Baked Pumpkin Donut Holes
Updated March 26, 2019
I spend a lot of time feeding our baby during the day and night. To keep myself occupied during feedings, I keep my iPhone nearby. I check emails, look at Facebook, chat on Twitter, and browse Pinterest. I recently spotted a recipe for Baked Pumpkin Donut Holes on Pinterest and immediately “pinned” it to my “Fall Favorites” board. Josh absolutely loves donuts and you all know we are obsessed with pumpkin. It didn’t take me long to make Pumpkin Donut Holes.
Technically, the donut holes are mini muffins, but they look like and taste like donut holes. I love that the donut holes are baked and not fried. The donut holes are soft, cakey, and have a nice pumpkin spice flavor. The best part is the finish on the donut holes. When the donut holes come out of the oven, you dip them in butter and roll them in cinnamon and sugar. Talk about yum!
Josh devoured these pumpkin donut holes. He couldn’t stop popping them in his mouth. He washed them down with a cold glass of milk…and then went back for more:) These Baked Pumpkin Donut Holes are super easy to make and are perfect for a Fall breakfast treat or snack. Get out the pumpkin and make a batch today!
Baked Pumpkin Donut Holes
Ingredients
For the Donuts:
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 1/8 teaspoons ground cloves
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup canned plain pumpkin not pumpkin pie filling
- 1/2 cup milk
For the Coating:
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven 350°F. Spray a 24-cup mini muffin tin with baking spray and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. In a separate, large bowl whisk together oil, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin and milk until smooth. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- While the muffins bake, melt butter in one bowl and combine granulated sugar and cinnamon in another bowl. Remove muffins from oven and cool for 2 minutes. Dip each muffin in melted butter, then roll in cinnamon sugar to coat. Serve muffins warm or at room temperature.
Have you tried this recipe?
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I love that these are baked and they look so delicious! I’m not surprised that Josh couldn’t stop eating them – I don’t think I would be able to either!
Love donut holes- so “poppable!”
I just love doughnuts with a cinnamon and sugar coating si the fact that these are also pumpkin is the icing on the cake.
I’ll take a dozen of these!
These are so fun! Love the little guys.
Maria these look soooo good! I would love to whip up a batch right now!
yum yum yum. The fall breakfast of champions! These look wonderful and I am sure never last long in the house.
Love the new surprises you two bring to your blog!
Oh, my! I am making these for breakfast this morning…seriously. They look delicious!
I bought some pumpkin donut holes last week and I’ve been obsessed. I think they’re my favorite treat this season.
so cute that you made these in a mini muffin tin! donut holes are always better anyway…you can eat more!
love these Maria! Hope you’re doing well and getting some rest!!
Haha…i read blogs while i feed! These look awesome. I love how manydifferent treats you can make with pumpkin. The topping is an awesome touch
I pinned these too! Pinterest is my favorite thing to do while waiting for soccer practice or lessons. I hope everything is going well with the baby. I felt like I’m always nursing and my kids were slow nursers. In 7 weeks I start that all again so I’m glad I have an Iphone now!
These would be a big hit at my house too.
Love the fact that they are pumpkin AND baked! I am so glad we have computers now. It makes the wee hours of the night less lonely. I had a sick one last night and pinterest kept me entertained until she drifted back off 🙂
We both posted mini goodies today! Love the looks of these perfect pumpkin donut holes, wish I had a few this morning! Have a great day 🙂
I bought a donut pan specifically last year for making baked donuts. I tried a pumpkin version and an apple cider version. Both pretty good, but more like cake as you mentioned. I think to get that real “donut” feel, you simply must fry them. I’m ok with baked though. Yummy!
The perfect Fall breakfast! Now we just need a cup of hot apple cider.
Ha, gonna have to try these next. Just made and posted something similar–Cinnamon Sugar Donut Mini Muffins! Great minds! Hope you get a little rest now and then. (Though I know the truth.) 😉 Don’t think I commented last week, but those pics of your baby were all so sweet and cute! sigh, takes me back!
