Vegan Pumpkin Donuts with Spiced Glaze
Fall into fall with these delicious vegan pumpkin donuts. Sweetened with maple syrup and topped with cinnamon-spiced glaze, these vegan pastries are the perfect fall sweet treat! 
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This post was originally published 10/01/2012. Last updated on 9/16/2019
It’s (nearly) fall and you know what that means?
It’s time to grab your whisk, don your apron, and get baking! I wait all year for these few short months of autumn baking and I cannot wait to get started. This year, I’m starting with one of my favorite fall pastries of all times – vegan pumpkin donuts!
These Maple Pumpkin Donuts are a dream come true. Made with pumpkin purée, maple syrup, and the perfect spice blend then dipped into a cinnamon-spiced glaze, these sweet treats are like biting into a piece of autumn.
These Maple Pumpkin Donuts are one of the very first recipes I made for My Darling Vegan. In fact, this recipe dates way back in 2012!! A few months into blogging, and without a clue of what I was doing, I made my first (of many) vegan donut recipes. And, lucky for me, you guys loved them. In fact, this recipe helped my new little blog gain some much-needed traction and got me on the journey that I still am on today.
So with fall just around the corner, I figured it was time to give them a little makeover.
How to make vegan baked donuts
Making baked donuts is incredibly easy and satisfying. However, in order to make our own homemade vegan baked donuts, we first need to get ourselves a donut pan.
This is the one I use.
I love my donut pan because it is:
Totally affordable. Just $13.50 for 2 on Amazon.
And, more importantly, a kitchen tool I use ALL THE TIME. With a donut pan, you can make all the baked donuts you want this fall, such as:
- Vegan Maple Bacon Donuts
- Orange Poppy Seed Donuts with Chocolate Ganache
- Double Chocolate Pistachio Donuts
- Cinnamon Spice Donuts
- and of course, Apple Cider Donuts
So grab one today. I don’t want you missing out on donut season!
How to make Vegan Pumpkin Donuts:
These maple pumpkin donuts are so straight-forward it’s nearly impossible to get them wrong. The process is simple. Let’s take a step-by-step look.
Step one – Make the batter
First, mix your dry ingredients together. That’s your flour, salt, and spices.
In a separate bowl whisk together your wet ingredients. That’s the pumpkin, maple syrup, and coconut oil. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just combined. You don’t want to over mix or your doughnut will become tough and gummy.
Don’t worry about lumps – a few lumps are just fine.
Step two – Pipe your batter into your prepared donut pan.
The batter will be soft, so a piping bag is the best option here. If you don’t have one, you can make a makeshift piping bag by pouring your batter into a ziplock bag, cutting off the tip, and piping from there.
Fill your donut molds mostly to the top.
Step three – bake the vegan donuts
Bake the donuts for just about 15-18 minutes. When done the dough should spring back when gently pressed. You can also check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the donut. A clean toothpick means you’re good to go!
Once the donuts are ready, pull them out of the oven. Let them rest 5 minutes before flipping them onto a wire cooling rack. Let the donuts cool completely before dipping them into your glaze or sprinkling them with cinnamon sugar.
This cooling time is necessary otherwise the donuts might crumble and the glaze will definitely melt off.
Tips for making the perfect vegan baked donuts
- Generously spray the donut pan before piping in the batter to ensure the donuts do not stick to the pan.
- Take care not to overmix the batter. Overmixed batter becomes tough and gummy.
- For cleanest results, pipe in the batter with a piping bag.
- Let the donuts rest in the pan for 5 minutes before flipping them onto a wire cooling rack. Let donuts cool completely before dipping them in the glaze to prevent the glaze from melting or donuts from falling apart.
Serving and Storing Pumpkin Baked Donuts
- Donuts can be eaten immediately or stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
- Serve donuts for breakfast or a midday snack. These donuts pair perfectly with my Chai Tea Latte.
That’s all you need to know about making the perfect vegan donuts. Now, let’s get baking!
Fall into fall with these delicious vegan pumpkin donuts. Sweetened with maple syrup and topped with cinnamon-spiced glaze, these vegan pastries are the perfect fall sweet treat!
Cuisine: Vegan
Servings: 6 donuts
Calories: 330 kcal
- 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. ginger
- 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp. allspice
- 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 3 tbsp. coconut oil, melted
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a donut pan and set aside.
In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, and spice. In a separate bowl whisk together pumpkin puree, maple syrup, and melted coconut oil. Add wet to dry and mix together until the batter is evenly hydrated. Do not overmix.
Pipe the batter into your donut pan, filling the donut molds to the top. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let sit for a couple of minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to let them cool completely.
Meanwhile, mix together the ingredients for the spiced glaze. Dip cooled donuts, tops only, into the glaze and return to a cooling rack to let glaze set up. Alternatively, dip the donuts into cinnamon sugar.
Hi, I’m Sarah. I’m a 14-year (and counting) vegan, professionally trained photographer, former pastry chef, founder of My Darling Vegan, and author of the 
Mike says
How would you recommend storing these?
Sarah says
In an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days
Julie says
Hello! This sounds wonderful, but I don’t have a doughnut pan. Do you think I can shape them into doughnuts and bake them on a sheet pan?
Sarah says
No, unfortunately it’s more like a cake batter so it’s shape-able. You could make muffins with this recipe though.
SRH says
I have a soy allergy, can we substitute the soy milk for coconut milk without compromising icing recipe? BTW Thank you so much for all the vegan recipes! I have seven food allergies, and I have missed baked goods! Your recipes are so easy! Can’t wait to try these donuts.
Sarah says
That should be fine.
Linda Burnett says
This is a great new recepie. Cinanamon glaze, vegan, never thought of this. I am going to try it, but it looks delicious. Thanks for sharing.
Nina Simon says
Wow this looks yummy! My mouth is watering already. Can’t wait to try this!
Shelley M says
Have you tried to make these donuts gluten free?
If so, which flour did you use
Sarah says
I’ve made them with Bob’s 1:1 Gluten-free flour mix and they turned out good.
Sara K says
I made these for the first time just now. They were easy to make and delicious!!!!!!
Christy says
I’ve made these several times, always in a mini-muffin tin because I don’t have a donut pan 🙁 They’ve always turned out really yummy. Today was the first time I made the glaze (usually I shake in a paper bag with cinnamon and sugar). The amount of nutmeg in the glaze is extremely over powering. I would suggest a pinch instead of leaving it out altogether. Or, maybe trading for a pinch of cardamom.
Erin @ Texanerin Baking says
I made these yesterday with a few changes and they’re SO good! I was a little doubtful when they came out of the oven, just because the texture looked weird but I was happy to be very wrong on that one. Thanks for the recipe. 🙂
Sarah says
Thanks Erin! Glad you like them.