This post contains affiliate links.
These Pumpkin Spice Cake Donuts are soft, moist and chewy. They’re baked instead of fried and topped with a delicious maple-coconut glaze. They’re AIP, paleo and vegan!
These AIP/paleo and vegan pumpkin spice cake donuts are a cross between pumpkin bread and cake in the shape of a donut. They’re soft, moist, a little chewy and absolutely delicious served warm with some tea. The maple-coconut glaze is totally optional but really adds a little something special.
Here are the main ingredients in these Pumpkin Spice Cake donuts:
- Cassava flour and coconut flour – I wouldn’t recommend substitutions to this combination
- Cinnamon, ginger and cloves – the ultimate AIP-approved spice mix.
- Maple syrup + coconut sugar – I’ve tested these with just syrup and just coconut sugar and the results weren’t the same. The combination of both really creates the optimal texture for these donuts.
- Additive free, full fat coconut milk – this is a must in these donuts for the texture.
- Pumpkin puree – I used canned pumpkin puree in this recipe.
- For the coconut-maple glaze you’ll need coconut butter, full fat coconut milk, maple syrup and pure vanilla extract.
Pumpkin Donut FAQs
I don’t have a donut pan, can I still make these?
I recommend this donut pan. You can also roll these into donut holes and bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Check the donut holes around the 10 minute mark to ensure they don’t dry out.
Can I substitute cassava or coconut flour?
I haven’t tried other flour combinations in this recipe so can’t recommend anything else with the same results.
How do I store these donuts?
These pumpkin spice cake donuts are best served fresh. Keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days and reheat before serving.
Looking for more AIP Fall treats? Check out:
Sweet Potato ‘Chocolate’ Chunk Bars
Cinnamon Streusel Mini Muffins
You might enjoy these other AIP and paleo donuts:
- Baked Chocolate Donuts with Raspberries
- Lemon-Glazed Blueberry Donuts
- Fluffy Grain-free Mini Donuts
- Salted Caramel Cinnamon Donuts
Gotta have more Pumpkin Spice goodness? You’ll love:
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Vegan Paleo Pumpkin Spice Pancakes
- AIP/Paleo Pumpkin Scones
- Healthy Pumpkin Spice Gummies
- Pumpkin Banana Muffins
- AIP/Paleo Pumpkin Pie
- Pumpkin Cold Brew
If you loved these Pumpkin Spice Cake Donuts I would appreciate it if you would give it a rating and review. Be sure to snap a picture of the finished product and share it with me on Instagram by tagging @healmedelicious and using the hashtag #healmedelicious.
Print
Pumpkin Spice Cake Donuts (AIP, paleo, vegan)
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 8 donuts 1x
Description
These Pumpkin Spice Cake Donuts are soft, moist and chewy. They’re baked instead of fried and topped with a delicious maple-coconut glaze. They’re AIP, paleo and vegan!
Ingredients
Donuts
- 1 cup cassava flour
- 2 TBSP coconut flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 TBSP coconut sugar
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp powdered ginger
- Pinch of cloves
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup additive free, full fat coconut milk
- 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 TSBP apple cider vinegar
Coconut-maple glaze
- 1/4 cup coconut butter, melted
- 1 TBSP maple syrup
- 2 TBSP full fat coconut milk, warmed
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- Pinch of sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly oil donut pan with coconut oil.
- In a large bowl, mix together cassava flour, coconut flour, baking soda, coconut sugar, sea salt, cinnamon, powdered ginger and pinch cloves.
- In a separate bowl, combine maple syrup, coconut milk, pumpkin puree, melted coconut oil, and vanilla extract.
- Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients. Stir to combine. Finally, fold in apple cider vinegar.Do not overmix.
- Immediately spoon batter into oiled donut pan.*
- Bake in middle rack of the oven for 15 minutes.** Use a toothpick to check for doneness. If it comes out clean, remove from oven, otherwise, continue cooking until toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow to cool 5 minutes before removing from donut pan. To do so, place a cooling rack upside down on top of the donut pan. Using two hot pads, grab the sides of the donut pan and the cooling rack at the same time and in one smooth motion, flip them upside down. The donuts will release onto the cooling rack and this will minimize the amount you are actually handling the donuts before they have cooled.
- To make the glaze, combine melted coconut butter, maple syrup, warm coconut milk, vanilla extract and sea salt in a small bowl. Drizzle onto donuts once they have cooled.
Notes
* You want to ensure that you bake these right after folding in the apple cider vinegar to get the optimal texture and rise. If you leave the batter to sit out, the texture will not be the same.
** Some readers have noted that their donuts were not quite cooked at the 15 minute mark, possibly due to variations in often temperatures. I would suggest checking with a toothpick for doneness at 15 minutes and cooking longer if necessary.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Desserts
I’ve had great results with your recipes especially the pie crusts. For some reason though I always have trouble with cassava flour breads like these donuts & the inside being gummy even after baking for extended times. I use Otto’s Cassava flour & Bob’s Red Mill coconut flour. Any thoughts as to why?
