Healthy Baked Pumpkin Donuts

Healthy baked pumpkin donuts are dense and chewy, bursting with pumpkin flavor. Topped with cinnamon sugar for an irresistible fall breakfast.

I’ve owned a donut baking pan for years now, and I’ve rarely put it to use. The last time I probably used it was to make these incredible baked chocolate protein donuts.

That was in 2018…it is now 2020.

So it seemed like a good of time as any to bust this donut pan out of hiding and put it to work.

What better way to celebrate the rebirth of this pan than with some healthy baked pumpkin donuts?

Now, fair warning. These donuts are not light and airy like traditional fried donuts. These are dense, chewy and 100% fall packed in a breakfast pastry.

If you can handle that, then read on for how to make these fall pumpkin donuts of your dreams.

How to make healthy baked pumpkin donuts

Making the pumpkin donut batter

Just a few simple ingredients go into creating this wonderful pumpkin-flavored batter.

I really love using a combination of whole wheat flour with almond flour. It lends a slightly lighter crumb to the donuts, even though they’re still pretty dense.

I’ll be honest, I kind of went the lazy route when it came to spicing up this batter. Pumpkin pie spice was created for a reason, right? So that we don’t have to waste our precious time creating it from scratch.

This leaves more time for you to enjoy eating pumpkin spice donuts over making the spice yourself.

With the exception of the topping, there’s no butter in this batter. Just applesauce and pure maple syrup for sweetness.

If you’d like to make these donuts vegan, sub a flax egg for the real egg in the batter.

Best tip for piping pumpkin batter into the donut pan

I’m going to let you in on a little secret on how to easily pipe batter into the donut pan.

Because let’s be honest, spooning batter into the pan is messy and time consuming. We want to get to these donuts much faster.

So here it is!

Place a gallon-sized Ziploc bag in a tall glass. Fold the edges of the bag over the glass.

Then spoon the pumpkin batter into the Ziploc. Once the cup is filled you can pull the edges up can continue spooning the remaining batter into the bag.

All that’s left is to twist the top of the bag so the batter stays inside. Cut the tip of the bag and you have your very own piping bag.

Simply squeeze the batter into the pan and you have a perfect donut! Easy peasy donut squeezy.

Cinnamon sugar coating for healthy baked pumpkin donuts

Once the donuts have been baked and cooled, the only thing left is to top them with a little cinnamon sugar.

Don’t get all overly healthy on me and skip this step. The cinnamon sugar coating just takes these donuts to a whole other level.

We’re still using natural, raw cane sugar to make this topping, so I’m still considering it healthy.

Dunk the top of your donut in melted butter {gotta have something for the topping to stick to}. Then dip in the cinnamon sugar coating.

I opted to just coat the top of the donut, and this was the perfect amount.

Storing healthy pumpkin donuts

Pumpkin puree has a lot of moisture to it, meaning that even after it’s baked, it can affect that cinnamon sugar coating.

I highly suggest storing these donuts in an even layer with parchment paper in between the layers. This should help keep the cinnamon sugar coating from really soaking into the donuts.

Also, because of the moisture, these donuts can mold quickly. So, unless you plan on eating all of them in less than a week, I suggest freezing them.

You can go the freezer Ziploc route or the freezer-safe container with parchment paper separating the donuts.

Either way you go, these donuts will be a hit!

Looking for more healthy breakfast recipes? Check these out:

Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal

Homemade Toaster Strudel

Apple Pie Steel Cut Oats