Irresistibly delicious Chocolate Pumpkin Donuts. Baked to perfection, dipped in sweet & sticky chocolate frosting then sprinkled with nuts or chocolate chips! Gluten-free option included.
The vegan pumpkin recipes are coming fast and furious, and these Chocolate Pumpkin Donuts are seriously one of the best thing you can whip up, start to finish, in under 30 minutes.
They are so quick to make and bake, and is there anything better than a soft, warm, pumpkin spiced donut with smooth, rich, chocolatey frosting as an afternoon treat? Not at this minute my friends. I could seriously eat the whole batch.
In this post:
The donuts are light, fluffy, and infused with pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice and the colour is a beautiful autumnal orange!
Once baked to perfection, they are dipped head first into rich, fudgy, chocolatey frosting then topped with whatever toppings you fancy. I used pecans and chocolate chips.
Ingredients
Here is what you will be needing to make Chocolate Pumpkin Donuts:
How To Make Chocolate Pumpkin Donuts
The process is really simple. Here's how:
- Add the dry ingredients to a bowl. Mix the wet ingredients in another bowl.
- Gently combine the two.
- Fill a donut pan and bake.
- Dip in the chocolate glaze once cool.
The Best Donut Pan
For this chocolate pumpkin doughnuts recipe you will need a donut pan. They are a great investment because everything tastes better when it's donut shaped. FACT!
I've tried a few and my absolute favourite is the USA Pan one. The donuts cook evenly, they don't brown too much and stay nice and soft. Most importantly though, they never stick.
Storage
Chocolate Pumpkin Donuts are at their best when freshly baked but can be stored for up to 3 days in an airtight container. They can also be frozen for up to 3 months prior to frosting.
Recipe FAQs
If you don't have a donut pan you can bake them as muffins instead. They will take 20 - 25 minutes to cook as muffins. Test them with a tooth pick or skewer. If it comes out clean they are ready.
Hungry For More?
If you tried this recipe, let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment and rating below! And be sure to join my mailing list for more deliciousness!
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Pumpkin Donuts
Author:Ingredients
- 1¼ cup (150 grams) whole-wheat flour , or gluten free all purpose baking flour /regular all purpose flour
- ⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon (80 grams) sugar , any sugar, white, brown, coconut etc is fine
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda , (bicarbonate of soda in the UK)
- ¾ teaspoon pumpkin spice
- 4 tablespoons liquid oil , or melted coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons aquafaba ,liquid from a can of chickpeas
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup (75 grams) pumpkin puree , (not pumpkin pie filling)
- ½ cup (120 ml) plant milk , use ¼ cup if using gluten-free all purpose flour
For the frosting:
- ¾ cup (98 grams) powdered sugar
- 1½ tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1½ to 2½ tablespoons plant milk , the amount needed will vary
INSTRUCTIONS
- Generously grease a donut pan and preheat oven to 350°F (175°C)
- Put the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda and pumpkin spice into a mixing bowl and whisk to combine.
- Put the oil, apple cider vinegar, aquafaba, vanilla extract, pumpkin puree and milk into another bowl and whisk them together really well.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until you can no longer see any dry flour and everything is well combined. Do not over mix.
- Spoon carefully into the donut pan. Fill to the top with batter and use the back of a teaspon to smooth it around evenly.
- Bake for 15 - 17 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean. I found the gluten-free ones cooked a little more quickly than the regular flour ones.
- Turn them out onto a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.
- Make the frosting by combining the cocoa with the powdered sugar. Then add the milk very gradually, starting with 1 tablespoon then with a teaspoon at a time until you get a good, thick dropping consistency for dipping the donuts. Not too thick and not too thin. It will hardly take any milk to get it that way.
- Dip each donut top down into the frosting then transfer back to the cooling rack, sprinkle with desired toppings like nuts or chocolate chips while the frosting is still wet, then allow to set a little before enjoying.
NUTRITION
Nutritional information is provided for convenience & as a courtesy. The data is a computer generated estimate so should be used as a guide only.
Lana Anderson says
Fantastic! I do not have a donut pan, so made mini-muffins. They were so delicious, I immediately made three more batches!
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm so pleased you enjoyed them!
Angie says
Is there anything I could use to replace the oil? These look delicious!!!!
A Virtual Vegan says
I haven't tested them oil-free but I have other oil-free donuts on my site including some pumpkin ones. https://avirtualvegan.com/pumpkin-orange-donuts/ If you want the chocolate coating just use that instead of the sugar in that recipe!
Uma says
I liked your Donut recipe. So very delicious.
Sandy says
Sounds delicious! Can I try using maple syrup instead of the powdered sugar for the icing. I don't use that type of sugar.
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you. It won't work with maple syrup. The powdered sugar is what thickens and sets it and creates the frosting. You could just use melted chocolate instead if you prefer.