Pumpkin Donut Muffins Recipe

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All the taste of a delicious pumpkin donut in the easier-to-make form of a (baked!) muffin! Rolled in cinnamon sugar and topped with maple frosting, these babies are incredible!

Donuts are my kryptonite. Seriously. Just one little donut hole can screw up my “healthy lifestyle” for a year or so, as it will inevitably send me careening into an endless eat-all-the-fried-carbs-athon.

So, to be honest, I avoid donuts like the plague. It’s just something I live with.

Buuuuuuuttttt….. these donuts aren’t *technically* donuts, per se.

I mean… I did use a donut recipe. That’s true. But I baked them. AND they’re in the shape of muffins. AND there’s a significant amount of vegetables* in them.

By “vegetables,” I obviously mean pumpkin + cinnamon + a-fairly-heaping-amount-of-sugar*.

And in case vegetable donuts aren’t your thing*, I also topped mine with a hefty dollop of buttery maple frosting. That way it’s not like you’re eating a salad* for breakfast or anything weird like that.

So… win-win for everybody!

All the taste of a delicious pumpkin donut in the easier-to-make form of a (baked!) muffin! Rolled in cinnamon sugar and topped with maple frosting, these babies are incredible!

*Yesssssssssssss. I know that these are in no way, shape, or form like eating a salad! So, please, before you regale me with how unhealthy these muffins actually are (because I know some of you are about to!) and how sad you are for me to have such a poor understanding of nutrition, please take a moment to consider the sarcastic tone of this post.

And then go make these muffins!

All the taste of a delicious pumpkin donut in the easier-to-make form of a (baked!) muffin! Rolled in cinnamon sugar and topped with maple frosting, these babies are incredible!

Pumpkin Donut Muffins

Yield: 12-15

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 3/4 cups + 2 Tablespoons All-Purpose floud

For coating:

  • 1/4 cup butter, melted
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

For Maple Frosting:

  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease a muffin baking tin.
  2. Beat together the oil, sugar, pumpkin, spice, and salt until smooth and combined.
  3. Mix in the eggs, one at a time, mixing in between each addition.
  4. Mix in the flour and baking powder until batter forms (lumps are okay).
  5. Fill the cups in the muffin tin about 3/4 full (recipe makes 12-15, so you may have to bake in two batches or use a second tin).
  6. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

For coating:

  1. Meanwhile, place the sugar and cinnamon in a large ziptop bag. Seal and shake until the cinnamon and sugar are completely mixed together.
  2. When muffins have cooled enough to handle, dip each one in the butter. Then place in the bag, and seal and shake until muffin is coated in the cinnamon sugar. Can be served immmediately or topped with Maple Frosting.

For the Maple Frosting:

  1. With an electric mixer or food processor, beat together the butter, powdered sugar, maple syrup, and salt until smooth.
  2. Spread on top of muffins to serve.

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9 thoughts on “Pumpkin Donut Muffins Recipe”

  1. Baked donuts are so much better. Because you don’t get that weird feeling after you eat too many of them, that thing in the pit of your stomach. So this recipe is awesome! I don’t think anyone will accuse you of being unhealthy. Not with all those pumpkin vitamins!

    Reply
  2. These were delicious! I made them as mini muffins. I used the cinnamon sugar coating (I needed less than half of what the recipe called for) and just tossed the muffins in the bag of cinnamon sugar while still warm — no nene for the butter. Thanks for a great recipe!

    Reply
  3. Any advice for making these the night before an event? Will they stay fresh overnight if they’re sealed in an airtight container? And should I wait until the day of to glaze and frost them, or will they stay fresh if I do it the night before?

    Thank you in advance!

    Reply

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