These baked chocolate pumpkin donuts combine the best of both worlds - warm pumpkin flavors and rich chocolate. A perfect fall dessert recipe!
Today is a fabulous day for two reasons: the O's clinched the AL East last night and we're eating baked chocolate pumpkin donuts.
Maryland boy B and his sweet tooth are ecstatic, and I'm pumped to have yet again snuck in pumpkin to our eats. If there's anything you should know about me, it's that I can take a theme and run with it. "Oh, you like waffles?" Let me throw everything we eat on the waffle iron. "Did you just say those granola bars are tasty?" Perfect - I just put seven boxes in our cart. And don't even get me started on smoked gouda. I've forgotten to buy mozzarella the last three times I've gone to the store because I have tunnel vision for gouda.
There are worse problems to have.
Anyway, we're a happy crowd around here and we celebrate with food, so what better way to whoop it up than with these donuts? For starters, there's chocolate and pumpkin involved, so you can seasonably address your sweet tooth and indulge your chocolate craving at the same time. These donuts are just efficient like that.
You get the best of both worlds with these chocolate pumpkin donuts. In one bite you taste the warm spice of pumpkin + fall flavors, and with the next you're teeth deep in chocolatey goodness. These donuts are topped with a simple shake of powdered sugar to make sure the pumpkin and chocolate flavors come through loud and clear. Of course, things like chocolate frosting are pretty easy on the taste buds, so feel free to whip some up if your sweet tooth is being exceptionally authoritative.
Theoretically you can double either the chocolate or the pumpkin batter in the recipe below to make purely pumpkin or chocolate donuts, but I'll tell you it was actually really simple to combine the two! There were a few extra kitchen dishes to clean which isn't exciting, but I think the extra five minutes of clean up are well worth it. 🙂 After preparing the batters, I transferred each to a plastic bag, snipped a corner of each bag, and piped the batters into my donut pan in an alternating pattern. The batters are sturdy and don't glop all over the place, so both the pumpkin and the chocolate respect each other's personal space and maintain distinct boundaries. Told you these donuts are sweet (in more ways than one).
Tools used:
- Baked donut pan <--never had a problem with sticking!
Baked Chocolate Pumpkin Donuts
Ingredients
For the Pumpkin Batter:
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 egg
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon pumpkin puree
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
For the Chocolate Batter:
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 egg
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ tablespoon canola oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
For the Pumpkin Batter:
- In a medium-sized bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, mix together sugars, egg, vanilla extract, pumpkin, and canola oil. Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir until just combined, taking care not to overmix. Transfer batter to a plastic bag and seal closed.
For the Chocolate Batter:
- In a medium-sized bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, granulated sugar, and cocoa powder. In a separate bowl, combine egg, vanilla extract, and canola oil. Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir until just combined, taking care not to overmix. Transfer batter to a plastic bag and seal closed.
- Grease a donut pan and snip the corners of both bags of batter. Starting with one batter, pipe three separate sections into each donut space, leaving equal spaces between. Fill in the remaining three spaces with the other batter.
- Bake for 9-10 minutes, or until a tester inserted into a donut comes out clean. Let donuts cool to room temperature on a wire rack, and sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as an estimate. As it can vary due to many factors (brands used, quantities, etc.), we cannot guarantee its accuracy.
Food Safety and Nutrition Disclaimer*This post contains affiliate links.
Ashley @ ashleymarieskitchen says
These donuts look amazing! I love the pumpkin and chocolate combo 🙂 Pinned!
Alyssa says
Thanks Ashley! Pumpkin + chocolate for the win! 🙂
Kathy @ Olives & Garlic says
Fantastic donuts! Pinned while I drooled all over myself.
Alyssa says
Haha thanks Kathy!!
Ashley says
Gah! These are so so cool looking!! And delicious - I love pumpkin and chocolate together. haha and most definitely seem like a perfect way to whoop it up!! 🙂
Alyssa says
Haha thanks Ashley! I'm sort of new to the pumpkin + chocolate game. I love pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, but besides that I don't think I've had the two combined all that often. That certainly needs to change!
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
These donuts look awesome! Seriously impressed by the recipe.. I must try it out!
Alyssa says
Thank you Thalia!
Deb|EastofEdenCooking says
Just fantastic fall baking! A very satisfying recipe to start the great season of all things pumpkin!
Alyssa says
Love fall baking, Deb (and pumpkin)!
Renee@Two in the Kitchen says
I am dying over these donuts. What a cute idea!!
Alyssa says
Thank you Renee! 🙂
Ashley @ My Midwest Table says
Oh, hey, chocolate pumpkin doughuts, I really like you. 🙂 Girl, these doughnuts look phenomenal! I'm pretty sure I have tunnel vision when it comes to these bad boys. YUM!
Alyssa says
Haha thanks! And well they're baked, so they'd like you right back! I have a feeling my donut pan will be in use a lot this fall!
Kelly - Life Made Sweeter says
Gorgeous donuts Alyssa! I love that you made chocolate and pumpkin donuts together - looks amazing and sprinkling them with powdered sugar makes them so so pretty! Love these - pinning!
Alyssa says
Thanks Kelly! I toyed with the idea of traditional frosting for a second, but the powdered sugar adds a nice sweet touch to them. That, and anytime I can get away with less kitchen bowls and utensils to clean, I'm a happy girl!
anna@shenANNAgans says
Mmmm, pumpkin donuts...... now your talkin'
Alyssa says
Mmmm indeed, Anna! 🙂
Sues says
These are beautiful!! Such a fun, unique (and delicious!) idea!
Alyssa says
Thanks Sues!
Danielle says
I'm on a total chocolate and pumpkin kick lately too. These donuts look amazing and the pictures are gorgeous! Pinning 🙂
Alyssa says
Thanks Danielle! It's such a great flavor combo, right? I mean, chocolate can pretty much make anything taste better (in my opinion), but here it plays nice with the pumpkin without overpowering.
Natalie @ Tastes Lovely says
Do you know how happy I would be if I could have 1 of these chocolate pumpkin donuts, and a pumpkin spice latte? Um, I would probably explode with happiness. So great!
Alyssa says
Oooh I'd be exploding with happiness too, Nat! If emojis worked here I'd use the face with hearts for eyes! 🙂
marcie says
I love baked donuts, and these look so incredible with both chocolate and pumpkin! So pretty and SO delicious! Pinning. 🙂
Alyssa says
Thanks Marcie! Chocolate + pumpkin together was certainly a treat!
Kathi @ Deliciously Yum! says
Simply gorgeous, Alyssa! I love that you slightly dusted these donuts, so that the flavors can really shine! Pumpkin and chocolate - it doesn't get much better than this. Do you deliver??
Alyssa says
Haha if only I could figure out a way to ship these bad boys without them arriving in crumbs! 🙂
Jocelyn (Grandbaby Cakes) says
These are seriously so fantastic! Pinning!
Alyssa says
Thanks Jocelyn! I love that combo, too. 🙂