If you are a pumpkin spice lover like me, I implore you to make these easy Baked Pumpkin Spice Doughnuts this season. As they are baked are not fried, think more pumpkin cake doughnuts than the regular deep fried kind. And when they bake, the smell that fills the house is going to put you firmly in your cosy autumn feels.
We won't be rolling these pumpkin spice doughnuts in sugar, instead we will be dipping them in white chocolate, which oh my goodness, makes the dreamiest topping combo. To finish off we'll give them a light dusting of cinnamon.
Baked Pumpkin Spice Doughnuts: Main Ingredients
The Pumpkin Purée
You can either use pumpkin purée from a tin, or roast a cooking pumpkin and puree it yourself (instructions below). It can be hard in the UK to find canned pumpkin purée, you might be able to find it in your local supermarket, failing that you'll be able to buy it from Amazon.
How to Roast a Pumpkin
Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/gas mark 4 and line a baking tray with baking paper. Cut the pumpkin in half lengthways and scoop out the seeds and stringy parts with a spoon. Place the halves flesh-side down on the tray, brush lightly with oil, and pierce the skin a few times with a fork. Roast for about 50 minutes, or until the flesh is tender. Leave to cool for 10-15 minutes, until safe to handle. If the flesh separates easily from the skin, scoop it out in large chunks with a spoon. Otherwise, turn the pumpkin over and peel away the skin with the help of a spoon. Roughly chop the flesh, then blend in a food processor or blender until smooth.
The Spice
If you have pumpkin spice already, great you can use that, if not the recipe breakdowns how much cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg and cloves to add.
The Oil
If you have coconut oil, this is what I recommend you use as it's healthier and I feel it adds to the flavour of these easy pumpkin doughnuts. If you don't have it though, you can use vegetable oil instead. I have given the measurements for both in the recipe.
The White Chocolate
I hate to be particular, but I have to tell you to use white chocolate bars only for these pumpkin cake doughnuts. Don't be tempted to use white chocolate chips or drops. This is because white chocolate is not as suited to be melted as dark or milk chocolate, and when you have it in small pieces like chocolate chip form, it's even more stubborn to melt. However, so long as you use a white chocolate bar(s), broken into squares, and you following my recipe instructions, it will melt just fine.
Baked Pumpkin Spice Doughnuts: How to Make
It really is a simple recipe to make, and essentially breaks down into 6 main steps which are:
- Mixing your dry ingredients together
- Mixing your wet ingredients together
- Adding the wet ingredients to the dry
- Either spooning in or piping your batter into your doughnut tin
- Baking them briefly, then cooling enough to handle
- Dipping the doughnuts into the melted white chocolate and dusting with cinnamon
FAQ's For My Baked Pumpkin Spice Doughnuts
What's the best way to get the batter into the doughnut tray?
I would recommend piping the batter into the tray, as it will be less messy and fiddly than spooning it in. You don't need a piping bag to do this, if you'd don't have any, you could use a reusable food bag instead. I like to add the bag to a tall glass, turn over the edges and spoon in the batter. Then I clip the open end of the piping bag, and snip the bottom point open over the doughnut baking tray. You can watch me do this in the video above.
I don't have a doughnut tin, can I make them in a muffin tray?
I haven't tested it, but I can't see why not. They may take a little longer to cook, however, test at 11 minutes and if they aren't done, give them another few minutes. You'll be able to dip the tops of them in the melted white chocolate as you would have the doughnuts. If you'd like to buy a doughnut tray, this is the one I have and recommend.
How can younger children help make these Baked Pumpkin Spice Doughnuts?
They can help with making the batter. Filling the doughnut tray might be a little tricky for them, however. They will enjoy helping to dip the doughnuts into the melted white chocolate once cooled.
How cool do the doughnuts need to be before I dip them in the chocolate?
They don't need to be cold, they just need to be cool and firm enough to hold. If you try to dip them in the melted chocolate when they're too hot, even if they have cooled off enough to hold, they may be too squishy and fragile and so fall apart as you're trying to dip them.
Do I have to heat the doughnuts in the microwave?
As you'll be storing leftover pumpkin spice doughnuts in the fridge, yes, I would definitely recommend you microwave them briefly. Doing so also makes the white chocolate topping go all melty - yummmm! I microwave leftover doughnuts one at a time for 15 to 20 seconds.
Can I Store Baked Pumpkin Spice Doughnuts leftovers?
You can store any Baked Pumpkin Spice Doughnuts leftovers in an air-tight container or resealable food bag in the fridge for up to 7 days (bake day + 6). Leftovers are best served warm, so heat them in the microwave for 15-20 seconds (timing is for one at a time).
More on safe food storage and reheating.
What diets is this recipe suitable for?
My Baked Pumpkin Spice Doughnuts are nut-free and suitable for vegetarians. They are NOT suitable for egg, diary or gluten-free diets or vegans.
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Baked Pumpkin Spice Doughnuts
Special Equipment
Ingredients
- 190 g plain / all-purpose flour
- 120 g dark brown soft sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda / baking soda
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice OR ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon + ¼ teaspoon nutmeg + ¼ teaspoon ground ginger + pinch cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon extra for sprinkling
- Large pinch salt
- 70 g coconut oil melted OR 90ml / 3 fl oz vegetable oil
- 200 g pumpkin puree shop-bought or homemade (see notes)
- 60 ml / 4 tbsp milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 250 g white chocolate , bar not chips
- Oil spray flavourless
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180ºc/160ºc fan/350ºf/gas 4. Spray your doughnut tray(s) with the oil spray.
- Add all your dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl; flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarb of soda (baking soda), spices, and salt. Stir well with a balloon hand whisk.
- In a medium mixing bowl, melt the coconut oil (or add the veg oil). Then add the pumpkin puree, milk, vanilla extract and finally the eggs. Stir well using the same balloon hand whisk.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and fold using a large metal spoon until no specs of flour remain.
- Either spoon the mixture into your doughnut tray, or add it to a piping bag or food bag and pipe it in. You'll need to fill the cavities pretty much to the top, but not so much that the batter goes over the centre spoke.
- Bake for 11 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. If you only have one doughnut tray, leave them to cool for a few minutes, then very carefully tip the donuts out onto a wire rack, tops down. You can use a knife to help you if they don't come out easily. Then re-grease and add the remaining batter and bake your second batch.
- Once the doughnuts have mostly cooled, add the white chocolate to a fairly shallow but not too large a bowl, breaking into squares as you go. Then microwave the chocolate for 30 seconds, stir and microwave again in 20 second increments, stirring between each one until almost fully melted. Then stir well until completely melted.
- One by one, pick the doughnuts up carefully, holding the bottom and dip the top in the white chocolate, up to roughly where you see the half way line. Carefully set the doughnut back down on the wire rack, this time bottom side down. Once you've dipped all the doughnuts, sprinkle over a dusting of cinnamon. If your cinnamon pot has a sprinkler top, hold the pot high above the doughnuts and working quickly side to side, dust each one. Otherwise, you can put some cinnamon in a small tea strainer and dust them that way.
- You can eat immediately if you like. Carefully transfer leftover doughnuts to the fridge (left on the wire rack) to set the chocolate - just 20 mins should do it. After that, they can be stored in resealable food bags or a cake box in the fridge. Best served warm, just heat in the microwave for 15-20 seconds (one at a time).
Notes
STORAGE
Nutrition
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