Fluffy, tender, and spiced to perfection, these Keto Pumpkin Donuts will delight your tastebuds! These easy baked donuts are brushed with butter and dipped in a cinnamon “sugar” coating for a delicious fall treat.
Pumpkin spice lovers, are you with me? Because it is time to make the donuts!
I whipped up these Keto Pumpkin Donuts recently and was delighted by both the flavor and the texture. They have all the cozy goodness of a donut from Starbucks or Dunkin, with a mere fraction of the carbs.
They are just the thing to satisfy that pumpkin spice craving! You also can’t go wrong with my Keto Pumpkin Muffins.
Why you will love this recipe
Nothing quite satisfies like biting into a cinnamon “sugar” encrusted donut. Especially when that donut doesn’t actually contain any sugar and won’t blow your healthy diet.
Pumpkin spice has its own particular delights. If you love that flavor, you’re always looking for new ways to enjoy it. These Keto Pumpkin Donuts are the perfect marriage of the two.
They’re also take only about 35 minutes to make from start to finish. And they have a wonderfully fluffy, light texture. With less than 4g of carbs per serving, you can enjoy them for a quick breakfast or an easy snack whenever you want.
Ingredients you need
- Pumpkin puree: Look for pure pumpkin, and make sure you aren’t buying pumpkin pie filling.
- Brown sugar replacement: Brown sugar replacements like Swerve give these keto pumpkin donuts a richer, more authentic flavor. But regular granulated sweetener will work as well. Please see the Expert Tips section for more info.
- Almond flour: Use a finely ground almond flour for better texture. This recipe won’t work with coconut flour but you can use sunflower seed flour for a nut-free version. Make sure to add a tablespoon of lemon juice to offset the green reaction.
- Protein powder: Adding whey protein powder makes the donuts lighter and fluffier, as well as helping them hold their shape. You can use egg white protein if you prefer.
- Pumpkin pie spice: I usually use a spice mix, but you can also make it yourself with ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a little bit of cloves.
- Granular sweetener: An erythritol based sweetener works best for the coating. See the expert tips section for more information.
- Cinnamon: A little added cinnamon in the coating adds wonderful flavor.
- Pantry staples: Eggs, butter, vanilla extract, baking powder, salt.
Step by Step Directions
1. In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, butter, sweetener, eggs, and vanilla extract until well combined.
2. Add the almond flour, protein powder, baking powder, and salt and stir until well mixed. Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until you have a thick but easily scoopable consistency. It should be like a thick cake batter.
3. Spoon the batter into 10 wells of a greased donut pan, filling the wells about 3/4 full. Bake 15 to 20 minutes at 350ºF, or until the tops are just firm to the touch. Remove and let cool in the pan 15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
5. In a shallow bowl, whisk together the sweetener and spice mix.
6. Brush the donuts with the melted butter on both sides, then dip into the sweetener mixture. You can also simply sprinkle the sweetener mixture overtop the donuts.
Expert Tips
The amount of water you add depends on a number of factors, including how thick your pumpkin puree is. Some are very wet and thin and you may not even need any additional water at all. You want the batter to be like a thick cake batter. It shouldn’t be so thin that you can easily pour it into the pan.
Ground cinnamon can be overpowering at times. So I used both cinnamon and some pumpkin spice mix in the coating, so the cinnamon didn’t overpower the other spices.
Make sure to grease your donut pan very well and don’t let them sit too long after baking – more than 30 minutes and they can begin to stick to the pan again. Gently loosen each donut with a knife and flip them out onto a wire rack.
No donut pan? Make them into muffins! You should get about 8 muffins from this recipe.
Sweetener Options
You can sweeten the donuts with whatever sweetener you like best, although I do think a brown sugar replacement gives them more flavor. Do keep in mind that using allulose will cause the donuts to brown a little faster so keep your eye on them.
For the coating, I found that an erythritol sweetener worked best. I tried a few with allulose and while it looked great at the beginning, the coating softened and became wet when they were stored overnight. They were still delicious, though!
