If you’re craving cozy fall flavors, these homemade pumpkin donuts are just the treat. Baked (not fried!) and topped with a rich brown sugar icing, they’re soft, moist, perfectly spiced, and ready in under 45 minutes. The icing sets beautifully so the donuts are easy to stack, store, and even transport—making them just as practical as they are delicious!
I originally published this recipe in 2019 and have since added new photos and more success tips.
There’s something about pumpkin season that makes baking feel extra special. These donuts capture all of that magical fall comfort with warm spices, a soft cake-like texture, and a rich brown sugar caramel-like icing. They’re simple enough for a weekday breakfast and impressive enough to serve at a fall gathering or holiday brunch.
Why You’ll Love These Pumpkin Donuts
- Baked, not fried
- Makes a big batch, but can be halved
- Cake donut texture that’s still moist and soft
- No mixer needed
- Ready in less than 45 minutes
- Perfectly spiced and you can use homemade pumpkin pie spice
- Delicious plain, but even better with icing
By the way, these taste fantastic with a cup of coffee and homemade pumpkin coffee creamer. Fall breakfast doesn’t get much better than this!
One reader, Jennifer, commented: “I had some leftover pumpkin and this was the perfect recipe to use it on. The donuts are soft and the glaze turned out just like a donut shop! ★★★★★“
One reader, Tricia, commented: “This recipe is perfection! Made them today and wanted to share them with the world. Ha! Perfect texture and moistness. I love that the glaze sets. I added pecans to the top. ★★★★★“
One reader, Lat, commented: “I thought I loved all your other baked donut recipes, but these are just insane. They blow everything else away. And the frosting! Literally one of the best treats I’ve made, and I’ve been baking A LOT this year! ★★★★★“
Behind the Recipe
My mini pumpkin muffins are donut-like, but it wasn’t until I transformed these pumpkin cream cheese muffins into cake-like donuts that I was truly satisfied with a classic baked pumpkin donut recipe.
I love that muffin batter because it’s really easy to prepare and always impresses, even without the cheesecake filling and crumb topping. (And that says a lot!!) The batter is a lot like my pumpkin crumb cake muffins, but there’s baking powder for lift, and we’ll sweeten the donuts exclusively with brown sugar.
How to Make Baked Pumpkin Donuts
Made with basic ingredients, these pumpkin donuts come together quickly. Here’s what you need for the batter:
Making them is extremely simple. Here’s the basic process:
- Mix the dry ingredients together.
- Whisk the wet ingredients together.
- Combine wet and dry ingredients.
- Fill donut pan.
- Bake.
I have a handy trick for filling donut pans, and I swear by it if you’re looking for an easy shortcut. Add the batter to a large zipped-top bag, cut off a corner, then pipe the batter into the donut pan filling only about halfway. The bag makes transferring the batter easy, neat, and quick. I use the same trick when making the baked chocolate donuts in Sally’s Baking 101 cookbook.
Bounce-Back Trick
I have another trick for you and I do this with almost every cake, muffin, cupcake, and donut that I bake. When the donuts are looking just about done, lightly poke the top with your finger. If the donut bounces back, they’re done. If your finger leaves an indent, the donuts need a little longer in the oven. Testing with a toothpick works as well.
Brown Sugar Icing
After plenty of testing, I landed on this buttery brown sugar icing, which is adapted from my apple Bundt cake glaze. It’s smooth, creamy, and rich, and it sets into a glossy finish that makes these donuts easy to transport.
Here’s how it comes together: Simmer butter, brown sugar, and milk together. Stir in vanilla and confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Add a pinch of salt for balance (highly recommend!).
Dip the donuts while the icing is warm and let it set for a few minutes. The combination of spiced pumpkin donut + buttery brown sugar icing is truly next-level.
Let the icing thicken for a few minutes, then give those donuts a nice belly flop right into it. Brown sugared and buttery, this icing might just be better than the donuts themselves. If you’re hooked on it, you’ll also love the icing drizzled on apple cinnamon bread.
The brown sugar icing sets, so these are convenient for stacking or transporting.
