Fluffy Glazed Vegan Pumpkin Donuts

Step aside pumpkin bread and make way for these fluffy glazed vegan pumpkin donuts. These fluffy vegan donuts are about to seduce your tastebuds. Made with nutty spelt flour, tons of homemade pumpkin spice and a dreamy cinnamon glaze, these vegan baked donuts are going to be your new fall favorite dessert!

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List of ingredients

Substitutions for Ingredients

How to make these Pumpkin Donuts Quickly

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Why these Donuts are Healthy!

Vegan Pumpkin Donut Ingredients

Now that you’ve read just how good these chocolate glazed donuts are, let’s go over the ingredients you’ll need. 

The list of ingredients is super simple and mostly pantry friendly staples I’m sure you will already have. I’ve included both metric and cup measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Typically, using the gram measurements will give you the most accurate bake!

Vegan Baked Donuts 

• Spelt Flour: I recommend using spelt flour in this recipe rather than all-purpose simply because spelt flour has so much more flavor and fiber in it. That being said, feel free to use all-purpose flour, a GF 1:1 baking flour or whole wheat flour as a substitute. Make sure the GF flour you’re using has xantham gum as this will help replicate that glutinous structure! 
• Coconut sugar: just enough for some added sweetness. If you want to keep this completely sugar-free feel free to use a Monk fruit sugar blend. However, coconut sugar is just so delicious, healthy and has so much flavor that regular cane sugar. 
• Pumpkin puree: because how can you make pumpkin donuts without pumpkin puree. One note on pumpkin puree, make sure to get a brand that has a super dark puree. Typically, the darker the color, the more flavor that pumpkin puree will have. Skip that pastel puree!
• Spices: this is so important, I cannot stress it enough. Spices will make or break these donuts. You can opt for using pumpkin spice mix, but using fresh wool spices and making your own homemade pumpkin spice mix is infinitely better. Because you’ll really maximize the amount of flavor in your spice mix than the store bought version!
• Tahini: is what will make up the base of the cinnamon glaze. I’ll leave a few alternate nut butter and seed butter replacements that will work if you don’t have or don’t like tahini. However, the runnier and silkier the nut butter, the better the glaze will be.
• Date syrup: traditionally these pumpkin donuts would be glaze with a maple cinnamon glaze, but I opted for date syrup. Not only is date syrup much healthier than maple syrup, I think, dare I say, even better than a maple syrup glaze. Think about that, a date syrup glaze – glorious!
• Plant-based milk: I personally like using a cashew or almond milk, but any kind of plant milk will work well. 
• Unsweetened Greek Vegan Yogurt: This is super important as it will help simulate an egg and replace the oil in the recipe. Additionally, like an egg it helps hold the donut together!

Can I Substitute:

• Spelt flour: feel free to substitute spelt flour with the same amount of oats flour, whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, or a GF 1:1 flour. I have not tested this recipe with any alternative flour like coconut or almond flour – the donut would most likely fall apart and not hold its shape.
• Homemade Pumpkin Spice: while I recommend making your own (it’s super easy), you can absolutely use a store-bought pumpkin pie spice mix!
• Vegan Yogurt: unfortunately, there is no real substitute for the vegan yogurt in this recipe. However, you can use any type of yogurt, such as coconut, almond, or even a greek vegan yogurt.
• Pumpkin Puree: if you don’t have pumpkin puree on hand, you can sub with the same amount of mashed sweet potato – which actually adds even more flavor!
• Plant Milk: any plant milk will work in this recipe, such as almond milk, cashew milk, soy milk or any type you have on hand.
• Coconut sugar: if you’d like to keep this recipe sugar free, you can replace the sugar with the same amount of granulated monk fruit sugar or with 10 stevia drops. Alternatively, you can use granulated date sugar or regular cane sugar in a pinch.
• Tahini: any type of runny or liquid nut or seed butter will work here. My recommendation is tahini, but a runny cashew or peanut butter would work well too. Keep in mind that stronger nut butter flavors like peanut and almond will affect the final flavor of the glaze. Cashew butter and tahini on the other hand are much milder in flavor and help the date syrup and cinnamon shine through.
• Date Syrup: while I love the date syrup in this recipe, you’re more than welcome to use maple syrup, honey or any sticky liquid sweetener of choice.

