Baked Pumpkin Spice Donuts
Soft, cakey pumpkin donuts baked rather than fried, brushed with melted butter and rolled in cinnamon sugar while still warm. Eight large donuts in 40 minutes.
By Hanan · Salt & Hearth
Published August 20, 2026
Full quantities, times and temperatures · How we make this site
Prep
15 min
Cook
25 min
Total
40 min
Serves
8
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Baked rather than fried, which means no pot of oil, no thermometer, and no smell in the house for two days. What you get is closer to a cake donut than a raised one — soft, dense, heavily spiced — and the cinnamon sugar coating goes on while they are still warm so it grips properly. The batter is one bowl and takes about ten minutes; the only piece of equipment that matters is a full-size donut pan, because a mini pan will give you sixteen small ones instead of eight generous ones.
Why you'll love this recipe
- Baked, so there is no deep frying and almost no cleanup.
- One bowl, one whisk, one spatula.
- Uses a full 1 1/2 cups of pumpkin puree, which is most of a can.
- The cinnamon sugar coating takes two minutes and does most of the work.
- Eight large donuts, ready inside 40 minutes from start to finish.
Ingredients
For the donuts
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup olive oil or canola oil
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the cinnamon sugar coating
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
Ingredient notes & substitutions
- Pumpkin puree:
- Pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling — the cans sit next to each other and look nearly identical, but the filling is already sweetened and spiced.
- Oil and butter together:
- The oil keeps the crumb soft for days; the butter brings flavour. Using only one gives you a donut that is either bland or dry.
- Pumpkin pie spice:
- Two teaspoons. To make your own: 1 teaspoon cinnamon plus 1/4 teaspoon each of ginger, nutmeg and allspice, and a pinch of cloves.
- Large donut pan:
- Genuinely matters here. A standard mini pan holds far less batter and the donuts bake in about 12 minutes instead of 25.
- Room-temperature eggs:
- Cold eggs firm the melted butter into small solid flecks that never fully mix in.
Method
- 1
Heat the oven to 350F and grease a large donut pan thoroughly, including the centre posts. Baked donut batter sticks to anything you miss, and a torn donut cannot be rescued.
- 2
In a large bowl, whisk the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, granulated sugar, oil, melted butter, eggs and vanilla until completely smooth.
- 3
Add the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder and salt, and fold with a spatula only until the last streak of flour disappears. Stop there — this is a cake batter, and overmixing turns a tender donut rubbery.
- 4
Transfer the batter to a piping bag, or a zip-top bag with one corner snipped off. Spooning the batter in leaves lumpy, uneven donuts; piping is what gives you the clean rings you see in bakery photos.
- 5
Pipe the batter into the pan, filling each mould about three-quarters full and keeping the centre post clear so the hole stays open.
- 6
Bake 22-25 minutes, until the tops spring back when lightly pressed and a toothpick comes out clean.
- 7
Cool in the pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. Turning them out too early tears them; leaving them much longer steams the outside soft.
- 8
Stir the granulated sugar and cinnamon together in a shallow bowl. Brush each donut all over with melted butter, then press it into the cinnamon sugar and turn to coat every surface, including the inside of the hole.
Tips
- Pipe the batter, do not spoon it. It is the single difference between neat donuts and lumpy ones.
- Use a large donut pan rather than a mini one, or you will get sixteen small donuts and a much shorter bake time.
- Grease the centre posts as well as the moulds. That is where they tear.
- Coat them warm. The butter grips a warm donut and the sugar sticks; on a cold donut it slides straight off.
- Store uncoated if you are keeping them more than a day — the sugar draws moisture out and goes sticky.
Variations to try
- Skip the cinnamon sugar and glaze with maple icing: powdered sugar, maple syrup and a splash of milk.
- Use a brown butter icing — brown the butter first, then beat it into powdered sugar with vanilla.
- Add 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips to the batter.
- Coat in pumpkin pie spice sugar instead of cinnamon sugar for a stronger fall flavour.
Storage & make-ahead
Best the day they are made. Store uncoated in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the refrigerator for 3, and coat just before serving — the sugar coating turns wet and sticky overnight. Freeze uncoated for up to 2 months; thaw at room temperature, warm briefly, then butter and coat.
Frequently asked questions
- Can I make these without a donut pan?
- Bake the batter as muffins instead, at 350F for 18-22 minutes. They will not be donuts, but the crumb and flavour are the same.
- Why are my donuts dense and tough?
- Overmixed. Fold only until the flour disappears — a slightly lumpy batter bakes into a better donut than a smooth one.
- Can I fry these instead?
- No. This is a wet cake batter, not a dough, and it will disintegrate in hot oil.
- Why did the coating fall off?
- The donuts were cold. Brush with butter and coat while they are still warm, and the sugar grips.
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