pampered chef and scooped into a cupcake liner, then used a testtube size container to make a little hole/indent. Only cook for about 8 mins. Very tasty. The men working on my basement loved them! My diabetic husband also like them, since it only has 1/2 cup sugar was too bad for him either. Can’t wait to share with my girls (when they get home for Christmas).
Catherine,
As I LOVE maple, do you think substituting some of the brown sugar with maple syrup would work? I make pumpkin pancakes for my daughter and the little bit of maple is so yummy with the pumpkin. I’m guessing the 1/2 cup might be too much?
[…] in our area and I was asked to bring a dessert. I love looking at Weelicious.com and found this Pumpkin Doughnut […]
These look great. Do you think these can be frozen? I’d love to freeze some for my boy’s breakfast snack at preschool.
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Made these for Halloween night & the kids we hosted. Big hit with the kids & adults. Thanks again for a great recipe.
We made these yesterday and loved them especially with the glaze! Both my kids enjoyed making them with me..love to hear my toddler talk about dry ingredients an wet ingredients. Had to give a plate to my neighbours and teachers so I didn’t eat them all today! Will make them for a brunch someday
made these this morning. they were amazing!! thanks for the recipe!!
I wonder how they would be as donut holes? I am going to try them in the morning and roll them in the cin. sugar as one person had suggested.
Made these as part of breakfast this morning. Didn’t make the glaze since kiddos had more than enough sugar over Halloween. These were AMAZING. Both girls yelled “make them again sometime!”
Made these as part of our sunday breakfast. Really fabulous. My daughter raved and she’s one picky eater.
We really liked these. Of course they’re more like cakey cookies as they’re baked flat, but my little guy (who is a bit obsessed with doughnuts, much to my disappointment) didn’t care at all and was perfectly happy to accept them as doughnuts! I used all whole wheat pastry flour instead of white and I only used about 1 1/2 T of butter and then subbed some homemade unsweetened applesauce to make up the rest of the 1/4 cup of butter that was called for. I also didn’t have enough brown sugar, so I used more like 1/3 cup and they’re sweet enough (especially considering the glaze and my applesauce added sweetness too). Oh, and I added a dash of vanilla because I always add vanilla to baked sweets. I topped 1/2 of them with the glaze and 1/2 with a dusting of powdered sugar – they’re good both ways. Also, I had some fresh pumpkin in the freezer that I used instead of canned. It is so easy to cook a fresh pumpkin – I just poked a knife around the top a few times for steam to escape and then put the whole pumpkin on the oven rack with a sheet pan on the rack below to catch any drippings. I roasted it at 400 for 45 min or so until it was tender and then it just fell apart when I cut it – I scooped out the seeds and then put the flesh into the blender to puree and froze it in 1/2 cup servings. Super easy, especially with roasting it whole because I hate trying to cut uncooked pumpkins and squashes.