Pumpkin Baked Donuts (Healthy Fall Snacks)

This recipe of baked pumpkin donuts is sweet, light and healthier than the any other fried donuts you will find elsewhere. We love our donuts from our local Sunshine Donuts Bakery but they are a treat and not something we like to give our kids everyday. You can also make these donuts as muffins

Ingredients For Pumpkin Donuts

Pumpkin

You can use canned pumpkin or fresh pumpkin for this recipe. I like to cook a pumpkin or two at the beginning of the fall season and freeze my pumpkin puree for all my pumpkin recipes throughout the festive months. If you are using a whole pumpkin check out my post on how to make pumpkin puree.

Flour

In most of my recipes I like to use 1/2 all purpose 1/2 whole wheat but for these donuts I choose to use 100% All Purpose Flour. All purpose has a much lighter texture insuring a good rise and lighter donut.

Sugar

Sugar is our sweetener, you can substitute with a 1:1 ratio of Monk Fruit Sweetener or honey or maple syrup. If you use honey or maple syrup consider reducing the milk by 1/4 of a cup to make up for the added moisture.

I like to use organic cane sugar from Azure Standard. If you’ve never heard from azure standard before you should check our my Azure Standard Review to learn more.

Milk

I use rice milk or regular milk sometimes I even use just plain water. What ever type of milk you typically use will work for this recipe. If you use water use a little less, instead of 3/4 cup use 1/2 at first then add a tablespoon more if needed.

Eggs

Eggs are a bonding ingredient, they are very important to the texture of baked goods. We want our donuts to be soft with a little springy but not crumbly. Eggs also help with the raise, keeping the donuts from becoming dense.

Baking Soda and Baking Powder

This recipe calls for both baking soda and baking powder. Baking soda is activated as soon as it is mixed in so we want to add it in last. Baking powder is also activated at the mixing point but also has some agents in it that need heat to insure activation. By adding both of these raising agents we get a longer raise throughout the baking process giving us a fluffy donut.

Spices

Our spices include cinnamon, nutmeg, all-spice. These spices add so much flavor and you can easily adjust the amounts and create a whole new flavor. If you favor one flavor over the other you can experiment by adding a extra 1/4 teaspoon to the spice you want to stand out. Reduce another spice you want to be more subtle then the others.

I also really like freshly ground nutmeg. This is optional but if you have never tried grating your own nutmeg from whole cloves you are missing out. I love the taste of nutmeg and fresh nutmeg does not disappoint!

Salt

Enhance the flavor with good salt like Redmond Real Salt. If you are looking for a unrefined natural salt with multiple minerals and electrolytes harvested in the United States of America, then look no further. Redmond Real Salt is full of flavor and nutrients and harvested out of the ancient seabed deep beneath Central Utah.

How To Make Pumpkin Donuts

Preheat Oven to 350 Degrees

Mix Wet Ingredients Together

In a large bowl mix together pumpkin, eggs, milk and whisk together.

Add Dry Ingredients

Add sugar first, then flour, spices, salt and your baking powder and baking soda. Mix all together until smooth. You can also mix all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl then add together but personally I like to use less dishes.

Spoon or Pipe Batter Into Donut Molds

With Silicone Donut Molds spoon or pipe your batter into. Using a piping bag goes a lot smoother, faster and cleaner but is not necessary.

Bake

Bake for 15-18 minutes at 350 degrees. I like to place my donuts molds on a baking sheet for easier transportation. Let cool a few minutes before taking them out of the molds

Add Caramel or Maple Glaze

You can drizzle caramel syrup on your donuts as I did or you can make a very simple maple glaze with powdered sugar and maple syrup. Add 1/2 a cup of sugar to 1-2 teaspoon of syrup. Mix together and drizzle or dip your donut.

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