Baked Pumpkin Donut Holes
Baked pumpkin donut holes coated with cinnamon and sugar. These make the perfect breakfast for fall!
I’ve been super excited to share this recipe with you all for a while now. I’ve mentioned my baked pumpkin donuts quite a few times lately, to say that I’m obsessed with them would probably be an understatement. They are soft, light, full of pumpkin flavor, and just seriously good.
I decided to double the recipe with a few small changes to make some donut holes. I added a bit more pumpkin to the batter, because well, I love pumpkin. I also decreased the sugar just a bit, since we’re coating these with cinnamon and sugar they will be plenty sweet enough.
The donut holes are actually baked in a mini muffin pan and incredibly easy to make. I only fill mine about 3/4 of the way full and I usually end up with about 32-34 donut holes. If you just have one mini muffin pan, you’ll have to bake these in two separate batches. But, they only take about 12 minutes to bake, so they still come together pretty quickly.
After they come out of the oven, you’ll let them cool a bit while you melt some butter and mix up the cinnamon and sugar. You’ll give them a quick dunk in the butter, I always make sure they’re completely coated in the butter so that the cinnamon and sugar will stick better. Then comes the best part, the cinnamon and sugar coating! You’ll toss them around in that and you’re done.
These are best eaten the same day that you prepare them. You can bake the actual donut holes a little ahead of time and then coat them in the cinnamon and sugar just before serving.
Just looking at these pictures makes me think a second breakfast of pumpkin donut holes is in order.
Baked Pumpkin Donut Holes
Ingredients
Pumpkin Donut Holes:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Cinnamon Sugar Coating:
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 and 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a mini muffin pan well with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, egg, milk, unsalted butter, and vanilla until fully combined.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Spoon or pipe the batter into the mini muffin cavities about 3/4 of the way full. Bake at 350 degrees for 11-13 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the donut hole comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove the donut holes from the pan to a wire rack to cool.
- Meanwhile, add the melted butter to a small bowl. Add the cinnamon and sugar to a separate bowl and mix together well.
- Take each donut hole and dunk it into the melted butter, making sure it is fully coated. Then dip it into the cinnamon and sugar mixture, making sure to coat well.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
If you love pumpkin as much as I do, try my Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting next!
I forgot to say I did use sweet potato puree instead of pumpkin and we could not tell any difference in the taste.
Before I went to bed last night I got all of my ingredients set out on my counter, except the milk, so I could save time in the morning. I got up early to make these donut holes so we could have them with our coffee. They turned out great. My husband and I loved them. I will make this recipe again. It’s so easy to make. The next time I might try using a glaze instead of dipping in butter and sugar. Thank you for this great donut hole recipe.
I tried to rate this recipe 5 stars but for some reason it will not let me so I will give it five stars. *****
So glad you enjoyed the donut holes! I may have to try these with some pureed sweet potato next time I make some 🙂
I have not made this recipe yet but will make it in the morning. I will use home grown, baked and pureed sweet potatoes. I have used sweet potatoes in place of pumpkin in several other recipes and nobody can tell the difference, not eve me. I can’t wait to see how this recipe turns out. Sounds delicious.
I think sweet potatoe purée would work great in these too! Hope you enjoy the donut holes! 🙂
Hi thanks for the recipe! My friend and I are going to be starting in the spring at the local farmer’s market. I am going to try these with sweet potato for something different. I am going to try a savory option for our homemade soups as a side. !
That sounds fun, Brenda! I’d love to hear how it turns out with the sweet potatoes too! 🙂
Made this and tasted pretty good, but think they would benefit from doubling the spices, because I could barely taste them and increase the brown sugar (about 1/4 cup more; only because I think a donut should always be sweet, even without toppings). Also, be warned when dipping donut holes from melted butter to dipping sugar/cinnamon mix, the mix will get clumpy from the butter drippings, which results in too much sugar and butter per donut (started happening after dipping the 6th or 7th donut hole). To avoid this, divide your sugar/cinn mix, working with a smaller amount at at time to cover just about 6 donuts. Then add more of the sugar/cinn mix for the next batch. This way, each time you’ll have a fresh mix of sugar/cinn and no butter build up in the mix. If you don’t, expect your donuts to get glumpy with too much sugar and too much moisture from the extra butter dripped into the mix. This makes the sugar on the donuts appear dark and wet looking. They’ll still taste good, but with excess butter and sugar, and not as pretty as the recipe picture. Thanks for the recipe! It’s a keeper. Happy baking! 🙂
These have been so popular each time I’ve made them! Mine never come out as round as yours and I only dip the tops in butter/sugar mixture, but nonetheless delicious. About to try them again with homemade pumpkin puree. Thank you!
So glad you like the donut holes, Jeanine! I’d love to hear how they turn out with the homemade pumpkin puree too! 🙂
They came out great! I had to add more flour since my pumpkin had more liquid, but I think that is more because the pumpkins I get here in Kyrgyzstan are different than the usual pumpkin puree in America.
So glad to hear that, Jeanine! Thanks for sharing about the homemade puree I’m glad it worked great 🙂
I can’t wait to make these for thanksgiving morning! If I was to make them in a normal size muffin pan how long would you recommend them to be cooked for? 20/25 mins?
