These Best Ever Pumpkin Cake Doughnuts are going to be your go-to brunch treat this fall! Soft, moist and fluffy, they’re super pumpkin-y and topped with a pumpkin spice glaze!
I am forever a weird pumpkin eater.
Pie? No thank you. Lattes? Pass. But cakes, doughnuts, and breads? YES PLEASE.
I guess I only like cakey pumpkin baked goods, but hey, we can’t all be perfect, right?
Every year I try to go to a local orchard called Apple Hill and grab some apple desserts and pumpkin doughnuts at their local farmstand. Unfortunately, it’s been super smoky here in Northern California so I haven’t had the chance to make it up the hill. Hopefully the smoke will die down some and I can take a day trip up there, because they have the best – or second best! – pumpkin doughnuts.
While I love all doughnuts, I am particularly fond of cake doughnuts especially. There’s something about them that I find so delicious and satisfying, even more so than their yeasted doughnut counterpart. These Pumpkin Cake Doughnuts are SO delicious and totally hit the spot!
What I need most from a cake doughnut is for it to be soft and moist. Dry, crumbly doughnuts are a disgrace and there is no dryness in these doughnuts! These pumpkin doughnuts get their moisture from two sources: by using vegetable oil as the primary fat, and from the pumpkin puree. Both of these ingredients yields super plush, soft, fluffy and supremely moist cake doughnuts. We also use a whole can (!!) of pumpkin puree in this recipe and tons of pumpkin spices to really ramp up the pumpkin flavors!
To finish these off, I recommend making my pumpkin spice glaze which has a secret flavorful ingredient in it: pumpkin spice coffee creamer! This helps add some more pumpkin flavor and helps make the glaze creamy and delicious. It’s SO simple, it should be criminal!
So who is ready to cozy up with these fantastic Best Ever Pumpkin Cake Doughnuts?! I know I am!!
*adapted from King Arthur Flour
Best Ever Pumpkin Cake Doughnuts
Equipment
- Donut pan
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1½ cups (One 15-ounce can) pure pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie filling
- 1½ cups granulated white sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or 1½ tsp ground cinnamon plus ¼tsp each nutmeg and ginger
- 1 tsp salt
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- 1¾ cups PLUS 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
- ⅓ cup pumpkin spice flavored coffee creamer
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° degrees F. Liberally spray a 6- or 12-count donut pan. If you have a 6-cavity donut pan, you'll have to bake in 3 batches; if you have a 12-count donut pan, you'll have to bake about 2 times. Regardless, you'll want to respray the donut pan after each batch.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, eggs, pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Add in the salt, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and flour and mix until combined with a rubber spatula. Mixture will be thick.
- Fill each donut cavity about 3/4 full - using about 1/4 cup of batter per donut cavity. I like to put the donut batter into a piping bag and pipe it in for best results.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes or until donuts are baked and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean or with moist but not wet crumbs. Cool for about 5 minutes, then carefully invert them onto a wire rack. Repeat with remaining donut batter.
- For the glaze: In a medium bowl, whisk together the confectioners' sugar, pumpkin spice coffee creamer and vanilla until combined and smooth. Dunk the tops of the baked and slightly cooled donuts into the glaze, allowing excess to drip off. Return to the wire rack to allow the glaze to set.
Notes
Moist, soft, fluffy and cakey goodness! You’re going to love these amazing pumpkin doughnuts!
Have a super sweet day!
xo, Hayley
Brandiwyn says
This recipe is so easy!
I saw the post for these babies and ran out to buy a donut pan. Not sure how I lived without one before.
I love that there’s no frying involved.
I easily subbed out dairy for non- using hemp milk for the batter and oatmilk pumpkin spice creamer for the frosting.
They came out perfectly soft and light and delicious as described and are very addictive!
Thanks Hayley for always making the best recipes available for us to try. Love, love, love!
thedomesticrebel says
Brandiwyn, thank you for the lovely comment! So glad you enjoyed the doughnuts!