Tender, soft pumpkin pie flavored donuts that don’t require any frying. These donuts taste like pumpkin pie in donut form. The donuts need just 3 ingredients and are easy to make. They are also egg-free and dairy-free.
Whenever I share a donut recipe, I get asked if the donuts can be baked instead of fried. Well, these donuts are baked in the oven! They come out so soft and tender. They are a delicious pumpkin cake donut and the batter is so easy to prepare. You can also bake these in a donut pan if you want a classic donut ring shape. I baked mine in a mini muffin pan to make individual donut holes.
Ingredients
- Self-rising flour
- Pumpkin pie mix
- Oil
Self-rising flour: Self-rising flour is all purpose flour that is already premixed with baking powder and salt. I like to use self-rising flour in my recipes because it saves a few extra steps and time. You can also make your own self-rising flour blend by combining all purpose flour, baking powder and salt.
Pumpkin pie mix: To get the pumpkin and pumpkin spice flavor into these donuts, I used canned pumpkin pie mix. Pumpkin pie mix is pumpkin puree that is already mixed with sugar and spices. It is sold near pumpkin puree cans at the grocery store.
Oil: Adding a little oil will give these donuts a very tender crumb. I recommend using canola oil. I did test with a few different oils and I found canola oil worked best because of its neutral flavor.
How to Make Baked Pumpkin Pie Donuts
- The pumpkin pie mix and oil are first mixed together. The flour is then folded in until no flour lumps remain. Use a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop the mixture and release into a greased mini muffin pan.
- If you prefer to make larger donuts, you can also add the batter into a donut pan. You may want to pipe the batter in if you are using a donut pan for smoother donut rings.
- The donuts are then ready to be baked.
- Once cooled, the donuts can be enjoyed right away. Or, you can roll them in cinnamon sugar before serving.
More Pumpkin Recipes
3 Ingredient Pumpkin Pie Donuts
Ingredients
- 1 cup (241 g) canned pumpkin pie mix
- 2 tbsp (1 fl oz/30 ml) canola oil
- 1 cup (128 g) self-rising flour see note before starting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease 14 cavities of a mini muffin pan.
- In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin pie mix and oil. Add in the flour and fold it in with a spatula until no flour lumps remain.
- Use a 1.5 tbsp cookie scoop to scoop the batter and release it into your prepared mini muffin pan.
- Place muffin pan in the oven and bake donuts for about 15-20 minutes or until done. Let donuts cool fully before eating. If desired, you can coat the donuts in cinnamon sugar before serving. I recommend doing this after the donuts have cooled. See notes for more details. Store uneaten donuts in the fridge or freezer.
Notes
- Optional Cinnamon Sugar Coating: For the coating, I mixed 2 (heaping) tbsp sugar + 1/2 tsp cinnamon and put it into a Ziploc bag. You can also use 2 tablespoons of cinnamon sugar mix (like McCormick's cinnamon sugar). Put a few donut holes in the bag, seal the bag, and shakethe donuts until they are coated in cinnamon sugar. Repeat the process with the remaining donuts. I find that the donuts coat better if you allow them to fully cool. I baked mine the night before and coated them in the morning before serving.
- Self-rising flour amount. There are 2 main kinds of self-rising flour sold in the US. One that is a lower protein (2 grams per 1/4 cup serving) flour and one that has a regular amount of protein (3 grams per 1/4 cup (30g) serving). The amount of protein affects how much liquid is absorbed. For this recipe, I tested it with Gold Medal self-rising flour (regular amount of protein). Please use a self-rising flour with a regular amount of protein (3 grams per 1/4 cup), or make your own self-rising flour with the recipe below.
- Homemade self-rising flour: Whisk together 1 cup all purpose flour, 1.5 teaspoons baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Make sure your all purpose flour has a regular amount of protein (3 grams per 1/4 cup). Most brands in the US contain this amount but there are some brands with higher protein (4 grams per 1/4 cup) such as King Arthur Flour and Bob's Red Mill.
- I made these with Gold Medal self-rising flour (Amazon | Walmart)* and Farmer's Market Organic Pumpkin Pie Mix.*
- I used a Wilton mini muffin pan.*
- *These product links are affiliate links. This means I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
Pretty decent small snack dessert. I couldn’t get them to cost in sugar after cooling tho. Would be a good dip in cool whip dessert tho
The best way to coat in sugar is to put them into a sealed bag with the sugar and shake until coated as described in the recipe notes. If you just simply try to roll them in a bowl of sugar then they don’t coat well.
Can coconut oil be used instead of canola oil?
I did test with a few different oils and I found canola oil worked best because of its neutral flavor. You could give it a try!
Can you make these gluten free?
We have not tried that with this recipe! It does require self-rising flour so you would have to test it by making your gluten free flour self-rising!