Thanks Katrina!
Using muffin tins? Brilliant! These look utterly irresistible.
Yumm!! Thanks for linking to me, you’re sweet 🙂
This could be my solution to not having a donut pan!
These are a lot like the “muffins that taste like donuts” recipe I use. It’s based on the French breakfast puffs from Tasty Kitchen. I just love how y’all make so much pumpkin stuff! My family thanks you too. We are pumpkin NUTS 🙂
maria! i am so making these!
you used mini muffin tins?
love love love.
nice job girl!
Yes, I used a mini muffin tin. So easy!
This is my favorite recipe of the fall! I’ve made mine as regular donuts, donut holes, and even in a regular muffin pan. Everything has worked so far! And they’re even good with whole wheat and olive oil. I LOVE this recipe.
Oh, wow! I just made them, and they are truly wonderful! I cannot wait for the littles to have them for an after-school snack today. They will be so excited!
So glad you liked the donut holes. I hope the kids like them too:)
Ohmaigawsh!! Keep the pumpkin coming!!! 😀 I keep thinking of so many different flavors of these but nothing beats pumpkin.
Kind of a crazy question…In Texas there is a donut shop on every corner. If not donuts, then kolaches. When we moved to Idaho the only doughnuts we could find were at the grocers bakery and not so fresh (we were spoiled). Does Utah have good doughnut shops (and I’m not talking about Krispy Kreme)? If so, my husband and I would have made the 2 hour trip just to get one! 🙂
I wish I had Pinterest when I was a new mom up all hours…that would have been nice. Your doughnut holes look good!
I still keep thinking about the baked pumpkin doughnuts I made, and now I’m going to be craving these until I make them! Love that they are rolled in the cinnamon and sugar. Yum!
Oh wow! Those look amazing! Especially love that you rolled them in cinnamon sugar!:)
Is it just me, or do donut holes taste even better than normal donuts? Love the cinnamon sugar topping, they look perfect!!
you’re sending me a batch (or three) right?
These sound FABULOUS!
Oh, dear! I think I may have to give these a try. Love that they’re baked not fried!
Oh how I envy Josh! I wish I had these donut holes in front of me ….they go perfect with the mug of coffee I am drinking now.
Have a great week 🙂
This looks amazing! I can’t wait to try them…actually I may just have to try them right now! Thanks or sharing such a great recipe 🙂
I’m so glad you guys loved these, Maria! They are super addictive, aren’t they? I think I may need to make some when I get home 🙂
We loved the donut holes! So glad I saw them on Pinterest:) Thanks!
i know these are probably best warm but do you think they’d work if i made them one night to serve the next morning? it’s hard to make treats for work in the morning before i get there, unless i want to get up at 3 am 🙂
They are best right out of the oven, but we had some the next day and they were still really tasty!
Anything dipped in butter and then cinnamon sugar has got to be good!
I was just pining for some donut holes the other day. Now, I’ll for sure be making them. What a fun recipe Maria – thanks for sharing.
Mmm, loving all the sugary fall donuts! Reminds me of apple picking when I was a little kid (the apple farms we went to always had cinnamon-sugar-spiced donuts and fresh hot cider). Yum!
I too am loving the baked donut craze right now. I just got a mini muffin pan and made some baked pumpkin donuts this weekend. You have to love the miniature dessert. It makes me feel less guilty about eating one. Or fifteen! 🙂
These look great pumpkin donuts are one of my favorite!
Can’t wait to make these – thanks so much for sharing , hubby loves doughnut holes! 🙂
We love pumpkin, too. And these look like a delicious way to use it!
How ’bout I just let you toss these into my mouth? Cool? Cool.
i love your food pictures and want to invite you to try out tastingspot.com. it’s for anyone that just wants another place to submit photos and share it will other foodies. It’s still in beta version, but would love for you to start adding some photos and help get it going.
Just made these!! They’re great! I didn’t add cloves and next time i’ll omit the nutmeg, I don’t like it….
I love everything pumpkin and these look amazing!
