4 Ingredient Healthier Pumpkin Donuts (No Eggs, Refined Sugar, Dairy, Or Butter)
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These healthier pumpkin donuts are soft and fluffy. They are just 4 ingredients and don’t require any eggs, refined sugar, dairy, or butter. The donuts are easy to make and store well. They take only a few minutes to prepare.
These donuts so quick and easy. I also like that they are baked instead of fried.
Ingredients
- Pumpkin
- Self-rising flour
- Coconut sugar
- Avocado oil
Pumpkin: The donuts get their pumpkin flavor with pumpkin puree. I used canned pumpkin puree but you can also use homemade.
Self-rising flour: Self-rising flour is a flour blend that already contains a leavening agent and sodium. I like using self-rising flour because it saves a few extra steps but you can also make a homemade self-rising flour blend.
Coconut sugar: The donuts are sweetened with unrefined coconut sugar. You can substitute with other granular sugars.
Avocado oil: A little avocado oil is added to the batter to give the donuts a more tender and soft crumb. Without the oil, the donuts will be more chewy and dense.
How to Make Healthier Pumpkin Donuts
- The pumpkin, coconut sugar and oil are first whisked together. The flour is then added in until fully incorporated.
- Use a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop the batter and release it into your prepared mini muffin pan.
- Bake the donuts for about 25 minutes or until done.
- If desired, you can cover the donuts in cinnamon sugar before serving.
Texture
The donuts have a texture like baked cake donuts. They will not taste like yeast donuts. The donuts are soft, moist and tender. The donuts are also lightly sweet on their own so you can skip the glaze or cinnamon sugar covering.
Expert Tips
- Coconut sugar can be substituted with other granular sugars. You can also add a little more if you prefer your donuts to be sweeter. Since donuts are usually covered in glaze or rolled in sugar, I made the donuts only lightly sweet.
- You can make a homemade self-rising flour blend with all purpose flour, baking powder and salt.
- The donuts can also be baked in a mini donut pan.
More Donut Recipes
4 Ingredient Healthier Pumpkin Donuts
These pumpkin donuts are soft, fluffy, and tender. They are just 4 ingredients and don't contain any eggs, dairy, refined sugar or butter.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup + 1 tbsp (190g) pumpkin puree
- 1/4 cup (30g) coconut sugar
- 2 tbsp (1 fl oz/30 ml) avocado oil
- 1 cup (135g) self-rising flour, see note before starting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease 12 cavities of a mini muffin pan.
- In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin, coconut sugar and oil. Add in the flour and fold it in with a spatula until no flour lumps remain. Your batter will be very thick.
- 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 20-25 minutes or until done. Let donuts cool fully before eating. If desired, you can coat the donuts in cinnamon sugar before serving. See note section for the best way to do this so that the cinnamon sugar coating sticks on. Store uneaten donuts in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.
Notes
- Optional Cinnamon Sugar Coating: To get the cinnamon sugar coating to stick to the tops of the donuts, you need to first lightly coat them with maple syrup. You don't need a lot. I poured a scant 2 tbsp into a small bowl and then lightly brushed the surface of each donut with the syrup. I only used about 1 tbsp and had some leftover. You only need a light coating so that the surface is sticky enough for the cinnamon sugar to stick. 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). You can also use a different granular sweetener if you don't want to use sugar. Put a few donut holes in the bag, seal the bag, and shake the donuts until they are coated in cinnamon sugar. Repeat the process with the remaining donuts.
- Self-rising flour note. 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. Avoid using a high protein all purpose flour because your donuts batter will be too dry.
- I used Big Tree Farms Coconut Sugar.*
- I used a Wilton mini muffin pan.* You can also bake these in a mini donut pan.
- *These product links are affiliate links. This means I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
- Estimated nutrition does not include the optional coating.
Serving: 1donut, Calories: 71kcal, Carbohydrates: 11g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 3g, Saturated Fat: 0.3g, Sodium: 117mg, Fiber: 0.4g, Sugar: 3g, NET CARBS: 11
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. This is not a comprehensive list of all the nutrients in the recipe (i.e., does not include vitamins, cholesterol, etc). I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
Did you make this recipe?Please leave a star rating and review below!
Iam going to try them . Iam on a healthy lifestyle & its looks interested because its healthy.
Great! Let us know how you like these!
I’m going to make these for the same grand-daughter. Hope she likes them.
Great, we hope she enjoys them!
Where is the recipe?
All of the ingredients and the full recipe is always listed at the bottom of every post! You can also click the “Jump to Recipe” button at the top and it will take you right there.
Very nice easy and simple tasty
Thank you! We’re so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Its interested because it’s healthy
We hope you enjoy!
I use an all-purpose keto flour, by Victoria keto kitchen. Mainly almond flour, oat fiber, and egg white for protein. I’m going to experiment!
Let us know how that works!
It’s fast and easy to make with everyones day being so busy. Thank you
We’re so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
For ingredients it states pumpkin puree in mixing instructions it says pumpkin pie ….
This recipe uses pumpkin puree!
Can olive oil be used in place of coconut oil?
This recipe uses avocado oil! Olive oil will leave an olive oil taste in the donuts that you may not like
Looks great
Thank you!
What temperature do you bake them?
These are baked at 350°F (177°C).
Can I use whole wheat pastry flour instead of white?
We have only tested this recipe with a self-rising flour or a homemade self-rising flour with all purpose flour.
Is it pumpkin puree or pumpkin pie filling? The ingredient list and the inductions say opposite each other? Also, wouldn’t you want to add some spices?
This recipe uses pumpkin puree. These are sweetened with coconut sugar and the flavor comes from the pumpkin. You could add spices if you like but we were aiming for a pumpkin flavored donut and not necessarily pumpkin spice flavored since some people don’t enjoy pumpkin spice.