Baked Pumpkin Spice Donuts: How to Make this Easy & Delicious Recipe

I love pumpkin spice recipes. I’ve made a lot of pumpkin recipes over the years, but I’ve never made baked pumpkin spice donuts before. There are other baked donut recipes I’ve made (like these baked lemon donuts) but never baked pumpkin donuts. Ironically, one of my most viral pins has always been this 12 baked donuts recipe pin. However, I’ve rarely made baked donuts.

I’m not sure why I’ve made such few baked donut recipes because they are really so simple to make. Plus, they are way healthier than other versions of donuts, yet taste really delicious. Honestly, I can’t believe I’ve never made this baked pumpkin donut recipe before. They turned out so well and my kids were obsessed with them. I chose to top them in with butter and then roll them in cinnamon sugar. However, you could also create a simple glaze using powdered sugar, vanilla and milk and then sprinkle that with cinnamon sugar. 

To make these baked pumpkin spice donuts, you only need some basic baking ingredients that you probably have on hand. I don’t know about you, but I tend to always keep a few cans of canned pumpkin in my cabinet during the fall. We’ve always been big pumpkin bread and pumpkin cookies fans. Whenever we want something warm and spicy during the fall, I tend to whip up a quick recipe. I do love to bake, but especially when they are simple recipes that everyone loves. That’s exactly what these pumpkin spice donuts are – a new family favorite.

The only cooking tip I can offer is make sure to pay attention to the baking time and do insert a toothpick into at least two of the donuts. I baked mine for 15 (ovens will vary), but I noticed that most of them were just perfectly cooked and moist, but a few of them were just slightly underdone. I think if I had left them in for 1-2 minutes longer, I wouldn’t have had a few that were on the just slightly underdone side. Yet, with baked donuts, you also don’t want to overcook them because they will become dry.

You’ll also want to be sure to get a donut pan. I used this one. Although you don’t need to have two pans, it does make the process way simpler. This recipe makes about 18 donuts, so it’s much quicker to be able to make the first dozen at once and then the half dozen on the second bake around. Otherwise, I had to bake in three batches, which just stretched the whole process a bit more. But on a positive note, you can glaze them in butter and cover them in cinnamon sugar while they are still warm. I’m sure you’re going to love this recipe, so give it a try! 

Pumpkin Spice Donuts

Ingredients:

Donuts:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
2 teaspoons baking powder 
1 teaspoon kosher salt 
One 15-ounce can of pumpkin puree 
1 1/2 cups sugar 
1/3 cup vegetable oil 
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
3 large eggs 

Toppings:

3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 

Directions:

For the doughnuts: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Whisk the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Beat the pumpkin puree, sugar, vegetable oil, butter, vanilla, and eggs together in another large bowl until smooth. Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and beat until just combined.

Fill three 6-cup nonstick doughnut pans with the batter so that each mold is almost full. Smooth the tops with a moistened finger.
Bake the doughnuts until a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Invert the doughnuts onto a cooling rack.

For the topping: Stir the sugar and cinnamon together in a shallow bowl. Working one at a time, brush the doughnuts all over with butter, then dip them in the cinnamon sugar to coat. Serve warm or at room temperature.