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Hi Bold Bakers!
Fall has been taken over by pumpkin-spiced everything! Pumpkin-spiced coffee (and pumpkin-spiced creamer), pumpkin-spiced beer, pumpkin-spiced cheesecake! I think we’re forgetting one of the simplest joys of the fall season: glazed pumpkin donuts.
My homemade pumpkin donut recipe is perfect for those crisp fall mornings when you want something warm, spicy, sweet, and (best of all) fried. While I love a good baked donut, sometimes, when the nights get longer, you need a good fried treat to look forward to in the morning!
I love this pumpkin donut recipe. It has the perfect amount of warm spices, cinnamon, and pumpkin flavoring, and it’s all enveloped in a glaze that hardens just the right amount, that makes the donuts glossy and sweet on the outside.
This recipe makes it pretty clear why pumpkins make fall the perfect season for baking!
Store-Bought Vs. Homemade Pumpkin Puree
This recipe does call for pumpkin puree. When making my homemade puree, I use a “sugar pumpkin,” also known as a “pie pumpkin.” They’re the smaller, orange pumpkins you can find at your grocery or farmers market. Other pumpkins can be used, but the flavor and texture may vary. That’s it! To make your own puree, you just need pumpkin!
If you’re not feeling like taking on the gourds, however, store-bought canned pumpkin puree will do! They both work.
What Is Pumpkin Pie Spice?
The phrase “pumpkin pie spice” is thrown around a lot, but what does it even mean?!
Typically, the combination of spices, which can be used in both sweet and savory dishes, are a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, closed, ginger, and allspice. You can get this pre-mixed in your grocery’s spice aisle, or you can make your own using my homemade pumpkin pie spice recipe!
What You Need To Make Pumpkin Donuts
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Mixing bowls
- Heavy-bottomed pot
- Thermometer (optional)
- Baking sheet lined with paper towels or a wire rack.
- 3-inch (7.5cm) round cutter
- 1-inch (2.5cm) round cutter
How To Make Pumpkin Donuts
Is there anything more satisfying than pulling a delicious smelling pumpkin donut out of hot oil and glazing it with a delightful vanilla glaze? Yes — eating them! Here’s how you can make pumpkin donuts (and don’t forget to get the full recipe with measurements, on the page down below):
- Combine your dry ingredients, flour, sugar, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt in a large bowl.
- In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: pumpkin puree, sour cream, eggs, butter, and vanilla extract.
- Combine the wet ingredients with the dry thoroughly to make a dough. Cover the dough and let it chill for 15 minutes in the refrigerator.
- In the meantime, prepare your frying space! Into a heavy-bottomed pot, pour 3-inches of oil and set it over medium-high heat. Insert your thermometer if you are using one. Next to the stove, place your baking sheet lined with paper towels or a wire rack. Near the rack, place the bowl with the vanilla glaze.
- Once the dough has chilled enough to firm up, roll it out onto a floured surface to ½ inch (1.5cm) thick and cut using a 3-inch (7.5cm) round cutter. Reroll the scraps to make more circles. Use a 1-inch (2.5cm) cutter to cut the centers of your dough to make the donut shape.
- The oil should be roughly 350°F (180°C). Drop 2 or 3 donuts, or 5-6 donut holes, into the oil at a time. Fry for about 2 to 3 minutes until it is lightly browned on one side, then flip and fry until the other side is browned.
- Remove the donuts or holes to a wire rack to drain of oil just a little. Immediately, dip both sides of the hot donuts into the vanilla glaze and then set on the rack to finish drying. Repeat the process with the remaining donuts and holes.
Gemma’s Pro Chef Tips For Making Pumpkin Donuts
- You want to be sure that your oil stays around 350°F (180°C) to ensure the donuts cook properly. Keep in mind that when you add the fresh dough, it will change the temperature. Don’t crowd your pot.
- Glaze your donuts while they’re hot, so the glaze sets well.
- Donuts puff up in oil a lot! Make sure you roll them out no thicker than 1/2 inch.
- Use my Vanilla Donut Glaze.
- Don’t have Pumpkin pie spice? Make your own Pumpkin Pie Spice.
- Make your own Pumpkin Puree.
