Baked pumpkin donuts are soft, cake-like pumpkin donuts coated in sweet cinnamon sugar. They come together in less than 30 minutes, making them an easy fall treat that’s perfect for breakfast, dessert, or an afternoon snack.
When pumpkin season rolls around, these baked pumpkin donuts are one of my favorite ways to bring a little pumpkin spice into the kitchen. They’re soft, tender cake donuts coated in cinnamon sugar, and because they’re baked instead of fried, they’re easy enough to make whenever the craving strikes.
One of my favorite things about this recipe is how quickly it comes together. In less than 30 minutes, you can have warm homemade pumpkin donuts ready to enjoy for breakfast, as an afternoon treat, or as an easy fall dessert.
Ingredient notes and substitutions
- Butter: If using unsalted butter, increase the salt by 1/4 teaspoon.
- Oil: I like to use olive oil, but any neutral oil, like vegetable oil or canola oil, will work.
- Buttermilk: If you don’t have buttermilk, you can easily make a buttermilk substitute.
- Pumpkin puree: Be sure to use pure pumpkin puree (canned pumpkin) and not pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin pie filling has sugar and spices already added to it.
- Pumpkin pie spice: Pumpkin pie spice is a blend of warm spices like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice. You can make homemade pumpkin pie spice blend with this recipe.
How to make baked pumpkin donuts
Here you’ll find instructions and step-by-step photos showing how to make this recipe. The full recipe, including ingredients, is given below.
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease 3 6-well doughnut pans with nonstick spray. Set aside.
Step 2: In a large bowl, whisk together brown sugar and wet ingredients (melted butter, oil, buttermilk, egg, egg yolk, pumpkin puree, and vanilla) until combined.
Step 3: Add dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt). Stir until just combined.
Step 4: Spoon batter into greased donut pan. You can also pipe batter if you prefer. Fill them about ⅔ full. You may need to bake them in batches depending on how many donut pans you have.
Step 5: Bake donuts for about 12-15 minutes, or until the tops spring back when pressed lightly.
Step 6: Remove donuts from the pans and transfer to a wire cooling rack.
Step 7: While donuts are warm, prepare the topping: In a small bowl, combine cinnamon and sugar.
Step 8: Lightly brush donuts with melted butter.
Step 9: Generously coat the donuts in the cinnamon sugar mixture. You can dip the tops of the donuts in cinnamon sugar and then turn to coat.
Recipe Tips!
- Don’t overmix the batter.: Mix just until the ingredients are combined for tender donuts.
- Use a piping bag or zip-top bag: Piping the batter into the donut pan makes filling the molds quick and easy.
- Don’t overbake: The donuts should spring back lightly when touched.
- Coat while still warm: The cinnamon sugar sticks best when the donuts are still slightly warm.
- Grease the pan well: This helps the donuts release cleanly.
- Topping: You can glaze the donuts if you prefer to skip the cinnamon sugar topping.
Storage
Store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature. They will keep for up to 3 days when properly stored.
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Baked Pumpkin Donuts
Equipment
Ingredients
Donuts
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- ¼ cup salted butter melted
- ¼ cup neutral oil
- ⅓ cup buttermilk at room temperature
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk at room temperature
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Cinnamon sugar topping
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup salted butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease 3 6-well doughnut pans with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add brown sugar, melted butter, oil, buttermilk, egg, egg yolk, pumpkin, and vanilla. Whisk to combine.1 cup light brown sugar, ¼ cup salted butter, ¼ cup neutral oil, ⅓ cup buttermilk, 1 large egg, 1 large egg yolk, 1 cup canned pumpkin puree, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add flour, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir until just combined.1 ½ cups all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Spoon batter into prepared donut pans. Fill them about ⅔ full. You may need to bake them in batches depending on how many donut pans you have.
- Bake for about 12-15 minutes, or until the tops spring back when pressed lightly.
- Remove donuts from the pans and transfer to a wire rack.
- While donuts are warm, prepare the topping: In a small bowl, combine cinnamon and sugar.½ cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Lightly brush donuts with melted butter.¼ cup salted butter
- Generously coat the donuts in the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Notes
- Butter: If using unsalted butter, increase the salt by 1/4 teaspoon.
- Oil: I like to use olive oil, but any neutral oil, like vegetable oil or canola oil, will work.
- Buttermilk: If you don’t have buttermilk, you can easily make a buttermilk substitute.
- Pumpkin pie spice: You can make homemade pumpkin pie spice blend with this recipe.
- Nutrition values are estimates.
Nutrition
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