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Pumpkin Spice Cake Mix Donuts are made with spice cake mix and a can of pumpkin puree and topped with a delicious cream cheese frosting. This easy baked pumpkin donut recipe is perfect for the fall season!
Easy Baked Pumpkin Donuts
If you’re looking for spice cake mix recipes with pumpkin for an easy fall breakfast or brunch, you can’t go wrong with this recipe for pumpkin donuts using spice cake mix!
All you need is a box of cake mix and canned pumpkin. Enjoy these cake donuts plain or top them with my favorite cream cheese frosting! These pumpkin donuts are light and airy, unlike most baked donuts. They’re not super sweet, either.
2 ingredient recipes are the BEST, especially when you’re short on time! I’ve made 2 ingredient bagels, cakes, cookies and muffins, and my daughter and I made these 2 ingredient donuts over the weekend.
Actually, the basic 2 ingredient donut recipe is Weight Watchers friendly. The cream cheese frosting? Not so much. But that’s up to you. This sweet treat is perfect for the holiday season and one of our favorite recipes to make for Thanksgiving breakfast!
Table of Contents
Ingredients
Here’s a quick overview of what you need to make pumpkin cake donuts with cream cheese frosting. Full amounts are in the printable recipe card below.
- Spice cake mix — You can sub yellow cake mix or white cake mix
- Pumpkin puree — not pumpkin pie filling, as that has extra ingredients you won’t need.
- Cream cheese — Let it soften at room temperature for easier mixing
- Butter
- Vanilla extract
- Powdered sugar
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Pumpkin pie spice
- Heavy cream — to thin the frosting
You also need a donut pan. And, I highly recommend a piping bag for piping the donut batter into the pan, they should be easy to find at any grocery store.
How to Make Pumpkin Donuts with Cake Mix
This delicious recipe is super easy. Just mix the cake mix with the pumpkin in a large bowl.
Sometimes, we add some spices for extra flavor. It’s just a personal preference since spice cake mix has plenty of flavor! It’s not necessary, so if you want to keep this easy recipe to truly 2 ingredients, you can just leave them out.
Make sure to prepare the donut pan with nonstick baking spray or non stick cooking spray.
Then, fill a piping bag with the cake batter, and pipe it into the donut pan. If you don’t have piping bags, you can also use a plastic zip-top bag and snip off the corner. Or, spoon the batter into the prepared pan. The piping bag just makes it easier!
Preheat the oven to 425F. Place the donut pan in the center of oven, and let the donuts cook for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they are bouncy to the touch.
After the donuts are done baking, you can get started on the frosting. Mix the cream cheese, butter and cream with some spices in a large mixing bowl. You can use an electric mixer or a stand mixer, just start off on low speed, and then gradually increase to medium speed or high speed, to avoid having the mix fly everywhere!
Let the pumpkin donuts cool off on a wire rack, and when they are completely cool, go ahead and frost them. And add your favorite fall sprinkles to the top!
Variations
For less of a spice flavor, use yellow cake mix or chocolate cake mix. Most cake mixes will work just fine, but pumpkin spice mix is the best way to bring out the flavors of fall, of course!
If you want to skip the cream cheese icing, you can make a cinnamon sugar topping, instead.
Use a mini donut pan to make mini pumpkin spice donuts, mix chocolate chips into the batter, or opt for Halloween themed sprinkles or fall sprinkles for a more festive feel.
How to Store
Store the pumpkin spice donuts in an airtight container in the refrigerator, since there is dairy in the frosting. If you don’t frost them, you can leave them out at room temperature.
If you want to save them longer or make ahead of time, you can freeze the unfrosted donuts in a freezer safe container.
Recipe Tip
If you don’t have piping bags, use a food storage bag and snip a small hole in one corner.
Pumpkin Spice Donuts with Cake Mix
Equipment
- piping bag
Ingredients
For the Donuts
- 1 box spice cake mix
- 1 can pumpkin puree
- ¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice optional
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg optional
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon optional
For the Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- ½ cup butter softened
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- dash cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425℉
- Spray donut pans with non stick baking spray
- Mix cake mix and pumpkin puree and spices (if using) in a large mixing bowl until well combined.
- Spoon batter into a piping bag or a gallon freezer storage bag, and cut the tip off of one corner
- Pipe batter into each cavity about two-thirds full
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until donuts bounce back lightly when pressed
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes before removing to a baking rack to cool completely
For the frosting
- Cream butter and cream cheese together until smooth
- Add in the vanilla and stir until fully combined
- Gradually mix in the powdered sugar
- Stir in the whipping cream
- Add the pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon and nutmeg, and stir well
- Spread frosting over the donuts and top with fall sprinkles
Notes
For thicker frosting, omit cream or milk. Use a mix of cinnamon and sugar to dip donuts in if you don’t want frosting.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Making some grandma recipes super easy to make. These were a hit all the way around.