Baked Pumpkin Mini Donuts (with 2 ingredient batter!)
Mini Pumpkin Donuts
These easy homemade baked mini pumpkin donuts are a blend of cake and donuts; think cake donuts! Very light and fluffy but still moist and donut-ey. These are incredibly easy to make with only 2 main ingredients: spice cake and pumpkin puree. They’re almost too good to be true!
If you love this sweet breakfast treat, try my High Protein French Toast Sticks or Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Baked and not fried – only 62 calories per donut.
- Perfect mini treat for the fall season.
- Only 2 ingredients with either a glaze or sweet sugary topping.
- Half the fat, calories and sugar then a normal pumpkin mini donut recipe.
Baked not fried mini donuts
No deep frying means these are WAY healthier for you. They have about half the fat and calories and way less sugar than a regular mini donut. Our favorite donut drive-thru sells similar pumpkin mini donuts and they’re about 130 calories per donut compared to this recipe at 66 calories each. These come with an optional cinnamon sugar topping or a pumpkin spice glaze making them the perfect treat when you want something sweet and comforting but still low-calorie. You can always substitute out the sugar for a sugar substitute such as Swerve, to lower the sugar and calories even more.
You will need a donut pan for these mini donuts. Using a mini donut pan makes the perfect rounded donut shape you can’t get with your hands alone. You can also use a mini donut maker for this recipe or even just make them in a mini muffin pan as little pumpkin muffins following the same directions as this pumpkin donut recipe.
Gluten-free and dairy-free info
I used a box cake mix for the two-ingredient donut batter. For a dairy or gluten-free version, make sure your boxed mix is certified gluten or dairy-free. If you make the pumpkin spice glaze, use dairy-free milk, such as almond milk.
Ingredients and Substitutes:
These are the main ingredients for pumpkin mini donuts. See the recipe card below for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Variations and Substitutions
- Light Brown Sugar: can be replaced with a sugar substitute or coconut sugar.
- Powdered Sugar: can be replaced with a sugar substitute
- Butter can be replaced with melted coconut oil.
How to make these mini pumpkin donuts (a visual step-by-step guide):
Step 1: Prep the batter
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix and pumpkin puree. Mix until fully combined and no powdered cake mix remains (Image 1).
Step 2: scoop batter into donut pan
In a 6 or 12-mini donut baking pan, evenly scoop the donut dough into the pan approximately ¾ the way full (Image 2). A great trick is to fill a ziplock with the batter, cut a hole at the corner, and use it as a piping bag to add the batter to the pan. The dough will be sticky.
Step 3: bake
Place the donuts in the oven and bake for 9-10 minutes or until cooked through and browned. Remove and let cook in the pan for 5 minutes prior to transferring to a wire rack to completely cool (Image 3).
Step 4: make optional topping
While the donuts, bake decide if you want sugar-coated, glazed, or a mixture of both.
For sugar-dusted donuts
Mix the brown sugar and pumpkin spice in a small bowl wide enough to dip the donuts in (image 4).
Brush the tops of the donuts with the melted butter (image 5).
Dip the donuts into the bowl of sugar to get the sugar to coat the donuts (image 6).
For glazed donuts
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Whisk together until a frosting-like consistency. se 1 ½-2 tsp. Of pumpkin spice to your preferred taste and 3-4 Tbsp. of milk to the desired sticky frosting consistency (image 7).
After cooling to room temperature, place the tops in the glaze and pull out in a circular motion so the glaze coats the entire top (image 8). Place back on the cooling rack to set.
How to store these easy pumpkin spice donuts
Store any leftover donuts in an airtight container or large ziplock bag on the counter for up to 4-5 days or in the fridge for up to 7 days. Freeze these donuts without the toppings and enjoy them within three months of freezing. Remove from the freezer, defrost, and top with toppings.
If you like these cookies be sure to check out some of these other favorite fall recipes ..
- Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread
- Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip Cookies
- No Bake Pumpkin Pie Bliss Balls
- Mini Pumpkin Pie Cheesecakes Recipe
If you make this recipe, please leave a rating and/or comment! Tag me on Instagram @ohsnapmacros, I love hearing from you!
Pumpkin Mini Donuts
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Ingredients
Donuts
- 1 box Pumpkin Spice Cake
- 1 can 100% pure pumpkin puree
Sugar Coating
- 1 Tbsp. light brown sugar or sugar substitute
- 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
- 1 Tbsp. butter melted
Pumpkin Spice Glaze
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar or sugar substitute
- 1 1/2-2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
- 3-4 Tbsp. milk any kind works
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees fahrenheit.
- In a large bowl combine the cake mix and pumpkin puree. Mix until fully combined and no powdered cake mix remains.Â
- In a 12-mini donut baking pan, evenly scoop the donut dough into the pan approximately ¾ the way full. A great trick is to fill a ziplock with the batter, cut a hole at the corner and use it as a piping bag to add the batter to the pan. The dough will be sticky, you can use a rubber spatula to smooth out or wet your fingers.Â
- Place the donuts in the oven and bake for 9-10 minutes or until cooked through and browned. Remove and let cook in the pan for 5 minutes prior to transferring to a wire rack to completely cool.Â
- While the donuts bake decide if you want sugar coated, glazed of a mixture of both.
- To make sugar coated donuts, simply mix the brown sugar and pumpkin spice in a small bowl wide enough to dip the donuts in.Brush the tops of the donuts with the melted butter before dipping into the bowl of sugar to get the sugar to coat to the donuts. If coating with glaze be sure to let them completely cool first so the glaze doesn’t melt off.
- To make pumpkin spice glaze donuts, whisk together the powdered sugar, pumpkin spice and milk until a frosting like consistency. Use 1 ½-2 tsp. Of pumpkin spice to your preferred taste and 3-4 Tbsp. of milk to the desired sticky frosting consistency. Let the donuts fully cool to room temperature and then place the tops in the glaze and pull out in a circular motion so the glaze coats the entire top. Place back on the cooling rack to set.Â
Notes
- All nutritional information is an estimate and will vary with subsittiotiosn
- Nutrition facts are for donuts ONLY! See below for nutrition facts with glaze or sugar coatings.Â
- Let the donuts cool completely before glazing or it will melt off the tops!Â
- You CAN use nonstick cooking spray in place of butter but it does not work as well!Â
Nutrition
Photos by Marie-Catherine Dube
These were delicious and easy!
Awesome, thank you!!