The Best Pumpkin Spice Donut Holes

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I am so pleased to share with you these airy and delicious pumpkin spice donuts. I actually made mine into pumpkin spice donut holes, so you can decide how you want to cut yours.

With pumpkin and pumpkin spice in the dough, and a healthy dose of pumpkin spice in the sugar coating, these little guys taste like fall. Don’t miss the chance to have one with your whipped coffee or PSL!

Another great recipe to try is my pumpkin babka with pecan streusel.

For ease of browsing, here are all of my sweet yeast breads.

This post and recipe was created for #HalloweenTreatsWeek! I was sent samples by some of the sponsor companies but as always opinions are 100% mine.

A tray of donut holes tossed with pumpkin spice sugar coating, on a cooking rack.

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What’s So Great About This Recipe?

If you’re a fan of soft donuts, this recipe is for you.

Here are some things I think you’ll really like about these little guys:

The dough is packed with both pumpkin and pumpkin spice with more pumpkin spice in the sugar coating
It’s made with the straight dough method, which means that you just put everything in the mixer bowl all together
You can make it with either canned or homemade pumpkin puree
The dough is super soft so it fries up light and airy
You can make these the same day you make the dough or refrigerate the dough overnight if that works better for your schedule
You can cut these into “holes” or cut them as full-sized donuts
using a pizza cutter makes quick work of portioning the dough
It makes a lot! I was able to get 55 donut holes out of this one recipe, so they’re great for a (small) crowd

How to Make Pumpkin Spice Donut Holes

As I said, this dough uses the straight dough method, which is the easiest method for making yeast breads and sweet breads.

The ingredients are straightforward and are not hard to find (or make)

Here’s what you’ll need:

Ingredients

pumpkin puree: canned or homemade works here just fine. If you cannot find/don’t like pumpkin, you can also substitute butternut squash puree, acorn squash puree, or Hubbard squash puree
sugar: I used Dixie Crystals sugar. Dixie Crystals is also a sponsor of this event. (Thanks, y’all!) You can also use brown sugar if you’d prefer.
milk: I used whole milk. You could also use 2% milk or even a plant-based milk
butter: you’ll want it very soft. Melted and cooled is fine as well. Good substitutes would be liquid coconut oil or a vegan butter such as Earth Balance
egg: you just need one whole egg. If you want the dough a bit richer, you could add an additional yolk. If you want to keep this vegan, you can sub in one flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flaxmeal with 3 tablespoons water. Stir together and let sit until thickened)
salt: I use Morton’s kosher salt. If using fine salt, cut back on the amount by just a bit
yeast: active dry or instant. I use instant yeast. To proof your active dry yeast, use a portion of the milk, barely warm, and then add that mixture to the rest of the ingredients in the dough.
pumpkin spice: obviously. If you don’t have it, you can sub in cinnamon or apple pie spice
all purpose flour: no need to bust out the bread flour, but if you have it, you can use it with no problem.

Procedure

The procedure is outlined clearly in the video, so please take a couple of minutes to watch that. It will show you the texture your finished dough will be.

It’s a very wet dough, so please resist the urge to add more flour. You’ll end up with dense donuts, and that’s not good for anyone.

A very wet dough in a mixer bowl. — *This image gives you an idea of how wet this dough is, but please also watch the video so you know what to expect.*

Mix the dough in your stand mixer.
Knead until very stretchy and silky. (See video and also photo above.)
Let the dough rest in the fridge overnight. 8-12 hours is fine, but you can also let it sit up to two days if you’re busy doing other things
With oiled hands, pat the dough out to about 1/2″ thick
Cut into shapes of desired shape and size
Cover and let rest for an hour
Heat your oil, and fry in batches
Roll or toss in spiced sugar
Let cool for just a couple of minutes
Devour

I also want to stress that you want the donuts to have a nice amber color. Not only does this add deeper flavor, but it also ensures that your dough will cook all the way through.

As long as your dough is no thicker than 1/2″, you should have no problems, but fry them to this lovely amber color, and you can be certain your guys will fry up light and airy.

Fried pumpkin spice donut holes cut in half to see the inside crumb.

From 1/2 inch pieces of dough to light, airy pillows of pumpkin spice donut goodness, friends.

Make some of these. They’ll make you happy, and I want you to be happy.

Tips and Tricks

A brown mug full of pumpkin spice donut holes.

Y’all, I need to reiterate that this is a very soft dough. It’s really almost like a very thick batter rather than a dough.

Working with such soft dough can be a bit tricky. Here are my top tips for working with it:

PRO TIPS
1.Keep your hands well oiled when working with soft dough.
2.You’ll have better luck working with it cold, so if you have the time, I recommend letting the dough spend the night in the fridge.

