Pumpkin Donut Holes
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These irresistible baked pumpkin donut holes (mini pumpkin muffins) are super soft, cakey, and coated in cinnamon sugar! The best fall treat.
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Why you’ll love these baked pumpkin donut holes
- Cozy fall treat. These quintessential fall treats are packed with real pumpkin flavor and warm spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves.
- Completely baked, not fried. So moist and so fluffy, these donut holes deliver in all avenues without any of the fried, oily, greasy mess.
- Comes together fast. The donut holes come take only about 10-15 minutes to prep, tasting even better than your local bakery.
- Great for sharing. Made in a mini muffin tin yielding 12 bite-sized donuts, these are perfect for sharing at potlucks, school parties, family get-togethers, and holiday gathering. And they are guaranteed crowd-pleasers!
mini muffins or donut holes?
Technically, these are mini muffins as they are baked in a mini muffin tin. But they look and taste exactly like donut holes, donut holes that are super soft and cakey with all the warm, fall spices, completely baked start to finish.
Key Ingredients
Muffin batter
- Flour: all-purpose flour
- Spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves (or substitute pumpkin pie spice)
- Leavening: baking powder and salt
- Pumpkin: pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- Wet ingredients: milk, brown sugar, canola oil, egg, and vanilla
Cinnamon-sugar topping
- Butter: melted to brush or roll the warm donut holes
- Cinnamon: ground cinnamon
- Sugar: granulated sugar (substitute brown sugar for richer, caramel-like flavors)
How to make baked pumpkin donut holes
- Preheat and prep. Heat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and lightly grease a mini muffin pan.
- Mix the dry ingredients. Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, baking powder, and salt.
- Mix the wet ingredients. Whisk together the pumpkin puree, milk, brown sugar, canola oil, egg, and vanilla.
- Combine. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture just until moist, working carefully not to overwork the batter.
- Bake. Using a small cookie scoop, transfer the batter into the mini muffin pan, filling each cup about 3/4 full. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Make the cinnamon sugar topping. Whisk together the ground cinnamon and granulated sugar until well combined.
- Roll and coat. Roll or brush each warm muffin with melted butter, then roll in cinnamon sugar until evenly coated.
- Let cool. Let the donut holes cool on a wire rack.
Tools For This Recipe
Pumpkin Donut Holes: Frequently Asked Questions
Unfortunately, no. Pumpkin puree contains 100% unsweetened cooked pumpkin whereas pumpkin pie filling contains pumpkin and various additives such as sugar, water, and spices.
Another neutral oil such as vegetable, grapeseed or sunflower oil can be used in place of canola oil.
A small cookie scoop should work very well here without making a mess.
This is best served immediately but you can prep the dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, baking powder and salt) as well as the cinnamon sugar topping ahead of time.
The donut holes (before they are dipped in melted butter and coated with cinnamon sugar) can be stored in an airtight container for 1-2 days at room temperature, adding the butter and cinnamon sugar just before serving.
Pumpkin Donut Holes
Video
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup pumpkin puree
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup canola oil
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For the cinnamon sugar topping
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- ⅔ cup sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil a mini muffin pan or coat with nonstick spray.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, baking powder and salt.
- In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, milk, brown sugar, canola oil, egg and vanilla.
- Pour mixture over dry ingredients and stir using a rubber spatula just until moist.
- Scoop the batter evenly into the muffin tray.
- Place into oven and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
- When the muffins are done, cool for 2 minutes and dip each muffin into the melted butter and then into the cinnamon sugar topping.
- Let cool on a wire rack.
For the cinnamon sugar topping
- In a medium bowl, combine cinnamon and sugar.
Equipment
Notes
- Use a small cookie scoop. Using a small cookie scoop is a convenient way to transfer the batter to the mini muffin tin with ease and less mess.
- Avoid pumpkin pie filling. Canned pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie filling are not the same, and are not interchangeable. Be sure to use 100% pure pumpkin as pumpkin pie filling comes pre-mixed with sweeteners and spices.
- Combine just until moist. Using a rubber spatula, stir the batter until everything is just combined and moistened with a few lumps here and there. Over-mixing will lead to dense, tough donut holes.
- Fill 3/4 full. Fill each cavity in the mini muffin pan about 3/4 full to give the batter room to rise without spilling over the edges.
- Dip and roll just before serving. To avoid soggy donuts, coat the donut holes in butter and cinnamon sugar just before serving. Plain, uncoated donuts will store much better.
Did you make this recipe?
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Delicious and easy to make in a mini muffin pan.
Quick and easy. My kids absolutely loved it!
Look great i need to try them
Diana from oregon usa age 76
Can these be frozen?
Excellent made it multiple times, but modified it the second time I recommend rum instead of vanilla just personal preference. Excellent for a donut hole Pan Maybe taste a little muffin like Should taste more like cake next time I make it I’m gonna add egg
Definitely nix the canola oil from anything and everything (it ain’t healthy). We use avocado oil when we make pumpkin bread and it’s perfect! We also use coconut sugar, and you can’t tell a difference between using that and “real” sugar.
Has anyone made these vegan? I’d love to know what you substituted for the egg…my first thought is apple sauce.
how much pumpkin puree do I need for fresh , we don’t have can pumpkin in Australia
Hi Julie! I don’t work for the site but saw your question and wanted to respond. If you are making your own pumpkin puree (which I do also and prefer!!) it may be a bit looser / more watery than the thick, pasty stuff that comes in a can here in the states. You can still use the same measurements, but note that the extra moisture could result in slightly less raising in your batter. I usually reduce another liquid in the recipe by 2 tablespoons per cup of puree in the recipe and it works great. So subtract 1.5 tablespoons of milk if you try it. Have a good one!
Fun and yummy treat to kick off Fall. Enjoy with a good cup of coffee.
I love these pumpkin donut holes! I use gluten free flour, walnut milk and maple sugar instead of sugar for the topping. So delicious! This is a family favorite!!
Hi! What brand of gluten-free flour did you use? I know they are not all created the same. We like Bob’s 1:1 but it doesn’t work well for everything. Thank you in advance
Can I make regular muffins with this recipe please?
Our town is celebrating pumpkin festival starting tomorrow. I made these today and they are fantastic!! Thanks for the recipe.
So good! I substituted coconut oil for the canola oil and used pumpkin pie spice instead of all the spices because that’s all i had. Came out sooo good! I’m going to try cutting the brown sugar down next time though since it’s coated in sugar. Has anyone tried that?
Hi Chungah 🙂 Do you suppose, if made in mini DONUT pans, the baking time/oven temp would remain as per your recipe?
Just made these with my daughter….just the perfect amount of pumpkin and sweetness! Well done! I love your website and your books.
I used this recipe and used my Babycakes Maker to make donut holes. It worked perfect. They are delicious.
Great recipe! I was out of baking powder so I substituted 1/4t baking soda and 1/2 lemon juice. Turned out light and fluffy!
These turned out great!! I used a small cookie scoop and mini muffin tins….I did only get 30… also, the baking time was off for me…they took more than the recommended…almost double! I kept checking and rotating the pans every ten minutes, but took 2-25 total at 350 F.
Huge hit at the meeting I brought them too!
Great recipe! My family devoured them immediately and it’s just simple and homey with the tastes so definitely recommend!
Looks so good! If I make them the night before, and store in a container, will they still taste great or will they get a bit stale?