Alternate Pumpkin Donut Toppings
Before the icing sets, you can garnish the donuts with finely chopped nuts (I used walnuts), toffee pieces, coconut, or sprinkles. If you’re not into brown sugar icing, try any of these:
- Vanilla Icing
- Maple Icing from these Banana Scones
- Brown Butter Icing from these Apple Blondies
- Cinnamon-Sugar Topping (see recipe note)
More Fall Baking Recipes
And, of course, don’t forget about pumpkin pie, the dessert that started it all!
Print
Baked Pumpkin Donuts
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 11 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 16 donuts
- Category: Donuts
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
If you’re craving all the cozy fall flavors, these homemade pumpkin donuts are just the treat. Baked (not fried!) and topped with a rich brown sugar icing, they’re soft, moist, perfectly spiced, and ready in under 45 minutes. The icing sets beautifully so the donuts are easy to stack, store, and even transport—making them just as practical as they are delicious! See recipe Notes about turning these into pumpkin muffins or mini pumpkin donuts.
Ingredients
- 1 and 3/4 cups (219g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon store-bought or homemade pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 cup (120ml) vegetable oil (or canola oil or melted coconut oil)
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup (226g) fresh or canned pumpkin puree
- 1/3 cup (80ml) milk, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Brown Sugar Icing
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (60ml) milk (whole milk is best)
- 1 Tablespoon (14g) unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 and 1/2 cups (170g) sifted confectioners’ sugar
- pinch of salt, to taste
- optional topping: crushed walnuts (see Note for other options)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease donut pan(s) with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- Make the donuts: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice until combined. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, brown sugar, eggs, pumpkin puree, milk, and vanilla extract until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk together gently just until combined and no flour pockets remain. Do not over-mix.
- Spoon the batter into the donut cavities or, for ease, I recommend transferring the batter into a large zipped-top bag. Cut a corner off the bottom of the bag and pipe the batter into each donut cavity, filling each about halfway.
- Bake for 10–11 minutes or until the edges and tops are lightly browned. To test, poke your finger into the top of the donut. If the donut bounces back, they’re done.
- Cool donuts in the pan for 2 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack. Re-grease the pan and bake the remaining donut batter. *For mini donuts, bake in a mini donut pan for 8–9 minutes. Cool donuts for at least 10 minutes before icing them.*
- Make the icing: Combine the brown sugar, milk, and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the butter has melted and the mixture is smooth. Bring to a simmer. Allow to simmer for 1 minute, then remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla extract and sifted confectioners’ sugar until smooth and combined. Taste, then add a pinch of salt if desired—I always add a tiny pinch. Let the icing cool for 5 minutes to slightly thicken.
- Dip the tops of the pumpkin donuts into the warm icing. If the icing is getting too thick as you’re dipping, whisk in a little more milk, or warm back up in the microwave or on the stove to thin it out.
- Place dipped donuts on a cooling rack placed on a baking sheet to allow excess icing to drip off. Top with chopped nuts or other toppings if desired. If applied lightly, the icing will eventually set (in about 1 hour) so you can stack or transport the donuts.
- Cover leftover donuts tightly and store at room temperature for 1–2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: You can freeze the donuts, plain or topped with the icing, for up to 2–3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and warm up to your liking in the microwave. I usually microwave them for just a few seconds. If plain, top with icing before serving, if desired.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Donut Pan | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Large Zip-Topped Bag | Saucepan | Cooling Rack
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: You can find pumpkin pie spice in the baking aisle of most grocery stores, or you can make your own homemade pumpkin pie spice. If you don’t have either and want to use individual spices, use 1/4 teaspoon each: ground ginger, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, and ground allspice. This is in addition to the 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon—you will still add that.
- Milk: For the donut batter, any milk works, dairy or non-dairy. I’ve tested with unsweetened vanilla almond milk, whole milk, and skim milk. For the icing, whole milk will give you the thickest consistency and best flavor.
- Optional Toppings: After applying the icing, you can sprinkle toppings on top or dip the donuts into any of the following: sprinkles, finely chopped walnuts (what I use) or pecans, toasted coconut, finely chopped toffee bits, or a sprinkle of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice. Instead of icing, you can add a cinnamon-sugar topping. Follow the same topping instructions (including dipping in melted butter) found in my baked cinnamon sugar donuts recipe. Feel free to replace that cinnamon in the topping with pumpkin pie spice, if you’d like.
- No Donut Pan? Make donut muffins in your standard 12-cup muffin pan. Follow the baking instructions for my pumpkin crumb cake muffins, leaving off the crumb topping. Top warm muffins with the brown sugar icing before serving.