Yum! I know what I;m making this weekend!!!
Maria, these sound fantastic! I might just succumb to the baked donut craze 🙂
I am not overly spontaneous, but I saw these and made them within the hour….DELICIOUS!
Ok these are seriously addicting!
Those look crazy good! I can only imagine what it smelled like in your kitchen!
How perfect! I happen to have some pumpkin left despite making your pumpkin gingersnaps twice…I’m sure these will be just as delicious! (Also, isn’t is amazing how much of your day can be spent feeding a baby??)
These sound like pumpkin cake balls. They’re so pretty and I love that they’re covered with cinnamon. What I love best though is that you can indulge and so long as you don’t indulge in too many, just one would hopefully take the sweet edge off.
Thank you for sharing!
Yum! Can’t wait to make these. By the way, I made your pumpkin gingersnaps yesterday and they are AMAZING! I might just be addicted. 🙂
Glad you liked the pumpkin gingersnaps!
Doughnut holes are the best, and these are almost guilt-free since they’re baked.
Pumpkin Donut Holes and Cornbread baked this morning-YUM-now can someone else do the dishes;)
I can see why these little donuts would be fall favorites and fun to munch when you are home with the baby 🙂
these look amazing! i love that they are baked and not fried. mmm….perfect for fall.
These look awesome, as usual. 🙂
Mini muffin pan?? Now you’re speaking my language! I’m making these today. Will let you know how they turn out! Ps that kid is getting cuter and cuter every day!
Enjoy the donut holes!
I could eat 1 or 2 or 5 of these 🙂
These look fabulous! I’ve been craving doughnuts lately (especially pumpkin)!
These look so addicting! I love that they are baked and you don’t need a donut pan which is still something on my “want” list.
Maria, Looks great and o love that are baked I want a batch of these right now
I would really like to try these… they are calling my name! I am going to have to do a julie and julia thing only with me and your blog. Cause everything you make is awesome. 🙂
You’re killing me with these pumpkin recipes. I need one of these now!
Oh, yum!! These look fabulous and are the perfect excuse to purchase a much needed mini muffin pan. 🙂
How tasty and cute are those! Bookmarked… my kids are going to love them!
these are simply and perfectly perfect. i could devour the whole batch!
What a great idea to bake them in muffin tins! Hope you are getting a little rest while taking care of your little pea.
When you come to LA with little pea we will have to go to fonuts for many a doughnut treat – even gluten free…
ok, these sound soooo good…and when you said that Josh had milk with them it made me totally crave these. Seriously though, these would be so dangerous in my house because I would eat them for breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, and snack.
these pumkin balls are really yummy and amazing!
woa, how great your pumkins balls are!
These look wonderful! All these recipes with pumpkin makes me want to get straight into the kitchen… if only I wasn’t allergic to pumpkin. Please let me know if you know of a good substitute 😉
they’re so cute! nick would love these, too.
I just made these last night, and they are so delicious. I brought them in to work today, and my colleagues agree that they are wonderful. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe.
Glad everyone is enjoying the donut holes!
I visited your blog yesterday to retrieve a totally different recipe, but as soon as I saw the donut holes, I knew I HAD to make them–immediately! They were SO simple and delicious. I made a double batch (ended up with about 5 doz.) and sent them with my husband to his men’s meeting at our church. The platter came home empty, and I’ve now been accused by one guy of trying to kill them by feeding them delicious food. Thanks for sharing a winner!
You are welcome! I am so glad they were a hit!
These look amazing!!
This beats Dunkin Doughnuts! I bet they go great with Maple Almond Butter
Wow-these are incredible!!! I didn’t have allspice so I subbed in 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice. Absolutely delicious!
My husband and I made these last night for dinner and they were AMAZING! Thank you so much for the recipe!
AMAZING! I ran out of the ‘butter’ to roll them in and made the maple glaze from the link in the ‘you might also like’ section…with cardamom & maple syrup instead of the cinnamon & milk and extract to go on the big doughnuts. Since I had the 24 mini doughnuts and 6 large ones. Our pastor’s and their wives got the large ones for Pastor Appreciation Month and women setting up booth for the carnaval ate the minis that made is past my daughter…LOL!
