Pumpkin Spice Baked Donut Holes

What better way to enjoy pumpkiny goodness than with a Pumpkin Spice Baked Donut Hole. It’s pretty much all the good parts about donuts, without the fuss of deep frying.

I love donut holes and I’ve been known to hit the Dunkin Donuts late in the evening to pick some up. Especially, when I figured out that at the end of the evening, they have a tendency to give you extras just to get rid of them. But hitting up the donut shop on a regular basis, gets a little pricey, after awhile.

What?! You can bake donuts?

I’m not a fan of deep frying things, so when I discovered that I might be able to bake a donut hole instead of frying, I was in. All the yumminess without the painful part.

Because of baking, the donuts tend to be a little more cake like. When stirring the batter, make sure not to over mix and keep the batter a little thick. This will help with retain a little chewiness, so they feel more like a donut than a muffin. 

By using a muffin tin, the holes aren’t exactly circular, but it’s so close that you’d never be able to tell.  They don’t fluff up quite as much as a muffin, so you don’t get that muffin top.

To fill the tin, I use the two teaspoon move that typically works on drop cookies – fill a teaspoon and scrape with another spoon. A teaspoon works well, since it fills up the tin to about 3/4 full. 

For the coating, use confectioner’s or powdered sugar. It can be messy, but it adds sweetness and makes them so pretty. First coat the holes in melted butter and then drop them into the sugar. Roll them around so that they’re completely covered. 

The one thing I noticed about these donut holes, is that they don’t keep as well the next day. While they’re still tasty, the powdered coating becomes stickier and less flaky. This really gives you the perfect reason to eat them right away! 

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Pumpkin Spice Baked Donut Holes

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

10 mins

cooling time

5 mins

Total Time

25 mins

 

Can’t get enough pumpkin spice? Enjoy these fall-inspired Pumpkin Spice Donut Holes, they’re baked, not fried and ready in flash.

Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Servings: 24 servings

ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1-1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 large egg
• 3 tbsp melted butter

For Powdered Sugar Coating

• 4 tbsp melted & cooled butter
• 3/4 cup powdered confectioner’s sugar

instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Coat a 24-count mini muffin pan with non-stick spray.

2. Using a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, pumpkin spice and salt. Stir dry ingredients to evenly blend.

3. In another bowl add in the pumpkin puree, sugar, vanilla, melted butter and milk. Whisk the ingredients together. Then add to the flour mixture. Lightly, mix everything together, making sure not to overwork the batter.

4. Spoon batter into each muffin cup, filling to about 3/4 full. Bake in the oven between 9 -11 minutes. To test if they’re done, insert a toothpick in the center, if it comes out clean, remove from oven. Let the donut holes cool in the pan for about 5 minutes. Then with a small teaspoon, remove the donut holes and place on a wire rack to continue to cool.

5. Drop each donut hole into the melted butter and then drop into the powdered sugar. Roll the donut hole to coat. Serve and enjoy immediately.

Recipe Notes

Note: To fill the muffin pan, I use two teaspoons. Filling one and scraping the batter off the spoon with another.