Orange Spiced Pumpkin Cake Donuts
Orange Spiced Pumpkin Cake Donuts is an easy, family favorite recipe that will delight your taste buds. Hints of refreshing orange are nestled in fluffy pumpkin cake and top with cinnamon sugar. Made with healthy ingredients, this is one of the best baked donuts ever!
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Yesterday my brother very sweetly told me he was going to make dinner and dessert for us.
Well, actually he had just woken up and was kind of grumpy.
I however thought the idea was extremely sweet because I was swimming in work.
It felt so nice not to have to worry about what to fix for dinner and to just be able to focus on getting work done.
Around mid afternoon my brother joyfully burst into my office, “here Heather, try this!!”
He handed me one of these Orange Spiced Pumpkin Cake Donuts and anxiously waited for me to taste it.
It is always a little nerve wracking being put on the spot to taste test something brand new with the chef starring at you.
I cautiously took a bite preparing myself, just in case I wasn’t thrilled with what was coming.
WOWZA!!!
The taste was phenomenal!
Normally you wouldn’t think orange and pumpkin would go well together but it brightens up the warm comforting taste of the pumpkin.
My family gobbled down the first batch and we promptly made more.
Tips about Orange Spiced Pumpkin Cake Donuts:
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- Costco has a great price on a 10 lb. bag of organic sugar. It is by far the best price I have seen.
- There is a trick to getting the cinnamon sugar to adhere to the donut! Once the donuts have baked and are cool enough to handle, spray the top with a little avocado spray and then dip into the cinnamon sugar. You will want to spray 1 donut at a time before dipping to prevent having to spray a second time. Why do I recommend avocado spray? Because my tree hugging self loves that there is no repellent in Chosen Foods Avocado Spray, it is 100% avocado oil which is a great healthy oil and there is no funny aftertaste that comes with other types of sprays. You will find that if you don’t spray the donut, the cinnamon sugar doesn’t really stick. (affiliate)
- In addition to the avocado spray, I use and adore baking with avocado oil. Costco has the best price I have seen but Amazon is still reasonable. (affiliate)
- If you have been reading my blog for any length of time then you know how much I HATE nonstick pans. Unfortunately, it can be very difficult to find bakeware that isn’t nonstick but thank God for Amazon. I have been extremely happy with these donut pans. They are sturdy and have enough qualities to makes my tree hugging heart happy. (affiliate)
- Don’t skip the orange extract!! I know that the idea of orange and pumpkin sounds a little crazy but I am telling you it is AMAZING!!! (affiliate)
- Here are the spices at a reasonable price: ground ginger, ground nutmeg, cinnamon and ground cloves.
Orange Spiced Pumpkin Cake Donuts
Ingredients
For the Donuts
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup avocado oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1/8 tsp ground ginger
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp cloves
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp orange extract
- 1/2 tsp orange zest *zest of about 1/2 of orange
- 1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin puree
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
For the Cinnamon Sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉ and lightly spray donut pans with nonstick spray (see tips above for avocado spray).
- In a large mixing bowl combine sugar, oil and eggs. Mix well. Stir in spices, salt, orange extract, orange zest and pumpkin.
- In a separate medium sized mixing bowl combine flour and baking powder, mix well (no need to sift dry ingredients).
- Stir in dry ingredients to wet ingredients making sure to not over mix.
- Using a level 1/4 cup measuring cup and a small bowl scraper scoop pumpkin batter into donut wells. Even out batter using the tip of the bowl scraper.
- Bake for 16- 18 mins or until donut springs back to the touch.
- In the meantime mix together sugar and cinnamon for topping. Let donuts cool enough that they are easily handled but still warm. Remove one at a time and gently spray top with avocado spray (see tips above under tips section) . Dip sprayed top into cinnamon sugar and rest donuts on a board until cooled. Store lightly covered at room temperature.
Notes
Inspired by King Arthur Flour
Nutrition
If you love Holiday treats then check out these recipes:
Who knew donut making could be this easy? There is so much flavor in these donuts, too. We take them to church on Sundays now and the folks just love them.
That is so wonderful to hear. Thank you Lydia for sharing the recipe and coming back to comment and rate it.