These Vegan Pumpkin Spice Doughnuts are soft and pillowy, made with a pumpkin spice dough and filled with pumpkin spice cream then coated in sweet pumpkin sugar. Did I mention, they’re also shaped as little pumpkins too! Vegan, dairy-free, egg-free.
Vegan Pumpkin Spice Doughnuts
You truly can’t beat a homemade doughnut. They may take a bit of time to make, but the efforts are totally worth it. The puffy, golden dough combined with the aromatic spices and flavourful creamy filling is perfection! They also may look complicated, but it is actually a super easy recipe. Don’t worry, I’ll walk you through how to make them.
Looking for more pumpkin recipes, check out my Mini Pumpkin Hand Pies, Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies, Mini No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecakes and the BEST Vegan Pumpkin Spice Cake.
What makes these the BEST doughnuts?
This is one of those recipes where I want everyone in the entire world to take a bite out of these scrumptious little pumpkins and bathe in their warming glory. It’s a little piece of heaven in each bite.
- The TEXTURE : They’re so soft and pillowy but remain really moist and tender, it’s unreal! This is due to the fact that these doughnuts are made with sunflower oil instead of butter. Pumpkin puree is also added to the dough to further that divine moist texture. That paired along with the crunchy pumpkin spice sugar coating is a match made in Autumnal heaven.
- This recipe is egg-free : This recipe contains the best egg replacer for doughnuts which is ground flaxseed. Ground flaxseed is the ultimate egg replacer in doughnuts as it replicates the gelatinous texture of an egg resulting in a super chewy and soft doughnut.
- The dough takes minutes to make : The only waiting time really is allowing the dough to prove, that’s about it. I am so proud of my doughnut recipe as even though it takes time for it to prove and rise.. it is worth every second. You’ll end up with a delicious pumpkin spice doughnut that’s perfectly soft and sweet, perfect for a Harry Potter movie marathon.
Why you’ll love these doughnuts:
If I still haven’t sold you enough to get in your kitchen and whip up a batch of these doughnuts, here are some more points I wanted to jot down for you!
- Made with pumpkin puree.
- Vegan friendly – This recipe doesn’t contain any animal derived ingredients.
- Shaped as little pumpkins.
- Flax egg makes the doughnuts super chewy and soft! Perfect egg replacer in doughnuts.
- Pillowy soft!
- They’re easy to fry and fry to perfection!
- Filled with pumpkin spice which is aromatic and delicious!
- Simple but effective design.
- Fun to make!
- Jam-packed with a cream cheese filling which bursts when you bite into it!
- Super cozy and warming.
Ingredients for vegan pumpkin spice doughnuts
- Dairy-free milk : You can use any dairy-free milk for this recipe, including almond, oat, cashew or soya for example.
- Active dry yeast : You’ll need 2 packs of 7g yeast for this recipe. Make sure you get active dry yeast as this is what will make the doughnut a good rise.
- Pumpkin puree : Use pumpkin puree from a can. Pumpkin puree from a fresh pumpkin can be too liquidy and can effect the dough and filling.
- Caster sugar : Fine white sugar is perfect for this bake.
- Self-raising flour : To give as much rise to the dough as possible, use a good quality self raising flour!
- Dairy-free butter : Dairy-free block butter works fab in this recipe. You want it to be in firm block form. My favourite are Naturli Vegan Block or Flora Plant Butter.
- Flaxseed : This is the egg replacer in this recipe. Be sure to use ground flaxseed, golden works best. This will be mixed with a little water for the perfect ‘egg’ texture / replacer.
- Sunflower oil : Use a neutral oil for frying/ Sunflower is my personal suggestion and best option.
- Pumpkin spice sugar : A mixture of ground cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Sometimes all spice is also added.
- Dairy-free cream cheese : Use a vegan friendly cream cheese for the filling. Make sure it’s chilled before using it.
- Icing sugar : Sieve the icing sugar before use, this will remove any lumps.