- Mini Donuts: Want to make mini donuts or mini donut holes in a mini muffin pan? Grease your pan, and fill each mini muffin cup about 3/4 of the way full. Bake at 350°F (177°C) for about 8–9 minutes.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Thanks for the reply, Hilari! Just made them as written and they are so good and so easy. I did use a different, easier glaze of just powdered sugar/milk/vanilla/maple syrup, because I wanted one that would harden, but I think next time I will try Sally’s maple glaze from her banana nut scones. Really appreciate that you include weights – it made the prep so much easier, and the result was perfect. I am a beginner baker so sometimes things get wonky 🙂
If I gather the courage to try this with flax eggs, I will be sure to let you know.
New favorite! Just made my own pumpkin puree today and decided to make these. Delish!
These are so delicious but the icing completely melted off.. and the donuts had cooled. They looked great even 2 hours after I made them but by morning the icing was almost completely slid off and by 24 hours there was none. And it was about 60 degrees so that is not it either.
These baked donuts were A.MAZING!! The brown sugar frosting is next level delish—whole family devoured these and it made 16 donuts so we have some for tomorrow
Thanks Sally for easy to follow, delicious recipes that come out right everysingletime!!!
These are super easy to make and really, really tasty! I topped with chopped pecans and a very wee bit of pink salt. These would be great for a bake sale or as gifts as they have huge curb appeal and are DELISH.
Over the Top Delicious!! This recipe made 46 moist, yummy, mini donuts for me. Nice spice and great pumpkin flavor. Definitely a KEEPER!!
Hi Sally. Thanks for another great recipe. My co-workers loved them. However, I iced the donuts after they were cool and let the icing set for a good 2 hours before I packed them up. I found later that the icing melted and transferred onto the back of the other donuts. The few I left at home, stored in a Tupperware on my kitchen counter completely melted and blended into the donuts. I live in Florida, but we happened to have had a little cold front with no humidity, so I’m not sure what happened. Thanks again. They were amazing and I will definitely be making them again
These came out great! Although my icing seemed to be a little runny- we still enjoyed it!
Thanks for a great recipe!
The donuts tasted great and had a wonderful pumpkin flavor but I really struggled with the icing getting too thick really fast and needed to add milk every few sips.
Have had my donuts pans for a few months and have been looking at many different recipes! So glad I used this one!!!!!! So delicious! My only complaint is that I can’t stop eating them. I had a few break because I didn’t let them cool enough. The brown sugar butter glaze is ahhhhhmazing! I never have pumpkin spice mix so I used mostly nutmeg with a dash of ginger and clove as I think that’s what pumpkin spice is? I love nutmeg so it worked for me.
These are very moist and delicious! That totally scream Fall! I will make them again soon! Thank you so much for an amazing recipe!
Hi Sally,
These are in the oven as I type – just a quick question: is the batter meant to be almost pouring consistency? I lost about three donuts as soon as I cut the tip off the piping bag!
Thanks so much!
The batter is on the thinner side, yes!
OMG!! This was incredible. I had been really wanting to try baked donuts, and I think I found the one that matches the perfect flavor of some of those delicious donut shops. It was so soft and moist, yet it didn’t fall apart. It had great flavor!(I did add a little bit more salt and spice), but other than that I followed the recipe to the dot!! It is also really easy to make and not time consuming at all. To summarize that, I’ll be making this again!! =D Thank you Sally!
I tried these yesterday—very easy to make and the donut had a wonderful fall flavor and excellent flavor, even using coconut sugar and some whole wheat pastry flour. The brown sugar icing was too sweet for me, so next time I think I will try a simple cinnamon/sugar topping instead, although the icing did set beautifully for easy stacking.
Hi!
Going to make these tomorrow and wondering if I can use buttermilk in place of the milk in both the donut and icing! I have so much buttermilk!
Thanks!
Made the donut holes/mini muffin version to bring in to work and everyone LOVED these! They are SO good! I did use pumpkin puree I made myself and they came out great anyways.
I had leftover pumpkin purée in the fridge from thanksgiving so I baked these today, they are so good! I used the Wilton heart shaped donut pan and I honestly lost count of how many donuts I got! It was at least 3 dozen lol (I didn’t double the recipe or anything!) My husband ate a ton so I’m assuming he loves them lol. That brown sugar glaze is super good! I think I will make these every fall and honestly – I can’t wait to eat one with my morning cup of chai tomorrow!