Everyone who had one was making sound effects and I’ve been called both evil and angel today ;-D
Thank you! It was my daughter’s first ever doughnut, she is 21 monthes…I used soy milk since she had dairy allergy…
Maria, I am totally making these. How delicious! I actually don’t like donuts – I don’t enjoy the taste of fried dough, but I would love a baked version. My kids will go nuts for them. Oh, how I remember those endless feedings. I didn’t have an iPhone then so I would just stare off into space or count the minutes until it was over. At least you have something to do. You are too productive!
I made them this morning and they were fantastic! Even my boyfriend who does not like anything remotely sweet, loved them! Thanks for the recipe!
made these this morning… they were delicious!!!
Made two batches of these this morning – one dairy-free, one from the original recipe. Both amazing! Thank you!
Baked 3 batches of these this morning with my 3-year-old! THEY ARE DELICIOUS! Be careful or you won’t have any to share!!!!!!
I’ve been wanting to make baked pumpkin donuts since fall arrived and it looks like these might be the perfect ones to try!
We made these this weekend and they are wonderful! My 7 year old nephew really loved them and took some home after our weinie roast!
I am glad everyone enjoyed the donut holes!
Made these for a soup luncheon at work yesterday. Everybody loved them! Thank you for sharing this with us.
Made these this morning. They were a huge hit! Could not believe how easy and delicious they were. This will definitely be in our cold weather breakfast rotation. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!
I’ve had this recipe bookmarked for a while and noticed some pumpkin languishing in my fridge so I made a batch – soooo good. Quick and easy, too! Thanks for the great recipe!
Just made these this morning, and we LOVE them! My husband is a health-freak, and will rarely eat very many of the sweet breakfasts I make….not these! Thanks so much for the awesome recipe!
I made these yesterday morning with 2 of my best friends, using my new Nostalgia donut hole & cake pop maker. OMG! They were SOoo awesome!
I don’t like allspice, so left that out but added a little extra cinnamon to batter. Also, used FRESH nutmeg I grated and that had to come to less than called for as well. Used only 1/16 of cloves and I only had brown sugar & vegetable oil, so those were substitued for the light brown & canola.
This was the first batch of donuts I made in my new appliance &* warning * if you get one of those machines, you HAVE to be VERY careful because the top & the latch thingy gets SOoo hot, USE A HOTPAD!! However, that said, you put a scoop of this recipe in each of the thingies, close it up, and 3 minutes later, voila!! I had read reviews of the machine before buying it and they’re correct… check the donuts a minute early, carefully flip them over & close 1 more minute for a perfect browning of both sides.
But back to patting you on the back for this recipe!! It is SO tasty, that my hubby who’s been carefully counting his carbs, journaling his food to get his diabetes under control…. ate 1/2 of one of these rather large ‘donut holes’ and LOVED it to the point of saying I MUST make them again! Half didn’t hurt his blood sugar count and he said it was well worth spending some of his precious carbs on! That’s amazing because he doesn’t waste carbs on mediocre stuff. 🙂 All of us girls loved it too. So, thank you from the bottom of my heart for a new ‘family’ recipe! I’ll hand it down to my daughter & granddaughters! 😀
These were so amazing! My husband and I both LOVED them. I wonder, though, how you could adapt the recipe without pumpkin puree for different flavors. Or, if it’s possible to make a glazed version as well. Thanks for the great recipe!
I decided to tweak the donuts just a bit. I added mostly applesauce as a subsitute for all the oil, added only 1 T. of oil. Added 1 T. of chia and flax seeds. I decided to try one, and after 20 minutes of baking they are not baked through. The aroma is INCREDIBLE! I popped them in the oven for 10 more minutes and perfect. Oh, did I mention I baked them in muffin cups. The papers did stick, and eating them with a spoon….YUM. YUM!!!
