Pumpkin Pie Donuts
Categories: All, Breakfast Treats, Recipes, Thanksgiving
Tags: , Allergy Friendly, Dairy Free, Desserts, Donuts, Pumpkin
I am basically a healthy person. I eat right (mostly) and I exercise (some), and I chase after my kids (a lot) which keeps me not overweight. I don’t eat at McDonald’s (do you need reasons why?!), nor do I crave Dunkin’ Donuts (I haven’t had one in well over 13 years, I’m certain, so I’m over it.) or even, dare I say, Krispy Kremes??? Yes, even in spite of my 9-year old bugging me not infrequently with calls of, “You make everythinggluten-free, why don’t you make donuts?!” Geez.
So when all this chatter started up about gluten-free pumpkin spice donuts, I figured I was finally ready to foray back into the land of the doughnut. I had made my peace with not eating doughnuts and was now, finally, ready to taste one of these new, loudly lauded gluten-free doughnuts. There is no better time to try everything in the gluten-free world than at Natural Products Expo, and lucky for me, last week I was at Expo East! Eager to take my first bite of a doughnut in more than a baker’s dozen years, I set off in search of samples.
Let me first say that I grew up in the South where you learn early that if you don’t have something nice to say about somebody, you don’t say anything at all, so I will not name names here, but suffice to say that I was so disappointed in these manufactured gluten-free doughnuts that I couldn’t even waste the calories on one bite. I picked one up — it was hard as a rock and nearly as heavy — and I aimed for the closest trash can, hoping no one was in my line of fire, else they risk bodily damage by intercepting this UFO. In all fairness, perhaps the folks staffing the table were falling down on the job a bit and hadn’t appropriately microwaved or monitored the staleness of these nuggets, but they were indisputably inedible.
At times like these, I’ve learned never to give up hope. Instead, I revisited my son’s challenge and decided that since I do, in fact, seem to make everything gluten free, why not go ahead and make a doughnut. It couldn’t be that hard … I mean, it’s a doughnut (aka fried dough). My dad used to make doughnuts weekend mornings out of canned refrigerator biscuits for Pete’s sake … and they still tasted good!
So, back in Maryland after nearly a week of New England travels, I determined to make truly delicious gluten-free doughnuts at home. Trouble is, I also roasted a much larger-than-anticipated pumpkin (once again, I blame my kids – they picked it out!), so I first had to make a homemade pumpkin pie … and then some pumpkin cranberry muffins … and since I still had purée left, I had to make pumpkin doughnuts. It’s all good though, because I’m a firm believer that pumpkin makes everything yummier.
It wasn’t all that hard, really, and I’ve got to tell you, once I got the recipe right, the making doughnuts part was downright easy. Too easy. So easy that I’m not publishing it in my recipe newsletter because I don’t want folks everywhere to start making tons of these yummy puppies and blaming me for gaining weight BEFORE Thanksgiving! Oh no – this recipe is going to be buried on my website, for only those hard-core doughnut aficionados to find!
So do us all a favor and don’t tell anyone about this recipe. It will put pre-fab gluten-free doughnuts to shame (no microwaving necessary!) and it’s too easy and delicious not to make again and again (as in, every weekend), and that could get really old and boring … at some point, years from now.
Truly Yummy,
Shamefully Easy, 
Somewhat Addictive
Pumpkin Pie Donuts
- 2 Tbs. butter or non-dairy alternative (Earth Balance® Buttery Sticks)
- ½ cup granulated cane sugar
- ½ cup pumpkin purée (canned or fresh, roasted)
- 1/3 cup sour cream, dairy or non-dairy (Tofutti® or Follow Your Heart®) or coconut yogurt (So Delicious®)
- 1 egg (or egg substitute like 1 Tbs. vegetable oil + 2 Tbs. water + 2 tsp. baking powder)
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups Jules Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour™
- 2 tsp. baking powder, gluten free
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 heaping tsp. pumpkin pie spice
- ½ tsp. sea salt
- canola or vegetable oil if frying
- ½ cup granulated cane sugar
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (or ½ tsp. ginger + ½ tsp. nutmeg)
OR
- confectioner’s sugar
Whip butter and sugar together with an electric mixer, if possible, until light. Add pumpkin, sour cream, egg and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients, beating until there are no lumps.
Cover and refrigerate dough until cold and no longer sticky, at least 2 hours.