Since the dough is very soft, you don’t necessarily need the most powerful stand mixer to make it.

I wouldn’t recommend using a hand mixer with the dough hook attachment or you could be kneading a very long time.

Even in my stand mixer, the knead time is probably 10-12 minutes to make sure the dough is as supple and stretchy as you can make it so it fries up nice and light.

Fried Donut Q&A

Can I half the recipe?

You can successfully make a smaller batch of this dough as long as your mixer has a 4.5 quart or 5 quart bowl. Any larger, and I don’t think your dough hook will be able to pick up such a small amount of dough. You may have to tip your bowl a bit for it to work.

What kind of oil should I fry in?

I use corn oil. You can also fry in melted shortening, peanut oil, or vegetable oil.

How deep should my oil be for frying?

I poured my oil to a depth of about 2″ since I made small pumpkin spice donut holes. If you make larger donuts or beignets, pour your oil 3″ deep. For safety, never fill your pan more than half full of oil.

Does the temperature of the frying oil matter?

Yes, it does. If your oil is too hot, the outsides of your donut holes will burn before the inside has cooked. If it’s too cool, they’ll take a long time to cook and may also end up soaking up oil, making them greasy.
I found that frying in oil between 340F and 360F was a good range for these guys.

Can I bake these intead of frying them?

Yes, you absolutely can. They won’t be as light and puffy as fried guys, but they’ll still be good. Simply form your dough into small balls and space them out about 1 1/2″ apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Spray them with a bit of oil, cover them, and let rise until puffy. Bake at 375F until golden brown. Allow them to cool for a few minutes, dunk each in butter, and then roll in the spiced sugar to serve.

Can I make these into pumpkin spice beignets?

Yes you can. Cut your dough into large squares–about 2″x2″– and fry them up until very deeply golden brown. Place them on racks to cool and sift on a generous amount of powdered sugar whisked together with pumpkin spice.

How long will these last?

While these donut holes/donuts are best when eaten fresh, they’ll be fine for a day at room temperature. Reheat in the microwave for a few seconds or in the toaster oven for 5 minutes or so before serving.

Do they freeze well?

Yes, they do. For longer storage, freeze them in freezer bags. Press out all the air you can before sealing the bags. They’ll be fine in the freezer for 4 weeks. Pop them into the microwave to thaw/heat from frozen, or let them come to room temperature still in the sealed freezer bag. Then reheat and enjoy.

Frying Safety

Fill your pan no more than half full with oil to make extra sure it doesn’t boil over or sputter over the top when you start adding dough.
Slide the dough into the oil rather than dropping it in. Make sure the dough is touching the oil before you let go so the oil doesn’t splash up and burn you.
Keep a bowl of ice water near the stove and, if you burn yourself, immerse your hand (or whatever part) into the bowl immediately to stop the burning.

If you have any questions about this or any other recipe or post on the site, there are a few ways to get in touch.

You can leave a comment on the post, and I’ll be back in touch within 24 hours.

If your question is more pressing, don’t hesitate to email me, and I should be back in touch within 4 hours (unless I’m asleep) or often much more quickly than that.

Email Jenni

Want Some More Fall Treats?

If you’re looking for more donut recipes, you might want to give my glazed raspberry filled donuts a try. They’re (almost) dead ringers for their Krispy Kreme counterparts.

If you’re looking for more pumpkin goodness, you can’t go wrong with pumpkin spice cinnamon rolls complete with cream cheese glaze or some deliciously crunchable pumpkin spice caramel corn. This maple pumpkin pudding is also really delicious.

And last, if you’d like some spooky-cute Halloween goodness, try my malted milk ball spider cookies. They’re like your favorite chocolate chip cookie, but malted. And with eyes!

A Note About Measurements

This is the kitchen scale that I recommend for home cooks and bakers. Using a scale will help you be more accurate and consistent in your measurements.

It is lightweight, easy to store, accurate, and very easy to use.

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10/01/2023 05:10 am GMT

I hope you’ve learned something from this post or that you’ve decided to make the recipe.

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Pumpkin Spice Donuts

Yield: about 50 small donuts/donut holes

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 4 minutes

Fridge Time: 12 hours

Total Time: 12 hours 24 minutes

These little pumpkin souce donuts are packed with pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice. After frying, toss them in a mixture of sugar and more pumpkin spice, and these are the perfect pumpkin spice donuts for fall. Or for Halloween!

NOTE: Cook time of 4 minutes and is approximate per batch. It will take several rounds of frying to cook all the donuts, whether you make them large or small.