- Oil is HOT when frying! Make sure you stay safe: place donuts carefully in the oil to avoid splash burns, watch carefully to make sure that the oil doesn’t start to smoke, and never walk away from oil heating on the stove! If you are a child making this recipe, make sure to get an adult’s help!
How Do I Store Homemade Pumpkin Donuts?
You should enjoy these donuts as soon as they’re cool enough to eat! Donuts are always best when they’re eaten the day they are made, but if you have any leftovers, keep them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Make More Fall Recipes!
And don’t forget to buy my Bigger Bolder Baking Cookbook!
Full (and printable) recipe below!
Try These Recipes!
Glazed Pumpkin Donuts Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 ½ cups (17 ½ oz/497g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (8oz/225g) granulated sugar
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (8oz/225g) pumpkin puree
- ½ cup (4oz/115g) sour cream
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons (1oz/28g) butter melted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Vegetable oil for frying (canola, safflower, etc.)
- 1 recipe Vanilla Donut glaze
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine your dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, pie spice, and salt.
- In another bowl, whisk your wet ingredients: pumpkin puree, sour cream, eggs, butter, and vanilla extract.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients thoroughly to make a dough. Cover the dough and let it chill for 15 minutes in the refrigerator to firm up.
- Set up your frying space: pour oil to a 3-inch depth in a heavy-bottomed pot and set over medium-high heat and insert a thermometer, if using. Place a baking sheet next to the stove, either lined with paper towels or a wire rack. Place the bowl with the glaze near the rack.
- On a floured surface, roll out the donut dough to ½ inch (1.5cm) thick and cut using a 3-inch (7.5cm) round cutter, cut circles of dough. You can reroll the scraps to make more circles.
- Using a 1-inch (2.5cm) cutter, cut holes in the center of your dough circles.
- When your oil is hot, roughly 350°F (180°C), drop 2 or 3 donuts (or 5-6 holes) at a time in the oil. Fry for about 2 to 3 minutes, until lightly browned on one side, then flip and fry until the other side is browned.
- Remove to the wire rack and immediately dip both sides of the hot donuts in the vanilla glaze and set on the rack to dry before proceeding with the remaining donuts and holes.
- Enjoy when just cool enough to devour! Donuts are best eaten the day they are made, but you can store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Hi Gemma,
can these donuts be baked?
Made this recipe for the 1st time today. I needed something to keep me busy so I didn’t completely stress out on Election Day. I’m hoping we will eat them in celebration rather than in drowning our sorrows. Recipe worked out well, though I think the oil may have been a bit hot as the insides on some are a bit doughy, but still tasted great and certainly didn’t stop my husband or my oldest from each eating one in a blink of an eye.
Roasted a ghost pumpkin and puréed it to make these donuts. Absolutely delicious!
I have made this as donut holes, dairy free for my oldest kid. It was well received. I used dairy free sour cream, melted hard df buttery replacement, and pumpkin extract added to amp-up the pumpkin flavor. They didn’t expand/fluff as far as the original recipe. I think that dairy free sour cream doesn’t have what it takes to activate double-acting baking powder. I think I need to add a little lemon juice or apple-cider-vinegar to give the first lift. Perhaps for DF, a better choice would be a DF Greek Yogurt to aid the lift. Other than that they… Read more »
Five stars! Light and airy cake donuts. Well actually donut holes, because we didn’t need so many donuts for two people. My donut holes at 350F oil took about 1.5-2 minutes per batch of 4. I cut the recipe in half as well and it makes a boat load of donut holes. These were better than the pumpkin old fashioned donuts at Krispy Kreme, and they were quick and easy. The key for me was the deep oil in a smaller sauce pan, with a Taylor candy thermometer strapped to the side, and watching the temp carefully. Not greasy or… Read more »
Can I bake these donuts instead of frying them?
What should the dough consistency be?
Hi, Gemma. Is it okay if I use dark brown sugar instead of white granulated sugar?
Oh, these were absolutely delicious Gemma! I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed them. Slightly wonky looking, but homemade and perfect nontheless- they were finished in one night! I have also added a picture! :))
Just had one question: When my donuts were ripped open, they did not have the same orange color as yours did. Could this be because of the type of pumpkin I used?
Thank you for the lovely treat!
Hi Gemma, I was wondering if there was any other ingredient that we could use to replace the sour cream in this recipe? Thank you!