Thanks!
I would check them at about 15 minutes, but I think you’re probably pretty close on the time they’ll need to bake in a regular muffin pan. You’ll know they’re finished when a toothpick comes out clean.
Loved making these this morning! By chance, do you know how many calories are in a serving? I’m sure I don’t want to know, but I’m trying to see if this is something I could give my kids during the school week.
So glad you liked the donut holes, Heather! I don’t figure the calorie count for recipes on my blog, since it can vary depending on the products that you use. My Fitness Pal has a website and app that is great for figuring calorie counts though. Also, if you want to make them a little lighter you can skip the butter and cinnamon sugar mixture and use a simple glaze like the one in this recipe instead http://www.livewellbakeoften.com/2014/10/05/baked-pumpkin-donuts-maple-cinnamon-glaze/.
Made these tonight and was skeptical they we looks actually look like donut holes being cooked in a mini cupcake pan. . . But they completely did and were amazing.
I never write any comments but they were so good
So glad you liked the donut holes, Zakiah! Thanks for taking the time to stop by and comment too 🙂
Hi Danielle,
I made this recipe and it was delicious! I didn’t want to waste any pumpkin, so I made a double batch and brought them to work to share with my co-workers. They really enjoyed it!
So glad to hear that you and your co-workers enjoyed the donut holes, Lisa!
I just made these because my kiddos loved the bagged pumpkin spice donuts bought at the store (not sure if they were Little Debbie brand or another brand). Not being too experienced with making donut holes, I was unclear how to do that so I just left them as mini muffins. Im not sure if maybe I over mixed a little or something, but they weren’t as “fluffy” as I thought they would be, and even cooking them for 14 min I had a couple that ended up slightly larger than rest come out not fully cooked. They do have a wonderful taste… not too much and not too sweet! Can’t wait to browse your site for more recipes to try!
Hey Amber! Sorry you had a little trouble with the recipe. When you say they weren’t quite as fluffy, do you mean they didn’t rise much in the oven? A few of mine did come out a little larger than others and that’s ok, but they should have baked all of the way through. If you can give me a little more information, I can definitely do my best to try to troubleshoot and help you figure out what happened! Glad to hear you enjoyed the taste though 🙂
These are amazing. I made these this morning and I used a cake pop pan with made them look just like donut holes! My new favorite recipe for pumpkin and very easy to make! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
So glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe, Joy! Love the idea of using a cake pop pan too! I may need to pick one up next time I make these 🙂
These are so fun! I have never tried using my mini muffin pan for donut holes, clearly I’m missing out!
I love using it to make donut holes, so much easier than buying a new pan 😉 Thanks, Ashley!
I make pumpkin fritters every year, but I love the idea of doing baked donuts instead….you know, that way I can make them more often. 😉 Haha
Pumpkin fritters sound delicious, Jessica! And baked definitely means you can make them more often 😉
Oh my goodness, how amazing do those look?! Love that cinnamon sugar coating – these would definitely make the perfect fall breakfast with my coffee. I kind of want to jump up and go make some right now!
These would go perfect with some coffee! Thanks, Stacey 🙂
Yessss I am so up for pumpkin ANYTHING right now!!! And doughnut holes are right up my alley!
These look SO delicious, Danielle! I think I’d have a really hard time controlling myself around them 😉 I haven’t broken out the pumpkin yet, but now I’m dying to!
It’s Fall now, definitely time to break out that pumpkin! Thanks, Denise 🙂
My kids would love these!! We may have to make them soon as a special breakfast treat. 🙂
Yay! Hope you and your little ones enjoy them 🙂
I’ve amassed a stockpile of pumpkin puree because once I start with pumpkin I just can’t stop. These donut holes look so so good! I don’t have a donut hole pan so I was so happy to see these are made in a mini muffin pan. That I do have. 🙂
I’m the same way, Alyssa!
These look perfect! So cute! I have a mini muffin pan and will definitely try these!
These look so addictive Danielle, like I won’t be able to stop at 1! YUM!
Pumpkin donut? Wow! Sounds so delicious. These donut holes look incredible, Dainelle. Homemade is the BEST.
Thanks, Anu! Homemade is definitely the best 🙂
These pumpkin donut holes are incredible! There’s nothing better than a freshly baked donut hole, made at home.
Breakfast perfection, Danielle! I’d pop the whole batch in one sitting. They look absolutely perfect!
These are so adorable, Danielle! I love pumpkin donut holes! Yours look perfect! I wish I had a few right now to munch on! 🙂
These look so fluffy and delicious, Danielle! These are definitely a must-make! 🙂
Pumpkin donuts are a must this time of year! Your donut holes look perfect!
Thank you, Jessica!
These look perfect! I cannot wait to make these Danielle. With a big glass of warm apple cider. So smart using a mini muffin pan!
Thanks, Natalie! These would definitely go great with some warm apple cider too, love that idea!
I’ve never had pumpkin donuts, but I love donut holes so much and these look amazing! Pinning!
Mmm pumpkin douts are one of my favorites! I’m loving that you can buy them just about everywhere during this time of year, although homemade ones are definitely way better! These donut holes look fantastic! I think I would devour the entire batch!
Homemade is definitely better! Thanks, Gayle 🙂