Lightly dust a pastry mat or clean counter with Jules Gluten-Free™ All Purpose Flour or corn or potato starch. Scoop heaping tablespoonfuls of dough out onto the dusted surface and gently roll into a 6-inch log. Score the ends and dab with water, then press together to form a ring. Set aside and continue with remaining dough. To make doughnut holes, simply scoop heaping teaspoonfuls out onto the dusted surface and gently roll into balls.
To Fry: Prepare a large pot by filling at least 1 inch deep with oil. Heat to medium-high (no more than 350°F).
When the dough is heated, drop doughnuts or doughnut holes into the hot oil, boiling and flipping as necessary to cook until lightly browned on all sides – approximately 1 ½ minutes. Do not allow the donuts to get too browned. Once cooked, immediately remove with a skimmer or slotted spoon to a plate covered with paper towels to absorb any excess oil.
Quickly transfer to a bowl containing the topping mixture and roll over the donuts to completely coat. Remove to another plate and repeat with remaining dough.
(Look! The perfect doughnut hole!)
To Bake: Preheat oven to 325° F. Place doughnuts or doughnut holes onto parchment-lined baking sheets or simply scoop dough into doughnut pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon mixture, if desired. Bake for 10-14 minutes, testing with a toothpick for doneness (when inserted toothpick comes out clean, doughnuts are fully cooked). Remove to cool on wire racks for 5 minutes, then gently roll in confectioner’s sugar or sugar and cinnamon mixture.
Yield: 6-8 donuts, depending on size.
47 Comments
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25. Oct, 2010
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jules Dowler Shepard, Compare deals. Compare deals said: RT @JulesGlutenFree: in case you missed it: #glutenfree Pumpkin Pie DONUTS! http://bit.ly/avUEyC I just ate the last one… 3 days late … [...]
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25. Oct, 2010
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jules Dowler Shepard, MWPH. MWPH said: RT @JulesGlutenFree: RT @CeliacHandbook: #GlutenFree Pumpkin Pie Donuts! While donuts R just wrong
this sound… http://bit.ly/cV6zRN [...] -
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26. Oct, 2010
[...] all the steps below for you to make delicious pumpkin purée for your next pie, bread, cookie, donut (yes, I said donut), or any other pumpkin concoction you can devise. My 7 pound pumpkin baked out [...]
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16. May, 2011
[...] some uncharted pumpkin territory lately with recipes like Pumpkin Cornbread, Pumpkin Pancakes and Pumpkin Donuts and now, Pumpkin [...]
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25. Oct, 2011
[...] blog.julesglutenfree.com [...]
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11. Jun, 2012
[...] decided to take charge of my health I discovered the Jules Gluten Free Blog. I found recipes like Pumpkin Pie Donuts, White or Chocolate Birthday Cake, and a ton more. I never thought I would be able to eat donuts or [...]
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Jennifer Lancaster said: on October 22, 2010
I’ll be making these this week-end for sure! YUM!!
Stephanie C. said: on October 22, 2010
Leaping tablespoons of dough? That could be messy. hehehe
These look fabulous and I love that they don’t contain yeast, which scares me. LOL
Laura said: on October 22, 2010
We can’t have dairy, soy or coconut. Is there something else we can sub for the sour cream? Vanilla rice yogurt maybe?
Jules said: on October 23, 2010
Yes, rice yogurt would be a good option for you. Depending on how thin your brand is though, you may need to add a bit more flour to compensate.
joanne said: on October 23, 2010
oh my feakin YUM!!! will have to try these soon!
kelly said: on October 23, 2010
These were awesome! My Daughter has celiac’s and she was sooooo happy that she could enjoy a doughnut again!!
Alicia R. said: on October 23, 2010
These look great! Im so excited to make them. If I dont want to use pumpkin can i use another puree? maybe blueberry or a maple flavoring instead?
Jules said: on October 24, 2010
There is 1/2 cup of pumpkin in this recipe, so you’d need more than just flavoring, although maple and blueberry sound yummy! Try unsweetened applesauce instead and let us know how it turns out!
Michelle Roberts said: on October 24, 2010
OMG…my son and I had fun making these, and better yet EATING them!! I have not had a donut in over a year, and they were so good!!!!!! Could I change this recipe to make regular donuts, or chocolate donuts?
jill said: on October 24, 2010
perhaps i am missing it but this recipe has no print version and i do not want to print 8 pages to have a copy…some seem to have that and some don’t, less likely to make these donuts then..thanks, jill
Sarah said: on October 24, 2010
Could you bake them?
Jules said: on October 25, 2010
Baking them? Hmmm… I haven’t tried that yet. They would certainly not be as crispy (like a donut) on the outside, but they would probably bake up to be a tasty cake-like treat in the shape of a donut, and there’s nothing wrong with that!