You could always make the donuts and dip in the coating just prior to serving. That would work nicely as well.
Frequently Asked Questions
Pumpkin is an acceptable ingredient on keto. When used in baked goods, pumpkin adds flavor and moisture without adding a lot of carbs. A half cup of pumpkin puree has about 10g of carbs and 3g of fiber. But this is usually spread out over a number of servings and adds minimal carbs to the final product.
Conventional pumpkin donut recipes can have upwards of 35g of carb per serving. Yikes! But these keto friendly donuts have only 5.9g of carbs and 2.5g of fiber. So they have 3.4g net carbs per donut.
Store these donuts in a covered container on your counter for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to a week. You can also freeze the donuts for several months.
More delicious pumpkin recipes
- Keto Pumpkin Pancakes
- Easy Keto Pumpkin Cheesecake
- Pumpkin Cream Pie
- Keto Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes
- Pumpkin Breakfast Bars
Keto Pumpkin Donuts Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
Donuts
- 1/2 cup (122.5 g) pumpkin puree
- 6 tbsp (85.21 g) butter, melted
- 1/3 cup (60.67 g) Swerve Brown
- 2 large eggs, room temperature.
- 3/4 tsp vanilla
- 1 3/4 cups (180 g) almond flour
- 1/3 cup (36 g) unflavored whey protein powder, or egg white protein powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 to 4 tbsp water
Coating
- 1/3 cup (63.33 g) granulated sweetener
- 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp melted butter
Instructions
Donuts
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and grease 10 wells of a non-stick donut pan. If yours only holds 6 like mine, you may need to work in batches.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, butter, sweetener, eggs, and vanilla extract until well combined.
- Add the almond flour, protein powder, baking powder, and salt and stir until well mixed. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time until you have a thick but easily scoopable consistency. It should be like a thick cake batter.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, filling the donut wells about 3/4 full. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until the tops are just firm to the touch.
- Remove and let cool in the pan 15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Coating
- In a shallow bowl, whisk together the sweetener, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon. Brush the donuts with the melted butter on both sides, then dip into the sweetener mixture.
- You can also simply sprinkle the sweetener mixture overtop the donuts.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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Excellent flavour but mine were a bit dry? I’ve made other (chocolate) almond flour donuts before that were also a bit dry…not sure what I did wrong? Going to make a cream cheese frosting for these to hopefully moisten them up a bit.
You are over-baking your muffins, plain and simple. Take them out earlier.
I didn’t need the extra water, added lily’s choc chips, and made a glaze. These were the softest, lightest, yet!
These were very good! Denser than a donut for sure but still felt like I was eating one. It sure took me a lot longer to make them than you indicated but I guess you bake way more frequently! This is a keeper.
Nice donut texture. Took care of my pumpkin spice craving. I will definitely be making these again.
These are super easy to whip up and have a good donut like texture, very moist.
These were fantastic! Will become a family regular. My non keto family members enjoyed them just as much as I did.
Thank you for this recipe! I made your wonderful chocolate donuts yesterday and will be making these next weekend.
Are we supposed to put the pumpkin pie spice in the batter? it’s listed as an ingredient but not in the instructions.
Love this recipe. My daughter requested it multiple times! Can I make it into a bread instead a loaf pan?
I wondered , too, but knew I wanted the pumpkin flavor so I did. Definitely put it in.
OMG these were so good and tender! I made a double batch & got 12 donuts & like 12-15 donut holes. I made them in silicone molds & they came out perfectly.
These turned out very well even though I had to modify the recipe due to no longer being able to tolerate any of the sugar alcohols. I know it’s sacrilege to use artificial sweeteners but it’s that or never eat anything sweet again. 🙁 But the good news is it can be done with a little experimentation and actually come out good. But of course it helps to have such a great recipe to start with! I’ll definitely be experimenting with more of your recipes, in my opinion the best in the keto community.
Sooooooo delicious!!! I needed this today!!!