How To Make These Glazed Pumpkin Donuts

As I mentioned above, this bread is so easy to whip up and needs only one bowl, plus a loaf pan. You’ll end up with moist and fudgy chocolate glazed donuts that you won’t believe are actually healthy!

The full recipe instructions and ingredients measurements are down below in the recipe card.

1. Donut Batter: Begin by combining the wet ingredients together and then pour in the dry ingredients. Whisk to combine. It’s that easy. 
2. Fill the Donut Cavities: You can optionally transfer the batter to a ziplock bag with a hole cut in it, or a piping bag to fill the donut pan, however, I think a spoon works the best. Simply spoon about 3 tbsp worth of the batter into the donut cavities. Filling just up to the top. 
3. Bake: This takes only 16 minutes, so fast! Be sure to let the donuts cool on a wire rack. Allowing them to cool out of the pan will ensure that they don’t become soggy from the steam they create after baking!
4. Make the glaze: I recommend making the glaze while the donuts are baking to save time. See the recipe card to read how to make the cinnamon glaze perfectly! 
5. Glaze the Donuts: Dip each donut in, twisting the donuts as you take them out to get off excess glaze. Let them dry on a wire rack. Finish the donuts off with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt and chopped pecans for crunch!

Can I make these Donuts GF?

I recommend substituting the spelt flour with a gluten-free flour blend as well. Both Bob’s Red Mill and King Arthur make great GF 1:1 baking flours.

How To Store These Donuts 

I typically will just cover the donuts with plastic wrap and store them on the counter for up to 3 days – although it usually doesn’t last that long. 

You can also store these donuts in the fridge for up to 5 days or even in the freezer for 1 month. 

When reheating the donuts, simply pop it into the oven or your toaster oven at 350F for a 1-2 minutes! I love topping it with some nut butter as well for some peanut butter cup vibes! 

Why These Vegan Pumpkin Donuts are Healthy

Cinnamon date syrup glaze, sweet fluffy pumpkin donuts…you might be wondering if these vegan baked donuts are healthy. The answer is YES! 

These fluffy vegan baked pumpkin donuts are packed with spelt flour, tahini, date syrup and pumpkin, all of which have been linked to a host of benefits. I’ll leave a few benefits of each of these ingredients down below: 

Spelt flour: you might be wondering if spelt flour is any better than regular wheat flour – the answer is YES! Spelt is an excellent source of slow-burning carbs and dietary fiber. It is particularly rich in iron, magnesium, phosphorous, zinc, and niacin – Vitamin B3. Additionally, spelt has a high protein count per cup than wheat flour, plus more soluble fiber. Soluble fiber has been shown to help improve cholesterol levels that the body absorbs in the bloodstream.

Tahini: One of my favorite benefits of tahini is that it has been shown to have a compound that aids in protecting liver and kidney function. These organs are essential for removing toxins and waste from our bodies and tahini contains a compound that aids in this process. Additionally, tahini contains anti-inflammatory compounds and antioxidants which are great for your overall physical health and skin health!

Date Syrup: where to begin – date have so many benefits, such as antioxidants, anti-bacterial properties, and a host of vitamins and minerals that are essential. Dates have a compound called phenolic that have shown to be effective in reducing bacteria growth. This means that dates will help you strengthen your immune system. Lastly, date have vitamins X, B6, and A which are essential to the body!

Pumpkin: One of the best benefits of pumpkin is that its high in carotenoids. Carotenoids are converted into vitamin A in your body, which is one of the building blocks of retinol. you might have heard of retinol, that anti-aging cream that everyone if raving about – well, you can get it straight from the source by eating pumpkin. Or just eat these donuts ;). Additionally, like all vegetables, this squash is high in a host of essential minerals and vitamins that are great for your immune system and skin health!

Bottom line, these donuts are the best dessert or breakfast, that you could ever dream of. Balanced, nutritious and delicious – these pumpkin donuts will nourish and soul, and your body!

More Delicious Desserts

Looking for healthy dessert recipes? I’ve gotcha covered!

• Healthy Peach Cobbler
• Fudgy Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Bread
• Chocolate Glazed Donuts

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