The Best Baked Pumpkin Donuts
post by Melissa
I have a thing for donuts. I love them, I mean love them. But unfortunately fried dough is terrible for you, so I’m always trying to find a way to make donuts a healthier treat. Enter the baked donut. I made these chocolate baked donuts last year and I knew it was time to try something seasonal, something delicious, something pumpkin!
These donuts are amazing. They are light, full of flavor and topped with sweet cinnamon and sugar.
Read more for the recipe.
Baked Pumpkin Donut Recipe
1 1/2 cups white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 t salt
2 t baking powder
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 t allspice
1 egg
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 t vanilla
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
– Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
– Whisk together flours, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice in a medium bowl.
– Whisk together in a separate large mixing bowl the egg, oil, milk, vanilla, pumpkin puree and brown sugar. Then slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir until blended. Make sure not to over stir.
– Fill greased Donut Pan
and bake for 12-14 minutes. Let them cool in the pan for a couple of minutes, then transfer donuts to cooling rack. Brush on melted butter and cover with cinnamon and sugar. Serve!
Makes 12-15 donuts. Make sure and serve immediately. If you want to save some for later, don’t top with butter and sugar until then.
photos by Melissa Fenlon. all rights reserved.
I don’t have a donut pan – do you have any ideas for alternatives? I’m thinking if the dough is pretty sturdy, I could just pipe it into circles on a cookie sheet or muffin tin?
You can make donut holes by using a mini muffin pan. Put about 1 T of batter in each spot.
Where is it listed to mix in Pumpkin Puree?
Debbie, thanks for the question. Mix with all other wet ingredients. I just fixed the recipe 🙂
This looks like it makes quite a few donuts! I’m excited to try it out, but I’m concerned I won’t go through them all before they turn stale. What would you recommend for freezing/refrigerating? Is it better to bake them all and store the excess? Or is it better to store the unused dough and bake it later? Thanks!
Try freezing the donuts. I freeze muffins often and they thaw quite well.
Baking soda or baking powder?
Baking powder.
Hi, Melissa,
Thanks for this recipe. I’ve had some frozen pumpkin puree that I couldn’t figure out what to use it for for a while; I don’t even recall what I originally bought it for! I was reluctant to buy a donut pan because many new recipes I try don’t come out that great although I’m an excellent cook; now I recall what I originally bought the pumpkin for ;)!
In any case, I’m going to buy a donut pan and try your recipe. It’s also nice that you answer posts here too! Thanks again. Happy Holidays!
Hope you enjoy the donuts!