One of my family’s favorite traditions every fall is to make homemade donuts. We don’t usually do a lot of deep frying, so it’s an extra special treat for our family! We’ve made a variety of different donuts, from homemade Krispy Kreme-style donuts to apple cider donuts to pumpkin spice donuts. Each flavor of donut is delicious in its own way, but the pumpkin spice donuts just feel like the essence of fall. There really is no better flavor for fall than pumpkin spice! Since I love those pumpkin spice donuts like crazy, but don’t always want all of the mess and effort that goes along with making them, I started making these pumpkin donut muffins a few years ago. They have all of the pumpkin spice flavor that I love, but they’re quick and easy to make. They’re also a little healthier than the fried donuts (although I wouldn’t really call anything that’s rolled in butter and sugar strictly healthy). They’re perfect as a breakfast, dessert, or snack!
I adapted these delicious muffins from this recipe from Live Well Bake Often, but changed it just a little based on what I already had in the house. (Not having to make an extra trip to the grocery store is always a win!) I also bumped up the pumpkin spice flavor just a little more, to make the muffins extra delicious!
Pumpkin Donut Muffins
The full recipe is at the bottom of this post, but here’s what you’ll need
flour baking powder pumpkin pie spice salt pumpkin puree sugar egg milk canola oil or vegetable oil butter
The batter for these muffins is quick to make, and you can easily mix it by hand. As much as I love my KitchenAid mixer, sometimes I really enjoy mixing things by hand instead. You’ll want to mix the batter until it just comes together, being careful not to over mix it.
Next, scoop the batter into a greased mini muffin tin, filling 3/4 full. I used a 1 tablespoon scoop, and it was the perfect size! You’ll want to avoid using paper liners in your muffin tin, because the muffins will be rolled in butter and cinnamon sugar later.
Bake the muffins until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the tops spring back when touched lightly. After baking, let the muffins cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes until they’re warm but not too hot.
Dip the muffins in the melted butter, coating all sides, then roll them in a mixture of sugar and pumpkin pie spice. The muffins are totally delicious on their own, but the spiced sugar coating makes them extra delicious!
These pumpkin donut muffins are best eaten right away, when they’re still slightly warm. They are so sweet, with the perfect little touch of pumpkin spice. You won’t be able to stop at just one muffin!
I made these recently for a snack when my kids had some friends over to play, and I had a line of kids begging for more muffins. They are just that good! These pumpkin donut muffins are the perfect treat for fall!
For more delicious pumpkin treats that are perfect for fall, be sure to check out these pumpkin spice muffins, pumpkin bread, and pumpkin chocolate chip mug cake! These bite-sized pumpkin donut muffins are the perfect treat for fall! They’re so light and tender, and rolled in spiced sugar for extra deliciousness!