Dawn Olson said: on October 25, 2010
Jules,
Although I love your new blog I do have to share that I miss you having your recipes in a print friendly recipe card format. I hope this feature will be added once everything settles with the new sight.
Sally said: on October 25, 2010
These look delicious! I, like Jill, would like to print the recipe…any suggestions?
Jules said: on October 25, 2010
Thanks so much for pointing out that little design flaw! We’ll start working on that right away! : )
Melissa said: on October 27, 2010
Just print that particular page. Go to print preview and find out what page the recipe is on and just print that. Otherwise, do what I did and write it on paper. Then once you know it is a keeper, type it on a word document.
Julie said: on October 25, 2010
Hi Jules-
Great looking recipe! I also was never a donut person but do miss one every once in a while. If I wanted to make a chocolate cake donut, could I use the applesauce for the pumpkin and use some cocoa powder in place of some of the flour? Thanks so much!
Jules said: on October 25, 2010
To make them chocolate instead, I’d suggest the applesauce sub. + 1/4 cup cocoa, then increase the sour cream by at least an 1/8 cup.
The best way to try substitutions like these is always to make it the way the recipe is written first, then change it up next time so that you know what the consistency should be. Once you know that, you’ll know if you need even more or less sour cream to compensate for the cocoa.
The cocoa itself won’t act like flour, so I would’t suggest replacing any flour with cocoa.
Let me know how it turns out!
Michelle Roberts said: on October 26, 2010
Thanks for the recipe adaptation. Will have to try it.
Will you be having a sale on flour soon?? I am almost out!!
Wendy said: on October 25, 2010
Jules: Is there a way I can bake these instead of fry them? I have a pan to bake donuts (Sur La Table) but don’t have a good GF recipe. Thanks!
Wendy said: on October 25, 2010
Ignore my earlier question as I just saw someone already asked it. When I have time, I’m going to make this, fry some and bake some and see how they compare.
Bjohn said: on October 26, 2010
To print Jules’ recipes, you can do the following:
Hold down the left mouse button. Drag it down the full length of the recipe to ‘highlight’ it. Right click on the highlighted text and select ‘copy’ from the menu that drops down. Open a blank page in your word processing software (ie. Microsoft Word). Right click on the blank page and select ‘paste’ from the menu that drops down. To conserve space (and ink, if you’re going to print the recipe) you can delete the photos by right clicking on them and then selecting ‘cut’ from the menu that drops down. Save and print the recipe as you would normally do using your particular software.
Jules said: on October 26, 2010
thanks for the tips on printing!
Bjohn said: on October 26, 2010
Just wanted to share that I made these donuts with some motifications that worked for me. I can’t use dairy or soy sour cream, and I live in a small town with no access to coconut or rice yoghurt. So I had this epiphany. I have seen cake recipes before that called for mayonaise. I got out my Hellman’s light mayo (which says ‘gluten free’ on the side) and used that in place of the sour cream. I reasoned that it is a similar consistency and flavor to sour cream, and if worst came to worse there were enough spices in the recipe to cover up any ‘odd’ flavor anyway. It worked! Of course, I don’t know how they would compare to Jules’ version because I’ve never had them, but mine were certainly delish so I was satisfied! After 2 hours in the fridge my dough was still sticky and I admit that i just added a little flour and went ahead and made donut holes. The dough was still sticky but it worked. I’m wondering if I should cut back on the mayo next time and see if that reduces the stickiness (and also reduces the fat content). Also, with my digestive issues, cinammon is not my friend (it burns), so I used all the spices in the dough but rolled the holes in plain sugar and skipped the additional spices in the topping. They were still plenty tasty. It was a joy to have donut holes for Fall in Michigan again!
Jules said: on October 26, 2010
I love your spirit of ingenuity! You’d really enjoy my new book that just came out this month – “Free for All Cooking.” It’s all about making those kinds of substitutions to make recipes work for you!
As for the stickiness issue, longer refrigeration would help, as would rolling more liberally in GF flour, but you could try reducing the mayo by a tiny bit as well.
If the consistency and moisture was good for you though, and you don’t care how the donuts look, just scoop heaping tablespoons of dough directly into the oil without bothering to roll and messing with the stickiness.
Thanks for sharing your dairy-free, soy-free substitution!
Jules said: on October 27, 2010
Yay! There is now a printer-friendly button so you can just print the recipe portion of each blog entry! Problem solved! Thanks for everyone’s input!
