Pumpkin Donut Holes
These irresistible baked pumpkin donut holes (mini pumpkin muffins) are super soft, cakey, and coated in cinnamon sugar! The best fall treat.
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.
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.