Soft and fluffy gluten-free pumpkin donuts are the perfect sweet way to start fall mornings. These donuts are delicious plain, or topped with cinnamon sugar or brown sugar glaze!
Gluten-free donuts? Yes please! These donuts can be prepared in less than 45 minutes. See the note in the recipe card for how to make them into mini donut muffins as well!
These gluten-free pumpkin donuts are one of my all-time favorite things to make when the weather cools down.
I’m always looking for more ways to bake with pumpkin. Check out these gluten-free pumpkin waffles, gluten-free pumpkin bars, gluten-free pumpkin muffins, gluten-free pumpkin pancakes, gluten-free pumpkin bread and gluten-free pumpkin chocolate chip bread.
These gluten-free apple cider donuts have become one of my go-to’s! For a year-round favorite, try this gluten-free baked donut recipe or these fried gluten-free donuts!
Why You’ll Love these Gluten-Free Donuts!
- EASY to make! All you need is a donut pan (no frier involved)
- Soft, fluffy texture
- No mixer needed
- Ready in less than 45 minutes
- Delicious plain, but awesome with icing
- Will satisfy any donut craving!
Ingredients You’ll Need
These pumpkin donuts are made with easy-to-find pantry staples. Here are a few more notes on the key ingredients. If you have any additional questions feel free to leave me a comment below!
- Gluten-free 1:1 Baking Flour: I like to use a high quality gluten-free measure-for-measure flour blend like King Arthur Flour in my baked goods. Look for a blend that contains xanthan gum for best results.
- Canned Pumpkin: Be sure to select 100% pumpkin puree rather than canned pumpkin pie filling.
- Oil: You can use vegetable oil or coconut oil. Either works great!
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: You can use pumpkin pie spice or 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon + 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg + 1/4 teaspoon ginger.
How to Make Gluten-Free Pumpkin Donuts
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, eggs, oil, brown sugar, white sugar and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and whisk to combine.
- Fill the donut pans with the batter.
- Bake the donuts for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a donut comes out clean. Empty the donuts out onto a wire cooling rack.
TIP: The easiest way I’ve found to fill the donut pans is to place a large Ziploc bag in a measuring cup then fill it with the batter (see the video). Then cut the end of the bag and pipe the batter into the donut pans.
Topping Ideas
These gluten-free pumpkin donuts are absolutely delicious on their own! You can also top them with cinnamon sugar, a simple donut glaze or brown sugar glaze if you like.
For cinnamon sugar topping but sure to top the donuts when they’re still slightly warm. For the brown sugar glaze you’ll want the donuts to cool completely before glazing.
Mini Pumpkin Donuts? You can also use a mini muffin pan to make these into mini donut bites. You’ll just need to decrease the baking time to 15-20 minutes. Roll them in cinnamon sugar or dip the tops in glaze. They’re irresistible!
Storage/Make-Ahead
STORAGE: Cover leftover donuts tightly and store at room temperature for 1-2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
MAKE-AHEAD: You can freeze the donuts plain for up to 2-3 months. Thaw them overnight in the refrigerator, then warm up in the microwave for 10 seconds. Add glaze before serving if you like.
More Gluten-Free Pumpkin Desserts
If you love this recipe you also might like one of these recipes. Check out my full collection of gluten-free pumpkin recipes!
Gluten-Free Pumpkin Donuts
Video
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups gluten-free 1:1 baking flour 230g
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice or 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/4 teaspoon ginger
- 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
Other:
- 1 1/2 cups pumpkin purée 340g
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil 100g
- ½ cup brown sugar 100g
- ½ cup white sugar 100g
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Cinnamon Sugar:
- 1/4 cup white sugar 50g
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
For the Brown Sugar Glaze:
- 3/4 cup brown sugar 150g
- 1/4 cup milk or almond milk
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar 175g (sifted)
- nuts or sprinkles for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F. Lightly grease two 6-cavity non-stick donut pans with cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, eggs, oil, brown sugar, white sugar and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and whisk to combine.
- Fill the donut pans with the batter. The easiest way I've found to do this is to place a large Ziploc bag in a measuring cup then fill it with the batter (see the video). Then cut the end of the bag and pipe the batter into the donut pans.
- Bake the donuts for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a donut comes out clean. Empty the donuts out onto a wire cooling rack.
For Cinnamon Sugar Donuts:
- Mix together the sugar and cinnamon. While the doughnuts are still warm (but no longer fragile), gently shake them in a bag with the cinnamon-sugar.
For Brown Sugar Glazed Donuts:
- Combine the brown sugar, milk, butter and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the butter has melted and mixture is smooth. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Allow to simmer for 1 minute then remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla extract and sifted confectioners’ sugar until smooth and combined. Let the icing cool for 5 minutes to slightly thicken. Dip the tops of the pumpkin donuts into the warm icing. If icing is getting too thick as you’re dipping, add a little more milk or warm back up in the microwave or on the stove to thin out. Place dipped donuts on a wire rack placed on a baking sheet so any excess icing can drip off. Top with chopped nuts or sprinkles before the glaze sets.