I also made a lite cinnamon cream cheese frosting , and sprinkled the frosted donuts with toasted pumpkin seeds!!!!
Hmmm
I love pumpkin and would love to try these but I am trying to avoid the wheat based flour. Can you suggest a gluten free substitute for these?
Hi! Making these today! Just had a quick question..What is the best way you’ve found to “dip them in butter”? Are using fingers and going for a total dunk, or just dipping the tops in and letting it run down when you pick it back up? Thank you! 🙂
I usually do a quick total dunk:) Enjoy!
I just made these and they are very good. Very soft and moist!
Found this in Fall 2012 & I have them twice! We love them!
Love these, definately a hit!
I cannot wait to try these! Great way to use pumpkin. I love baked donut holes too!
http://scratchymama.com/?p=107
Just baked these a few weeks ago. They were really easy to make and very tasty. I would change a couple things though. After the muffins/donut holes are baked, I do not recommend rolling them in butter before rolling them in the cinn/sugar mix. They do not store well. Did I do something wrong? I tried storing them every way imaginable but the butter just made them sweat. The next time I make these I will try rolling them while still warm in just the cinn/sugar mix and see if that works well. I grew up in a family owned donut shop and we never rolled donuts in butter before putting a coating/topping on them. Don’t get me wrong butter is great tasting just not storage friendly:-)
Also, I think there is too much cinnamon in the coating mix. I will cut some of this out next time as well. 2 Tbsps of cinnamon made them really dark. My preference is more sugar than cinnamon:-) Thanks for this fun fall recipe!
I made these last weekend for a big chili cook-off/get-together. They were a huge hit – everyone asking for the recipe! I think they thought they were deep fried, many people were surprised they were baked in mini muffin tins. It’s a very simple recipe. I did have some issues with too much melted butter, feeling like i was getting too much sugar on some of them. I may just try brushing on some butter then rolling, instead of dunking. They didn’t seem soggy or anything, but it seemed like overkill on the sugar because of too much melted butter. But everyone loved them regardless – I’m making them again this week for a work pitch-in!
I NEVER comment, but I made these tonight on a whim, and I had to tell you how wonderful they are! Unbelievably light and scrumptous! I will be trying other of your recipes! Thanks so much!
So glad you liked them! Thanks for letting us know!
I just made them. It was so easy, fast and so real! A crowd pleaseing!
Yay! Glad you liked them!
I made these and they were awesome. I used coconut oil 1/3 cup brown sugar and 1 cup AP flour and 3/4 cup oat flour. They turned out great. Can’t stop eating them.
Glad you liked them!
We love these- they have become part of our Thanksgiving tradition. I make them for Thanksgiving breakfast 🙂 Thank you!
You are welcome!
These are too dangerous! I’m about to eat the whole batch by myself. I made the recipe as written and it is delish! There was a bit too much batter for my 24 mini-muffin pan. I do have a cake pop maker, and am about to pull it out to try baking them in there. If that works, I still have enough pumpkin (fresh made puree from a pie pumpkin) to make a second batch! Thanks for the great recipe!
I always end up eating more than my fair share:) They are too good! Glad you like them too!
I am so making these! My dad loves cinnamon donuts so will invite him over to try them!
I just love this recipe!! My only problem is all three times I’ve made them they turn out ‘wet’ or mushy during storage. Though still yummy I don’t think it’s how they are suppose to be. I think im baking them long enough but maybe rolling them in to much butter? Any suggestions?
Odd, I haven’t had that problem. Maybe cover them loosely?
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!
very nice
My family loved it! It came out of my silicon donut mold really nice too! We made it up as baked donuts and mini-muffins/donut holes. I think we liked the ones from the donut molds best. Either way great recipe! Thanks so much for sharing!
The first time I made these I added too much of one of the spices. So I made adjustments and divided the dry ingredients into ziplock bags. We’ve made these “donuts “ three times now because they taste so good!
Love this recipe. I’ve made it every Fall for years. I even had a neighbor walk by and smell them baking, and insisted that she pay me to make her a batch.
Just perfect. No changes.