Easy Baked Pumpkin Spice Donuts With Maple Glaze (Egg-Free & Refined-Sugar-Free)

Quick & Easy Baked Pumpkin Donuts

Fall is my favorite season because it means all the fun, cozy baking. Who doesn’t love to warm up their kitchen with the enticing smell of spiced treats in the autumn? And you simply cannot let fall pass until you have filled the air with the tempting aroma of these super easy baked pumpkin spice donuts 🙂

Quick and easy to make, this healthy pumpkin donut recipe is entirely naturally sweetened with maple syrup and does not contain any eggs. The maple glaze these fall baked donuts are topped with does not even contain powdered sugar – and it doesn’t have any alternative sweeteners either!

Easy plus healthier really is the best of all worlds, isn’t it?

But these actually get even better. Because they are also 100% kid-approved, just like all the recipes on this website 😀 And if you are a parent (or are ever around kids), you know how particular kids can be, especially when it comes to treats that are made a little healthier.

It took just one bite for my 3-year-old to excitedly approve of these healthy fall treats. And even my picky, pumpkin-averse 8-year-old admitted that they were pretty decent (that’s high praise from a girl who doesn’t like pumpkin). The only other time she’s liked one of my pumpkin recipes is when I made pumpkin cake pops.

By the way, if you also have a child who does not like pumpkin-flavored treats for fall, you should try making these pumpkin spiced chocolates for him or her. While they are flavored with pumpkin pie spice, they do not actually contain any pumpkin.

But if your child is as crazy for pumpkin fall treats as I am, these easy baked pumpkin spice donuts will be a win, guaranteed. And they will most certainly be a win for you too, because it literally takes about 10 minutes to mix these up and just 20 minutes of bake time, during which you can mix up your glaze.

So in a total of 30 minutes you can have fresh, hot donuts filling the house with all the wonderful scents of fall. And since they are sweetened with maple syrup only, you can even say “Yes” to letting your child (and yourself) have seconds 🙂

When to Make Baked Pumpkin Donuts

I know that fall is the typical time when everyone is looking for pumpkin recipes for just about everything, but these easy baked pumpkin spice donuts can make excellent snacks or breakfasts all year round.

Pumpkin is, after all, a vegetable (I know, it’s technically a fruit but we all think of it as a vegetable), and what better way to get veggies into your kids than with an easy donut recipe that is kid-approved and refined sugar free?

I’ll admit, though, that fall is the most appealing time to bake with, smell and eat pumpkin treats. But if you are looking for pumpkin donut recipes in the springtime, I’m certainly not going to judge you 😀

But aside from the obvious time of year when these donuts with maple glaze are ideal for baking, they are also just great as easy school morning breakfasts or after school snacks.

These healthier donuts can be served with or without the icing, so if you want to keep them a little lighter, omit the icing and call them healthy kids snacks. While the icing makes them more sweet for serving as a dessert or an extra appealing breakfast for picky eaters, my 3-year-old also gobbled up the first batch before there was any icing in sight.

These could also easily be packed in a backpack as a mid-morning school snack. Easy enough to take on-the-go, I have brought these on outings many times with my own kids, both with and without icing.

With icing, these easy baked pumpkin spice donuts contain 21 grams of unrefined sugar each. Without icing, they contain 15 grams of unrefined sugar. So whether you want to use them as breakfast, snacks or desserts, you can decide whether you want to keep the sugar content lower or make them a little more exciting.

But as for the perfect time to make these super easy donuts? Honestly, this is one of the best fall baking recipes you can make when you want to fill your house with the smell of deliciously warm pumpkin and spice with very little effort. They really are that easy!

Ingredients

• Butter: Butter helps to keep these simple pumpkin donuts light, fluffy and flavorful. Butter is also used in the icing to help it stabilize and hold all the other ingredients together. I use organic or Irish grass-fed butter.

• Maple Syrup: Maple syrup is what the donuts and the glaze are naturally sweetened with. Be sure to use Grade A 100% pure maple syrup.

• Pumpkin Puree: Canned pumpkin puree is the easy route to getting that pumpkin flavor effortlessly.

• Flour: Any all-purpose flour will work for this easy pumpkin donut recipe. I use organic unbleached all-purpose flour from Costco.

• Baking Powder: Baking powder is the easy way to get the full rise out of these pumpkin spice donuts without using yeast and having to let the dough proof. Using baking powder instead of yeast keeps the recipe extra quick and extra easy. Make sure to get aluminum-free baking powder.

• Pumpkin Pie Spice: Pumpkin pie spice is the salt of fall, isn’t it? This recipe calls for pumpkin pie spice both in the donuts themselves and in the icing. You can buy pumpkin pie spice from the store or make your own from this easy recipe on The Pioneer Woman.

• Salt: Just a tiny smidge of salt is enough to bring out the full flavor of these baked pumpkin donuts. I use pink Himalayan sea salt.

• Arrowroot Powder: Arrowroot powder is for thickening the icing. It’s the perfect refined-sugar-free powdered sugar alternative.

• Walnuts: Walnuts are optional and are for sprinkling on top of the glazed donuts for a bit of extra decoration and some crunch.

Instructions

Make the Donuts

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and spray a non-stick donut pan lightly with oil.

Step 2

In a medium-size bowl, combine melted butter, maple syrup and pumpkin puree. Mix until fully combined.

Step 3

Add all remaining donut ingredients to the liquid ingredients and mix until fully combined.

Step 4

Spoon batter into donut pan, dividing it evenly among the six donut cups. Smooth out the tops with a spoon and try to avoid getting batter on the raised donut holes.

Step 5

Bake for 18 minutes. While donuts are baking, make the icing if using.

Make the Icing (Optional)

Step 1

In a small bowl, combine melted butter and maple syrup. Add arrowroot and pumpkin pie spice and mix with a spoon until you have a smooth paste. It will be thick.

Step 2

When the donuts come out of the oven, allow them to cool for 5 minutes in the pan and then remove them onto a plate or wrack. Immediately spoon the icing on the tops while they are still warm. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts if desired.

Serve fresh or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week for best freshness.

Substitutions & Tips

• I highly recommend using a donut pan for making these because it makes it so easy to get the shape just right.

• When spooning the donut batter into the donut pan, it’s easiest to simply do small scoops all the way around the perimeter of the raised donut hole indent in the center. You may end up with some overflow onto the centers as they bake, but the centers will be very thin.
  
  You can either cut the holes out when they are done baking or leave them and you will still have that classic donut look once they are iced.

• The icing on these pumpkin spice donuts is entirely optional. While the icing does elevate the flavor experience, the donuts themselves are totally self-sufficient at satisfying a spiced sweet tooth and providing a tasty snack or breakfast.

• When making the icing, you can adjust the sweetness to your preference. Using more maple syrup will thin it out more and using less will make it more thick. If you want to use less maple syrup, either increase the amount of melted butter or add some milk to thin out the icing a bit.
  
  If you want to add more maple syrup to increase the sweetness, it may become a bit runny depending on how much extra maple syrup you add. But keep in mind that it will thicken up a bit when chilled.

• If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, use this pumpkin pie spice recipe on The Pioneer Woman.