Melissa Burke said: on October 27, 2010
Thanks for the recipe Jules. I made them yesterday and they were not only easy to make but also delicious. I kept the dough in the fridge for 6 hours and they were still sticky. I just put flour on the mat and my hands and problem solved. I have been meaning to make donuts since my son’s diagnosis 7 months ago. I saw your recipe and well, since it is pumpkin season, I gave yours a try first. My son was very happy and said he is no longer missing anything. That is a huge compliment since he is a picky eater. He also loves your pop tart recipe. Thank you so much.
Bjohn said: on October 28, 2010
OH MY!! I messed up! I was curious how my mayo substitution compared to sour cream in terms of fat content etc and as I was reading the two labels I looked down and saw that the main ingredient in the mayo is SOYBEAN OIL! So much for me dairy free/soy free substitiution! My only explanation is that I had been reading labels incessantly that day at the grocery store and I probably picked up the mayo and saw ‘gluten free’ and mistakenly thought I had already read the ingredients. Soy is a lesser issue for me than dairy and gluten, so I’m not that concerned. But I hate to think that I might have sent some soy intollerant person down a dangerous path with my recommendation for a soy substitute! The mayo idea would still be a good option for dairy free bakers, just not soy free folks. SORRY! As for me, I’m going to keep my eyes open for a mayo that isn’t made with soybean oil, if there is such a thing.
Sheryl said: on November 5, 2010
There is a soy free version of Best Foods/Hellman’s mayonaise!!! It is made with canola oil I believe. It is not carried in all markets but I found it in an Hispanic market.
Good luck!
amy said: on October 28, 2010
ok i want to make these….today… so what could i use in place of sour cream?? thoughts??? DS is craving them. i even have a deep fryer that i dig out once a year.
Jules said: on October 28, 2010
Hi Amy,
If you want a sub for sour cream, try yogurt (dairy or non-dairy). Vanilla flavor would be yummy!
Courtney said: on October 31, 2010
Made these this morning (actually made dough last night) and they were a HUGE hit! My youngest hasn’t had donuts in almost 3 years. She said they were the best she’s ever had. Coming from her THAT’s sayin’ somethin’. Thanks, Jules!
Brandy said: on November 19, 2010
Wondering if these freeze up well?
Kim B said: on December 6, 2010
I made these yesterday. I left the dough in for 2 hours and was still sticky, but I just put some flour down and on my hands and it was fine. I rolled some in the cinnamin & sugar and left some plain. They were both delicious and unlike most GF baked goods they were still good this morning(if not better) than they were yesterday. Jules – how do you make plain cake donuts? With applesauce?
Leslie said: on December 22, 2010
Hi Jules,
I made these for work brunch and totally messed up. The oil was 350 deg, 2 min each donut and the insides were raw… what did I do wrong?
Thanks
1st time donut fryer
Jules said: on December 22, 2010
The thing about frying is that the oil has to be just the right temp and often once it reaches the correct temp, it just keeps getting hotter, so it’s hard to keep it at the right temp. If the insides were raw, the donuts didn’t cook long enough, even though the outsides may have looked done — often happens when the oil is actually too hot. When you try it again, test with only one donut first and be sure it’s done all the way through, then you know the oil is just right.
Diana said: on August 22, 2011
I made these on the fly so I had to make some adjustments. I did try baking them. While they were good, it didn’t satisfy my craving for a nice fattening fried donut.lol My husband and son could not get enough so don’t let me discourage you from baking them. I would bake them again. I didn’t have cinnamon so I added 1 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice. I also didn’t have cinnamon sugar so I just tossed them in a bag of powdered sugar. Also, I couldn’t wait to refrigerate them for 2 hours so I used a small ice cream scoop, put the blob in my wet hands and made them as round as possible.
Jules said: on August 22, 2011
Diana – hilarious! Maybe next time you’ll LOVE them when you have time to make them without adjustments! But then, you might have to double the recipe, since hubbie and son already loved them!
Hope said: on January 10, 2012
Was wondering if you have tried baking donuts yet. If just substituting pumpkin with applesause, should they taste like a regular cake donut? If so, could you add blueberries?
Jules said: on January 10, 2012
Hope, I haven’t tried baking them yet, because I don’t have a pan! I need to get one though … you should be able to use this batter in doughnut molds without difficulty, though. As long as the blueberries are inside the doughnuts, they should be fine. A lot of folks use dried berries in their doughnuts though, so you might want to think about that option. Let me know how it goes!
Karen Carlo said: on May 10, 2012
Is there a particular egg replacement you recommend for this one? EnrG? Flax steep? or ?