Pumpkin Donut Muffins are a quick and easy baked recipe coated in cinnamon sugar making the perfect giant donut hole. An old fashioned style muffin made with pumpkin spice, and pumpkin puree making it a delicious fall recipe perfect for kids and toddlers.
Feel like Martha Stewart herself when you make this yummy donut muffin recipe. Make these for a cozy breakfast in the fall or winter. They make a quick and easy thanksgiving breakfast, or after school snack.
This recipe is made without buttermilk, or Bisquick.
Be sure to check out our other pumpkin inspired recipes like our Copycat Paula Deen Pumpkin Bars, and our Banana Pumpkin Muffins.
Ingredients
- Pumpkin Puree- make sure to use pumpkin puree instead of pumpkin pie filling.
- Pumpkin Spice - if you don't have pumpkin spice you can use a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, ginger, and all spice. Here's a great recipe to follow!
- All-purpose Flour- You can use gluten free flour as well, though the texture will vary.
- Cinnamon- You will need this for dipping the donut muffin.
- Granulated Sugar- sugar will be needed for the actual muffin and for the cinnamon sugar coating.
- Egg
- Milk- Any percentage of milk will work with this recipe.
- Baking Powder
- Table Salt
- Butter- While butter is not needed in the actual recipe, you will use melted butter to dip the finished product in, in order to let the cinnamon sugar coating stick.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
- In an electric stand mixer, add the egg, milk, pumpkin puree, and sugar. Mix for 30 seconds or until smooth.
2. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredient mixture. Mix in the flour, salt, baking powder, and pumpkin pie spice.
3. In a greased muffin tin, scoop ⅛ cup of batter into each slot.
4. Place muffin tin in a preheated oven of 350* F and cook for 15 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick or when you tap the tops and they bounce back.
5. Remove the muffins from the tin and let cool on a wire rack. Melt butter and make the cinnamon sugar. Dip the muffin top into the butter.
6. Immediately dip the buttered top into the cinnamon sugar to coat. You can just coat the top or you can dip the sides in butter as well and roll the entire muffin in the cinnamon sugar.
Hint: Do not use cupcake liners for this recipe. The batter will stick to the liners and you will lose a lot of your recipe trying to remove it from the liner.
Variations
Use these substitutions and variations to help make for a more personalized recipe.
- Pumpkin Spice - Double the flavor of pumpkin spice but adding it to the sugar instead of cinnamon.
- Sugar Coated - instead of a cinnamon sugar coating just use sugar.
- Mini Donuts- Use a mini muffin tin in order to have a mini donut feel. Again make sure not to use mini cupcake liners or the cooked batter will stick to the liners.
- Chocolate Chips- Add in ½ cup chocolate chips to the recipe to add extra fun flavor.
- Healthier Version- Use ¼ or ⅓ cup sugar instead of a full ½ cup of sugar. The flavor will be less sweet.
Equipment
For this recipe you will need:
- Electric hand mixer or Stand Mixer- You can use either and electric hand mixer or stand mixer to get the right consistency of batter.
- Muffin Tin-A muffin tin, regular sized or mini, will be needed for this recipe. Make sure to grease it well before adding the batter. Do not use cupcake liners for this recipe!
Storage
These pumpkin donut muffins will stay fresh in an air tight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. Warm in the microwave before eating if desired.
You can freeze this recipe, baked, for 1 month in an air tight container for freezer bag.
Top tip
Cupcake liners DO NOT work with this recipe. The batter is very sticky and will not separate from the liner once baked. Make sure to grease the muffin tin with cooking spray before pouring in the batter to prevent them from sticking to the tin.
Recipe
Pumpkin Donut Muffins
Equipment
- Electric Stand Mixer
- Muffin Tin
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 egg
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- 1 cup flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Cinnamon Sugar Topping
- 5 tablespoons butter
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350
- Start by mixing the wet ingredients, vanilla, egg, milk, pumpkin puree in a stand mixer. Mix until well incorporated.
- Next, mix together the dry ingredients, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, pumpkin pie spice, with the wet ingredients. Mix together until well incorporated.
- Pour about ⅛ cup of batter into a well greased muffin tin. Do not use cupcake liners for this recipe. Cook for 15 minutes, or until set.
- Let the muffins cool for 5 minutes, or until you can easily take them out of the greased muffin tin.
- In a small bowl melt the butter.
- In another small bowl mix together cinnamon and sugar.
- Dip each muffin top in the butter and then in the cinnamon sugar mixture until the top is covered.
- Roll the the donut muffin in the cinnamon sugar so the entire muffin is covered in cinnamon sugar.
Notes
- DO NOT use cupcake liners for this recipe.
- These donut muffins will be a little thicker than what you are used to when you think of a light and fluffy muffin. This is on purpose! These muffins are meant to resemble the same texture of an old fashioned donut. They are just as delicious too!
- When rolling the pumpkin muffin the cinnamon sugar mixture, I find it easier to start with the top of the muffin and then rolling the sides. This helps create less of a mess!
Jed
Such a fun recipe. It really is a a donut in muffin form!
Siera
I think this is going to be a family favorite! And I'm so grateful for a recipe that walks me through all the steps and then some. Giving me a heads up about textures and tips to create less mess is so appreciated (especially when I'm still pretty new at cooking. It makes it feasible for me to try new things!)
Cami
Can breakfast even get better than a muffin tasting like a doughnut?! Delicious!!