Cassava flour is really high in starch and so naturally “gummy”. More baking won’t change that quality since it isn’t due to it being uncooked. Rather, it’s important to balance the starchiness with something like coconut flour here to help dry it out, and to let the baked good cool completely so that it “sets” before breaking into it.
I could actually cry. I’m a baker and while I’ve been doing pretty good on this diet, the idea that I won’t be able to make delicious bakes has really made me sad. This is the first AIP dessert I’ve tasted that I wanted more of! I made them using a muffin tin and they came out great. I do have to note that letting everything cool really brings out the flavor and texture. Even if you microwave the leftovers later, let them sit for a few minutes – they’re golden.
You truly have such flavorful, tasty recipes. I’m so grateful for this site. It IS my AIP meal planner, lol.
These Pumpkin Spice Cake Donuts are so scrumptious, soft, moist and fluffy that I have been indulging in these daily for breakfast. *shy* smiley face!
These are delicious! I made the recipe exactly as stated, even with the recommended donut pan. They turned out great! Moist and flavorful and not overly sweet. My daughter will be so excited to eat donuts again. 🙂 Thank you!!!
So happy you enjoyed them and we hope your daughter loves them!
YUMMY!
These are very delicious. I’m new to the AIP protocol and was a tad skeptical on baked goods because of how other recipes have turned out in the past. I also only had a 1/2 cup of cassava flour in my pantry and no donut mode. I compensated with 1/4cup of coconut flour and 1/4 cup of arrowroot flour. I tried to make donut holes but the batter was a tad wet so I just improvised. To my delight, they came out like puffy cookies! These definitely hit the sweet spot so much so that my youngest devoured 3 while I was upstairs waiting for the cookie holes to cool! Thank you so very much and I look forward to making more of your recipes 🙂
These donuts are amazing. I’ve made them so many times – they are delicious, indulgent, and are such a wonderful treat. I made them with the glaze the first time, but the donuts themselves are so flavorful, I haven’t made the glaze since.
I’ve tried a number of aip desserts, and this is the first one I can say that made me feel like I was eating a real dessert.
I can not say enough about this recipe. I was hesitant to try another because so many before had failed but sweet baby unicorns am I glad I tried this one. It is sssooooo close to an old recipe I have. THANK YOU! Talk about a special treat. It tastes good, it doesn’t hurt my belly, simple to make… going AIP, at times, made me feel sad; so many of my favorites had to be eliminated. This recipe put a smile on my face ☺ ?
I’m so glad to hear that Danielle! Thank you for leaving a review <3
These are phenomenal! I am so pleasantly surprised! I only have a 6 donut pan so after those cooked I used the rest of the batter and even though it sat for awhile, the last two still turned out great! And the biggest surprise was how great the icing is. I’ve used coconut butter before and that’s all I could taste…super disappointing. This one has enough sweetness too it without being overwhelming. Excellent recipe!
Absolutely loved these! As we don‘t have ready made pumpkin purée in a can here, I made my own by cooking and blending a pumpkin and adding a good splash of water for this to be „pourable“ so that in the end I had a pretty good dough that was not too sticky but also not crumbling dry.
These will go into the thanksgiving rotation for sure!
Mine turned out more like cookies than donuts (I tried making donut holes), but giving 5 stars because they were delicious and everyone (my non-AIP family&friends) loved them. One of my biggest issues with a lot of AIP recipes is that they don’t describe the expected consistency of things like batter/dough. A picture and description of the dough/batter as well as troubleshooting would be super helpful, especially in AIP baking. I think my dough was a little too wet and if I had known what it was supposed to look like I probably could have added some flour to make them more like actual donut holes:). Overall great recipe and I would make these again!
I made these as donut holes because I wanted them right away and I don’t have a donut pan … yet. 🙂 I used a #30 cookie scoop which yielded 20 donut holes. I baked them for 12 minutes and they were perfectly cooked. I will say I didn’t love them right away. However once they had cooled completely, the spices intensified and the cassava flavor mellowed. And then I shamefully ate almost half the batch. 🙂 But it was Halloween so they were my candy. ;)These will be my fall baking go-to. Delicious! Thank you for such a great recipe!
I made these this week and they were a hit!! It satisfied my craving! I will definitely make these again!
I didn’t have a donut pan and improvised with a muffin pan instead. These are phenomenal and my non-AIP friends loved them too! You are so creative and talented!! Thanks for sharing your gifts with us!
Unfortunately these didn’t work for us that all: they were raw inside 🙁 Next time I would try a lower oven and at least a 30 mins bake..
Hi Emmy, sorry these didn’t work out for you. That’s really odd that they were raw inside. While oven temps vary it is unlikely there would be that much of a difference. Did you make any substitutions and did you use full fat coconut milk?
Wow!!!! I happened to have everything I needed in the pantry and just made these. They are so good!!! I love the sponges texture and the glaze is like a better-for-you sweetened condensed milk!
Thanks so much Wendy!
Absolutely delicious donuts! My very picky daughter even loved them and I can’t wait to make them again. My favorite part? I felt good about making my family a treat that we all will enjoy especially since I have to be cautious with what I eat.