Pumpkin Spice Protein Donuts (Gluten Free, Baked)
Baked pumpkin spice protein donuts made with almond and oat flour, rolled in cinnamon sugar, at 7g of protein and 113 calories each.
I bought a donut pan for one recipe three years ago, and this is the one that finally justified it.
Pumpkin spice protein donuts are baked, not fried, made from pumpkin puree, almond flour, oat flour, and a scoop of protein powder, then rolled in cinnamon sugar while still warm. The batch makes 10 at 113 calories and 7g of protein each, and they’re in and out of the oven in 12 minutes.
Baked donuts are a different thing from fried ones, and it’s worth setting expectations. These are closer to a spiced cake donut than a Krispy Kreme. Tender, a little dense, and the cinnamon sugar coating is doing a lot of the work.
What You Need
Amounts are in the recipe card.
Pumpkin puree. Pure pumpkin, not pie filling. It’s the moisture in this recipe, which is why there’s no oil or butter anywhere in the list.
Almond flour and oat flour together. This combination is deliberate. Almond flour alone makes them greasy and fragile, oat flour alone makes them dry and bready. Half and half gives you a crumb that holds its shape coming out of the pan. Both are naturally gluten free, so these are gluten free donuts without needing a specialty blend, though check that your oat flour is certified if you’re baking for someone with celiac disease.
Eggs. Two, and they’re the structure. Baked donuts have no gluten network holding them up, so the eggs are load-bearing here.
Vanilla protein powder. One scoop. Whey blends behave best in baking. Whey isolate on its own dries baked goods out noticeably, so if that’s what you have, add an extra tablespoon of pumpkin.
Monk fruit granulated sweetener. Measures like sugar and doesn’t add carbs. Regular granulated sugar swaps in one for one if you’d rather.
Pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, salt, and vanilla.
More sweetener and cinnamon for the coating. This is where the flavor lands, so don’t skip it.
How to Make Them
- Heat the oven to 350°F and spray the donut pan generously, including the center posts.
- Whisk the wet ingredients. Pumpkin, eggs, vanilla, until the color is even.
- Whisk the dry ingredients separately. Almond flour, oat flour, protein powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, salt, sweetener.
- Combine until just smooth. Stop when the flour disappears. Overmixed batter bakes dense.
- Pipe into the pan, filling each cavity to the top.
- Bake 12 to 14 minutes, until firm and springing back when pressed.
- Cool 5 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a rack.
- Spray lightly and roll in the cinnamon sugar while still warm.
Working With a Donut Pan
The pan is the part that decides whether these look like donuts or like sad rings, and it’s the step every recipe glosses over.
Use a piping bag. A zip-top bag with a corner cut off is fine. Spooning batter into a donut cavity gets it everywhere, and the ring shape comes out lumpy because you can’t control where it lands. Piping takes thirty seconds and it’s the single biggest difference in how they photograph.
Fill to the top, not three-quarters. This is backwards from muffins. Donut cavities are shallow, and underfilled ones bake into thin rings that break when you lift them out. Filled to the rim you get a proper domed donut that closes slightly over the center post.
Grease the center post specifically. It’s the part that sticks, it’s the part people miss, and it’s how donuts tear in half on the way out.
Turn them out at 5 minutes. Leave them longer and steam condenses underneath and makes the bottoms soggy. Take them out earlier and they’re still too soft to hold together.
No donut pan? A mini muffin tin makes donut holes from the same batter in 8 to 10 minutes. They won’t look like donuts but they taste identical and they’re easier to hand to a kid.
Tips
Coat them warm. Cinnamon sugar sticks to a warm surface and slides off a cold one, so do the coating within a few minutes of turning them out, and give them a light spray of oil first so it has something to grip.
- Toothpick test: clean or a few moist crumbs. Baked donuts go dry fast once they overshoot.
- Weigh the pumpkin if you can. Cup measurements of puree vary a lot depending on how packed it is, and this recipe is sensitive to it.
- Make a double batch and freeze half. The pan is the bottleneck, not the batter.
If they come out dry, the protein powder is almost always why. Protein powder absorbs far more liquid than flour does, and every brand absorbs a different amount, so a scoop of one is not equivalent to a scoop of another. Pull them a minute early on your first batch and check, then adjust from there. An extra tablespoon of pumpkin puree fixes it on the next round without changing anything else, and that’s a better fix than adding oil.
Variations and Glazes
Cream cheese glaze. Softened cream cheese, powdered sweetener, and milk. This is the one that makes them feel like a bakery donut.
Maple glaze. Powdered sweetener, a splash of milk, and maple extract whisked smooth and drizzled once cool.
Chocolate dip. Melted chocolate chips with a teaspoon of coconut oil. Dip the tops, let them set.
Storing and Freezing
Counter: Airtight container for up to 2 days.
Fridge: Up to 5 days, and cinnamon sugar coated ones hold better cold than glazed ones.
Freezer: Wrap individually and freeze up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight, or 15 to 20 seconds in the microwave.
Coat or glaze after thawing rather than before if you’re freezing a batch ahead. The coating goes damp in the freezer.
Pumpkin Spice Protein Donuts (Gluten Free, Baked)
Ingredients
FOR DONUTS
- ⅔ cups pumpkin puree
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup almond flour
- 1 cup oat flour
- 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- ½ cup monk fruit granulated sweetener
CINNAMON SUGAR
- ⅓ cup monk fruit granulated sweetener
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat that oven to 350 degrees F and spray your donut pan with some non-stick spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together your pumpkin puree, eggs, and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, combine the almond flour, oat flour, protein powder, pumpkin spice and baking powder. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, stirring until everything is combined and smooth.
- Fill the prepared donut pan with the donut batter. Making sure each donut cavity is filled right to the top.
- Pop those donuts into the oven and bake for about 12-14 minutes, or until they’re golden and firm. Let them cool in the pan for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
- In a small shallow plate or bowl combined the granulated sweetener with cinnamon.
- Spray the donuts with spray or melted coconut oil, and dunk them into the cinnamon sugar coating. Enjoy!
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided is calculated based on industry-standard software and should be used as a general guide only. The information may vary depending on ingredient substitutions, cooking techniques, and individual serving sizes. It is the responsibility of the reader to ensure the accuracy and appropriateness of the nutritional information provided. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider for personalized medical or nutritional advice.
More Pumpkin Recipes to Try
- Pumpkin Spice Energy Balls
- Pumpkin Spice Protein Bars
- Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins
- Starbucks Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
- Pumpkin Baked Oats
If you make these, leave a star rating and tell me whether you went cinnamon sugar or glaze. Tag me @basicswithbails or save this for the first cold weekend.
About Bailey
I love to bake, cook, exercise, and document all of the above. Nutrition is not low fat. It is not low calorie. It’s not feeling deprived or being hungry all the time. It’s nourishing your body with real, whole foods so that you are consistently satisfied and energized to live your life to the fullest! Read more…
These turned out delicious! We cut out sugar a lot because our kiddos immune system crashes when eating sugar. They have missed donuts and loved these!
These are so good! I used keto flour instead of almond and oat and they turned out beautifully. Used vanilla protein but will definitely be making again, next time with pumpkin pie spice protein!