These Small batch baked Pumpkin Donuts are melt in your mouth good! The recipe is as easy as throwing a couple of ingredients together, putting all of that in the oven and having amazingly delicious and moist pumpkin donuts ready in less than an hour.
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Hi friends!
I can’t stop thinking about these small batch pumpkin donuts that I made yesterday. Honestly didn’t think it was possible to make a donut as delicious as these without frying!
Since fall is in full effect, I wanted to fit the everything pumpkin theme by bringing you something so tasty that even non pumpkin lovers would enjoy… while still using pumpkin!
Funny story is that my sister hates pumpkin baked goods, which then makes her resent fall because everyone is baking just that!
When she came from work yesterday, she frowned for a second since she always says “she just doesn’t like pumpkin desserts” but after a little while she decided to try these baked donuts out. To everyone’s surprise, she loved them and asked for more so I guess we could say this is a tried and approved recipe for non pumpkin lovers too!
What do you need to make these small batch pumpkin donuts?
These donuts do not require much. Things that you have in your pantry will probably be enough!
It starts with: flour, baking powder, spices, and some sea salt. If you do not have pumpkin pie spice on hand, you could always make it yourself by following my homemade pumpkin spice recipe. It is so easy to make and uses spices you already have.
when it comes to the wet ingredients you will need some pumpkin puree, brown sugar, granulated sugar, olive oil, butter, an egg, and some vanilla. As always in most of the recipes that we make with pumpkin, always use pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling! They are totally different.
After baking the donuts, you can enjoy them as is or you can coat them with delicious cinnamon sugar. To make that, mix sugar and cinnamon then dip the buttered donuts in.
How long will these small batch donuts last?
They won’t…
But if you still insist to know how long they will last, well in an airtight container they will last 1-2 days at room temperature. Note that when stored for a while, the moistness of the donuts will absorb the cinnamon and sugar and you will end up with naked donuts. If you really want to store these don’t coat them in the cinnamon sugar until you are ready to eat them.
My advice though would be to eat them all the day of…
Of course not by yourself…
But hey these are baked, so I guess we could say they are a little better for you! So go ahead and have a seconds…
The battle between baked and fried donuts…
This is a huge one!
Granted that many people love donuts because of their fried exterior, this recipe will allow you to get the same satisfaction, minus all the added oil.
This small batch baked donuts have a very cake’y texture which resembled cake donuts you can get at your local donut shop. They are very air-y and absolutely melt in your mouth delicious!
These donuts also come together in a very short amount of time. No need to let them rise and rest. Mix, pipe, bake and enjoy!
The coolest part when speaking about this battle is the clean up afterwards. I don’t know about you, but I have made fried donuts before and… oh the mess I was left with afterwards..
From the oil to the sticky counters, it is not fun at all. So this recipe will absolutely fix that, while still delivering AMAZING baked pumpkin donuts!
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Small Batch Baked Pumpkin Donuts Recipe
Small Batch Pumpkin Donuts
Equipment
- This donut pan.
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¾ cup pumpkin puree
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoon butter melted
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg at room temperature
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
for the coating
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoon butter melted
Instructions
- First, preheat the oven to 350F then lightly grease the donuts pan with cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, olive oil, butter, vanilla, egg, brown sugar, and granulated sugar and whisk until smooth.
- Add the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, and sea salt. Stir the mixture just until combined. Do not overmix.
- Place the batter in a piping bag or a plastic bag over a cup and transfer the donut mixture to the bag. If using the plastic bag method, snip off one of the corners and "pipe" the batter into the prepared donut pan. This will make exactly 4-large donuts!
- Bake for 25 minutes, or until a knife of a toothpick inserted in comes out clean. Let the donuts cool for 10 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.
The coating
- For the coating, stir the sugar and cinnamon together in a shallow container.