- Cinnamon sticks : Break cinnamon sticks in half. These will be used as the pumpkin decoration, and are only for decoration only (do not eat).
How to make Vegan Pumpkin Spice Doughnuts?
When you think of doughnuts, you may think they’re super hard and technical to make. In fact, they are actually pretty simple and easy. They just have a few techniques and proving time which take up most of the prep but it’s totally worth it when you take your first bite out of the doughnuts – DROOL! You can find the full written ingredients and method in the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Dough
Heat the milk and stir with the active yeast and sugar. Allow to activate and froth. In a separate bowl, mix the flour with the pumpkin spice. Pour the activated yeast mixture along with the flax egg, melted butter and pumpkin puree. Knead into a smooth dough, cover and allow to prove until doubled in size.
- Pumpkin shape
Chomp out the dough using a flower cookie cutter, then use string to help shape the pumpkins. Allow to prove for a second time until puffed up.
- Frying
Heat oil in a large pan, when it’s come up to temperature, lower the doughnuts into the oil and fry for a couple of minutes on each side. Carefully remove and place on kitchen paper.
- Pumpkin spice sugar
In a medium sized bowl, mix the sugar and pumpkin spice. Coat the doughnuts in the pumpkin sugar.
- Cream cheese filling
Mix all ofthe cream cheese ingredients together until smooth and creamy. Transfer into a piping bag, snip off the tip. Poke a hole in the doughnuts and pipe in the filling, as much or as little as you like.
Finish with the cinnamon stick as decoration.
Tips for making homemade pumpkin spice doughnuts
- Pumpkin puree – For the best results, use canned pumpkin puree. This will give you the best flavour and won’t effect textures as much as pumpkin puree directly from a pumpkin.
- Dry Ingredients – The number one reason why most recipes fail. If there’s too much flour, the doughnuts will turn out super dry and stiff. ALWAYS, if you can, measure the flour out with a set of kitchen scales in gram measurements.
- Mixing – The doughnut batter is mixed in a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. Make sure it’s not over mixed!! If the batter is over mixed, the doughnuts may have trouble rising and they will likely turn out chewy and tough.
- Filling – To make sure each cavity is evenly filled, pipe in the donut batter using either a piping bag or a ziplock bag with the tip snipped off. This makes it easy to squeeze the batter into each doughnut section.
- Cooling – Allow the doughnuts to cool on the kitchen towel / paper before filling. If they’re too warm, the heat will melt the cream cheese filling and it’ll become super liquidy.
- Use gram measurements – I cant stress this enough. To ensure perfect doughnuts, make sure to use a set of kitchen scales and gram measurements. This will result in accurate measurements and doughnuts!!! You can pick up kitchen scales from Amazon , linked here.
If you make, and love this recipe, please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below. Thank you & happy baking! Make sure to tag me in your photos on Instagram and Facebook! And if you want to pin this recipe for later, you can use the button on the recipe card, above or below this post, or on any of the photos. Happy baking all!
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Vegan Pumpkin Spice Doughnuts
- Total Time: 5 hours
- Yield: A dozen
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Vegan Pumpkin Spice Doughnuts are the perfect Fall treat, made with pumpkin purée and pumpkin spice, they’re scrumptious!
Ingredients
Ingredients for the doughnuts
- 330ml of warm dairy-free milk
- 14g of active dry yeast
- 75g of caster sugar
- 600g of self-raising flour
- 2 teaspoons of pumpkin spice
- 100g of dairy-free butter (melted)
- 2 flax eggs (2 tablespoons of ground flax + 6 tablespoons of water)
- 2 tablespoons of canned pumpkin puree
- Sunflower oil (see step 10 for details)
Ingredients for the pumpkin spice sugar
- 150g of caster sugar
- 2 tablespoons of pumpkin spice
Ingredients for the cream cheese filling
- 100g of dairy-free cream cheese (chilled)
- 100g of icing sugar
- 2 tablespoons of canned pumpkin puree
- 1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin spice
- Small cinnamon sticks (to decorate)
Instructions
Method (doughnuts)
- Pour the warm dairy-free milk into a bowl and sprinkle over the yeast and sugar, stir, cover with a tea towel then put into a warm place for around 10-15 minutes until frothy. TIP: To heat the milk, add it into a small saucepan and simmer until it’s warm. If the milk is too hot it can kill the yeast, so make sure its just warm.
