Small Batch Gluten Free Pumpkin Spice Donuts
Last updated: February 5, 2023
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Let me count the ways I love pumpkin, pumpkin spice, and all things related. It’s programmed in my genes, and not so quietly emerges with the return of turtlenecks and decorative gourd season.
I’ve baked these gluten free pumpkin donuts no less than four times already, and the calendar just hit October.
I say they’re the best because they really are the best gluten-free baked donuts I’ve ever made. Their texture is exactly the same as a regular cake donut! And they make a donut pan 100% worth it. (Here’s the inexpensive one I use.)
Soft and tender.
Moist and fluffy.
Sweet and spiced.
So what makes this gluten-free donut recipe mimic a regular baked donut?
I developed these donuts, using the FauxMartha’s recipe for vanilla bean baked donuts as a starting point. To make them gluten-free, I tried several different flour combinations, sweeteners, and oven temperatures.
Sweet rice flour is magical, and should be a staple in your kitchen if you’re gluten-free. This naturally gluten-free flour is not sweet, like it sounds, but instead is ground from short grain white rice, also known as sticky rice.
Sweet rice is a sticky and higher starch rice, which works great in gluten free baking because it helps bind things together. It gives baked good the “stretch” and softness of what regular gluten typically does.
I combined the sweet rice flour with teff flour (has a natural malty flavor that works so well in a donut!), and a small amount of millet flour to balance things out. These two flours provide a good foundation and structure.
From there, I found that a lower oven temperature than what you’d bake a regular donut at helped keep them from over-browning and becoming too dense.
Don’t try to cut out any of the sugar or honey in these – they aren’t cloyingly sweet as many American donuts are. They’re just right, in my humble opinion.
This recipe makes six donuts, which is helpful when you’re a house of two like Brian and I. And really great news — they’re still good on day 2, with little loss in texture, and the flavors even deepen a bit.
If you make these Gluten Free Pumpkin Donuts, be sure to tag me on instagram with hashtag #heartbeetkitchen or @heartbeetkitchen!
Yield: 6 donuts
SCALE:
Ingredients
Donut Base
- 60 grams ivory teff flour
- 55 grams sweet rice flour
- 30 grams millet flour
- 1/4 cup organic cane sugar
- 1 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon vinegar
- 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon milk
- 3 tablespoons butter melted
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
Coating
- 1 tablespoon butter melted
- 1/4 cup organic cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Equipment
Instructions
- Mix flours, sugar, salt, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder in a bowl. Set aside.
- Whisk together milk and vinegar. Let sit for 5 minutes. Whisk in egg and vanilla, maple syrup, then melted (and cooled) butter.
- Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir until no flour streaks are left.
- Grease a 6 count donut pan, then spoon in batter. It will be thicker than normal batter. Level off with a spoon. Bake for 11 minutes at 350 degrees, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove each from pan once cooled. Running a knife around the edges is helpful to get them out gently.
- Brush melted butter onto donut, then dip into the sugar mixed with cinnamon.
Did you make this?
tag @heartbeetkitchen on instagram and hashtag it #heartbeetkitchen
October 8, 2018
Do you think there is anything I can replace the sweet rice flour with? I cannot eat rice at all. Thank you.
Thanks these donuts sound great I’ll make them this week xx
Hi there just curious, so there is no pumpkin in the recipe? You just call it pumpkin because there is pumpkin pie spice in there? I want to try making these x
correct, just pumpkin spice in the donuts, which you’ll see reflected in the recipe title!
I just stumbled upon this recipe, and the donuts are divine! Easy and fast too. And they’re so tender. Gluten free baking doesn’t always have that great mouth feel that these do. I’m worried that I will want to bake all your baked goods, and they’ll be too good not to devour immediately. These are something I can quickly throw together in the morning. That’s hardly ever the case with gluten free baking. So, thank you!
Hi Alene! I’m so so glad you liked the recipe! So perfect for fall. :)
All I saw was “Free Donuts” and I was all over this post :) I’d love someone to send me free donuts (ha ha!!)
These look so yummy, great with my Latte in the morning!
Cake donuts and other baked donuts literally get SO MUCH negative rap because they’re usually too dense or not as fluffy as yeast donuts. However, if cake donuts are baked perfectly, they are phenomenal! These pumpkin spiced gluten free donuts look spectacular–so warming, spicy, comforting, and aromatic. I love the sugary topping on each one!
There really is something special about the fall, isn’t there Amanda? The cool nip in the air, the colorful leaves. . .the smells. . .and of course pumpkin everything!! I can see why you have already devoured batch after batch of these beauties. Oh, and since it is only the hubby & I (and as fitness fanatics we try to limit “treats”), loving that this recipe makes use enough to satisfy any naughty cravings.