- When the donuts are completely cool, melt the 2 tablespoons of butter and brush each donut with the melted butter. Making sure to get every corner of it. One by one dip the donuts in the cinnamon sugar to coat them.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Tips and tricks to nail this recipe
- Use a piping bag! I have filled mini bundt cake pans and donut pans so many times and found that piping in the batter is the best way to go. You really don’t need anything fancy to do so either. If you don’t have a piping bag, use a quart-sized plastic bag and cut off the tip, and evenly squeeze the batter out.
- Since these are meant to be fairly big donuts, you have to use the right donut pan! I used this specific one and it worked wonders each time. It will give you exactly 4 beautifully giant donuts that everyone can enjoy!
- Before piping the donut batter into the donut pan, make sure that you spray it with non stick cooking oil to make sure that the donuts come out easily.
- Let the donuts cool in the donut pan for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool some more. This will prevent you from burning yourself and will allow the donuts to hold their shape better.
Perks of making this small batch pumpkin donuts recipe
- These donuts are not fried which means an easy no mess breakfast option.
- This is a small batch recipe! So no more having to bake 16+ donuts just to enjoy a couple of them. This recipe works perfectly for smaller families or people that want smaller servings to stay on track.
Other pumpkin recipes you HAVE to make this season!
- Healthy Pumpkin bread with chocolate chips (with a secret ingredient) this super healthy pumpkin bread is the perfect option breakfast or snack option this fall season. Plus it is guilt free, and who does not like that!
- Iced Pumpkin Hot chocolate (vegan|plant based) this amazing drink, uses only 3 ingredients and is so delicious if it is still not super cold where you like!
Products that I love
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anita
Wow!! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe it is wonderful! My family enjoyed these donuts immensely!And the best part is it is so easy! LOVE them!
Chahinez
You’re so welcome Anita! I’m happy that your family loved them!!
Kim Williams
I made these last weekend and they were AMAZING! My husband said it was one of the best things I’ve ever made. Will definitely be making these again!
Chahinez
I am so happy to hear that, Kim!
Chahinez
Emily
These were phenomenal. I have never made baked (or fried for that matter) donuts before. I was able to borrow a tray from a friend so I didn’t need to buy new supplies for the first try. But they are delicious. I probably need a donut tray of my own. We made 6 medium sized ones, instead of 4 large but the recipe and cooking time was still correct.
I didn’t have a piping bag but used a Ziploc bag and it worked so well.
Delicious thank you!
Zoe
These look delicious! Pumpkin desserts aren’t a big thing where I live in Australia but I’m excited to try! Out of curiousity, would these also work with other kinds of puree, like Apple?
Chahinez
I hope you love them! Unfortunately, I haven’t tried them with apple puree before. The apple puree might change the texture of the batter and make it more wet depending on how wet it is. So you can play around with it and maybe add a big more flour to balance out the wetness of the apple puree and see.
Definitely let us know how they turn out if you try that:)
Chahiez
Anthony
These are the best pumpkin donuts I’ve ever made hands down. Thank you
Chahinez
Thank you so much for the kind review! So happy to hear you enjoyed these!
Chahinez
Alex Wojciak
Those look great!
Lifestyle of a Foodie
Thank you so much Alex!
indianeskitchen
You nailed it! These look perfect!
Lifestyle of a Foodie
Thank you so much! Hope you give them a try!
JOY journal
These look so good. I am going to have to get a donut pan one of these days. Maybe I’ll put it on my Christmas list. 🙂
Lifestyle of a Foodie
That’s a pretty nice Christmas gift to get! These donuts are totally worth it too! ❤️
nancyc
These pumpkin donuts look so yummy! I’m glad it’s a small batch recipe too—you can’t do too much damage that way, right? 🙂
Lifestyle of a Foodie
Absolutely! And you’ll be sure to have them when fresh! 🙂
SweetnSpicyLiving
I love small batch recipes and these donuts looks great! I would like to give this a try 🙂
Lifestyle of a Foodie
I do too! Minimizes the damage that way! Plus the recipe itself is incredible!
Robin at Haphazard Homemaker
They look pretty tasty!
Lifestyle of a Foodie
Thank you so much Robin!