- In a separate bowl, sift in the flour and pumpkin spice.
- In another separate bowl, add in the flaxseed, melted butter and water, stir to combine and set aside for 10 minutes to thicken. This creates your vegan egg substitute.
- Combine everything into the flour, along with the pumpkin puree.
- Mix with a hand whisk or attach a dough hook to your stand mixer and begin to knead on medium until nice and smooth. If kneading on a worktop, make sure it’s floured so nothing sticks.
- Pop the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel and place into a warm area (I place mine in my conservatory) and allow to prove for around 2-3 hours or until double in size.
- Once doubled, turn the dough out onto a floured surface, roll out (not too thin) around 1 + 1/2 inch – 2 inch thick , you want the doughnuts to be puffed up.
- Use a flower shaped cookie cutter to chomp out the shapes. Optional: Use some string to help create the pumpkin shape (watch my video tutorial for directions). Repeat for the entire batch of doughnuts.
- Place the doughnuts back into a warm area covered with a tea towel for around 30 minutes until they have doubled in size.
- Add oil into a deep pan until half – 3/4 full and bring to the boil. Allow it to come up to 180 degrees. You can also use a deep fat fryer. Another way to check the oil is ready is by dunking the handle of a wooden spoon into the middle of the pan. The oil will bubble up around the wooden handle if ready. If not, it’s not reached temperature for frying yet.
- Once the doughnuts have risen, gently lower them into the hot oil and fry for about 2-3 minutes on each side or until puffed and golden brown in colour.
- Carefully take them out of the hot oil and place them onto kitchen paper to drain any excess oil.
- If you have used the strong, use some scissors to cut the string off, being careful not to break the doughnut shapes.
Method (pumpkin spice sugar)
- In a small bowl, combine the sugar and pumpkin spice. Coat each doughnut in the pumpkin sugar and set aside for filling.
Method (pumpkin cheese filling)
- In a large mixing bowl, add in the cream cheese, whip until light and creamy. I use a stand mixer with a balloon whisk attachment, a hand mixer will work great too.
- Sift in the icing sugar and pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice. Whip on high speed for around 5 minutes to incorporate it. If it’s too thick, add some more chilled cream cheese. If it’s too soft, add more icing sugar. You want it smooth, creamy and airy.
- Transfer the filling into a piping bag and snip off the tip.
- Poke a hole in the side or down the middle of the doughnut and pipe in some of the filling. Don’t overfill.
- To finish the pumpkin design, break a cinnamon stick in half and poke into the top / middle of the doughnut (cinnamon stick is only for decoration, DO NOT EAT).
- Serve and enjoy!!
Notes
To store: These doughnuts are best served and enjoyed day of making. Keep them fresh in a air tight / sealed container.
Vegan cream cheese: My favourite vegan cream cheese is Violife.
- Prep Time: 2-3 hours
- Cook Time: 2-4 minutes
- Category: Doughnuts
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
thanks for the video, I need to make more of different recipes
Could this be made gluten free? What would be the best type of GF flour to use? Thank you!
Came out great!!
Author
Aw I am sooo happy you enjoyed, thank you Alex x
Have you tried baking vs frying? I may try.
I’m curious about baking them instead of frying them too, did you give it a try and was it successful?
Thanks for your blog share about for donuts.
Thanks for share your blog post about for donuts in Albuquerque.
This blog is helpful for donut foods.
I can’t wait to try this recipe!! Could I use regular butter or would that affect the consistency of the donut? Thanks!