Also to anyone thinking of making these – they are BAKED not FRIED so of course they will be cakey 🙂
Deeelicious
Sally these were great!! Perfect amount of spice and so easy to make. Comes together so quick! The icing was fine, I should have sifted my icing sugar as you suggested as it did clump in the warm mixture. My only complaint is storing the donuts. They sweated a little left at room temp, and in the fridge the icing seemed to liquify. Any tips to prevent this from happening??
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! Make sure that they are 100% cool before covering and storing any leftovers to avoid condensation forming. You can also store them in the fridge without the frosting if that works better for you.
Hi Sally! Just made these and they came out perfect! One question though, is it possible to replace the butter in the icing with oil? Making some for dairy free friends. Thanks!
Hi Noam! I don’t recommend it– the icing will taste oily. You can use a simple vanilla icing and use dairy-free milk. You can add a pinch of cinnamon so the vanilla icing is extra flavorful.
Great donut! Totally physiological but if I made them into cupcakes instead of donuts, I would only have to eat one cup cake as appose to 2 donuts. One just sounds better than 2 calorie wise!! Brown Sugar Icing was so yummy. Next time I would have to double the icing for the amount of donuts I got. One big plus about this recipe besides tasting so good is IT Doesn’t Require a Mixer! I bake so much I honestly get tired of washing it. Thanks.
Hi, I think these are good, but they taste like cake batter that are just shaped like donuts to me. Not my favorite recipe of yours!
Hi Erin! These are cake-style donuts. Sorry you weren’t a fan, but thank you for trying the recipe!
A delightful baked pumpkin donut, and the glaze really takes them over the top! They look as lovely as they taste 🙂
I bought a donut pan so I could make these donuts. Everything was going great until it came time for the frosting. I made it exactly as described and let it sit for 5 minutes. It apparently was too thick and it ripped the first donut to pieces. I rescued what I could, even whisking in some of the broken pieces with some additional milk. Even with that little blip, they taste good. l love your videos and recipes. Thanks for your time and talents!!!
Thanks so much Jeanene! A little extra milk or warming the icing back up again will help thin it out. 🙂
These are Soooo good! I made them this morning for my family and could hardly wait to eat one. I only got a dozen instead of 16, but I think I filled them fuller than half. Thanks for the recipe! This is my new favorite blog!
Hi Sally! Love your recipes and Have I made several. I love them and eat them, lots. So, I’m wondering if you can substitute extra pumpkin, or banana in place of oil? Don’t hate me Sally!
Hi Jen, I find that when you replace all the fat/oil you can get a rubbery texture. I suggest substituting half of it and seeing what happens!
I made these and used just cinnamon sugar to top them and they are fantastic!
These are so delicious! They are moist and flavorful, and the glaze takes them over the top. I got 20 donuts out of this recipe and still had enough glaze for them all. I used dark brown sugar for the glaze and it came out the same color as the donuts! It set so shiny and beautiful – looked like something from a bakery. Thank you for another great pumpkin recipe!
Delicious perfect pumpkin donuts! I love that the icing set so nice and thick. I topped mine with a generous sprinkle of cinnamon
I get all my recipes from here- I feel like I’m leaving reviews every day lol. These donuts are definitely one of the best things I’ve baked. Super moist, chewy on the outside, and soft on the inside with the perfect pumpkin spice flavor. Like pumpkin bread but better! I will be baking these again for sure (maybe for Thanksgiving?) They taste like fall! Definitely make the icing- I used dark brown sugar, it makes all the difference. I could eat it on its own (not saying I didn’t lol). Again thanks for the amazing recipes- I have yet to make one we didn’t absolutely love.
Update: So I put them in a Tupperware after frosting them, and this morning the thick frosting had disappeared! Not sure what happened… I guess it absorbed into the donut. How can I prevent that next time?
Hi Emily– that’s so odd. Was the icing nice and thick? Maybe let the donuts completely cool before dipping in icing next time. Sorry, I just have never had this happen before!
Just made these this morning. They are wonderful with or without the glaze. Love the tips. Very helpful. Will make again soon. Thank you Sally!