Notes
- Gluten-free 1:1 Baking Flour: I like to use a high quality gluten-free measure-for-measure flour blend like King Arthur Flour in my baked goods. Look for a blend that contains xanthan gum for best results.
- Canned Pumpkin: Be sure to select 100% pumpkin puree rather than canned pumpkin pie filling.
- Oil: You can use vegetable oil or coconut oil. Either works great!
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: You can use pumpkin pie spice or 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon + 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg + 1/4 teaspoon ginger.
OMG, these are the best pumpkin donuts I have EVER had! It’s almost Thanksgiving and I wanted pumpkin donuts, but my mom and older sister are gluten free. I used my mini donut maker and it was perfect! I didn’t glaze them or anything(my mom doesn’t like powdered sugar that much), but they still hit the spot. 10/10 any day! I’m going to quadruple the recipe on Thanksgiving, so all my cousins can have it too!
Hi Kendall, thanks so much for your review, it means a lot! A quadruple batch sounds amazing! Hope the crowd loves them!
Wonderful recipe! Don’t stir too much when you get the dries and wets together. Big hit!! Thank you Erin!
We’re so pleased you loved the donuts, Diane! Thank you for taking the time to share your positive experience!
Can the egg be replaced with anything to make them vegan
Hi Ronda, we’d recommend using Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer for best results when making these egg-free/vegan. We hope you enjoy the donuts!
Thank you! These were incredible!
We’re so glad you loved the donuts, Angela! Thank you for sharing your positive feedback with us!
Woah! These are AWESOME! My husband is gf, and I am not (like at all, I can’t stand the taste of most gf stuff), but these are great. Genuinely shocked how well they turned out. Thank you so much!!
Wow, thank you for such great feedback, Sarah! We’re so happy to hear you enjoyed the pumpkin donuts so much!
You wouldn’t even know it’s gluten-free. Love the fact that these are baked super easy to make and I think the brown sugar glaze is a must 15/10 recommend
Yay! We’re so happy to hear you loved the recipe so much! Thank you for such amazing feedback, Arielle!
Just made these for the first time using a donut maker I was gifted. I let the donut maker get as hot as it could before using, then piped the batter into the cavities and they took about 5 minutes to bake thoroughly. I realized after the fact that I completely missed the 1/2 cup of oil and you would never know it! These are incredibly moist and flavorful. I made the brown sugar glaze to top them and the combination is incredible. You’d never know they are gluten free. I’ll be making these on repeat. This recipe made 41 mini donuts in my donut maker! Perfect for company! We will see how they preserve.
Yay! We’re so pleased to hear you loved the recipe so much, Danielle! And that it worked well without the oil. Thank you for sharing your positive baking experience with us!
Recently bought a donut tin and tried this recipe out and they turned out amazing !!! I’ll be making them again! Thank you for this recipe!
Yay! We’re so glad you loved the recipe, Nadia! Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us.
I made a double batch of these today and brought a dozen to my parents’ for dessert. I didn’t use any glaze at all, and everyone loved them! I used Robin Hood GF flour that was given to me by a friend. I let the batter sit in the Ziploc for about 40 mins before filling the silicone donut “pans”. 20 mins was enough baking time. Will make these again and again!
Hi Cristina, thanks for sharing your experience with us! We’re so glad the donuts were such a hit with everyone!
SO GOOD! Have made as mini muffins also and they turned out great!
So good. I always make a double batch. Thank you for making me famous in my community!!
Aww, we’re so glad the recipe was such a hit! Thank you for the kind review! Happy baking!
Loved that it was a simple recipe. Let the batter rest for 30 minutes, per my usual to avoid that sandy/gritty texture. These came out very tender. I used Penzey’s baking spice because I didn’t spot my pumpkin spice in time, stick with the pumpkin spice. This made a dozen. My silicone pans were much better than my metal pan- no sticking and easy to pop out. Thank you for the recipe, we will be making these again. It is good to have a donut option!
Hi Patty, we’re so glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us. Happy baking!
My sister and I made these together and they turned out great. So delicious!!
Yay! We’re so happy to hear you and your sister enjoyed the donuts! Thank you for your positive feedback.
Can I use almond flour or tapioca flour? Never needed to gluten free before now, I was requested to make pumpkin donuts, need your advice.
Hi Laura, we haven’t tried either of those with this recipe ourselves as we really like the results we get with the King Arthur GF Flour. Almond flour might work, but we don’t think tapioca flour would work on its own. If you haven’t given a gf flour blend, like King Arthur’s a try, we’d highly recommend it! Happy baking!
Amazing!!!! Best gluten free donuts I have ever made. Moist, spices and sweet. My kids loved these too!!!
Yay! I’m glad you and your family enjoyed them!
I made a double batch of these as mini donuts for a family gathering. I didn’t glaze any, I just tossed in cinnamon sugar and left them plain. Young and old alike loved them!
Best of all, everyone could have them as they were gluten free and dairy free!
Mini donuts sound delicious! I’m so glad they were enjoyed by everyone. Thanks for the comment 🙂
Could butter be used in place of oil?
Yes that will work but the texture might be a little different!