Sourdough Pumpkin Donuts (with brown sugar maple glaze)
These Sourdough Pumpkin Donuts (with brown sugar maple glaze) are soft, cakey, full of warm fall spices, and dipped in a brown sugar maple glaze that might be my favorite part. They’re baked instead of fried, easy to throw together, and made for a cozy morning with a cup of coffee.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Soft + cakey: Tender, moist, and everything you want in a cake donut.
- Baked instead of fried: No frying or complicated steps, just mix and bake.
- The maple glaze: Buttery brown sugar and maple make this the best part of the donut.
- Great way to use discard: Have sourdough discard? This is a delicious way to use it.
Tools You’ll Need:
- Standard donut pan (or muffin pan)- for baking donuts. I love these pans from Wilton linked here. If you want to bake mini donuts, this pan linked here is great too.
- Kitchen scale (optional)– for accurate measuring, especially helpful with sourdough baking.
- Measuring cups and spoons- for measuring smaller ingredients.
- Small pot – for melting the brown sugar for the glaze.
- Spatula- for combining ingredients.
- Mixing bowl- for mixing donut batter.
- Hand mixer or sturdy whisk- for mixing donut batter.
- Cooling rack– to cool donuts.
- Ziplock bag or pastry bag (optional)- for piping batter into pans.
Gather Your Ingredients:
- Pumpkin Puree– Brings natural sweetness, moisture, and tenderness to the donuts, while giving the donuts that classic flavor we want!
- Avocado Oil-Â Adds moisture and keeps the donuts soft and tender. You can substitute for any neutral cooking oil.
- Sour Cream– Adds moisture and tang to balance sweetness and enhance tenderness of the crumb. You can also substitute for full-fat Greek yogurt.
- Brown Sugar– Helps to sweeten the donuts and gives that fall flavor from the molasses. You’ll also use this in the glaze.
- White Sugar– Boosts sweetness and supports the rise and golden color.
- Vanilla extract– Enhances the flavor and brings warmth.
- Sourdough starter- (flat or past peak, can be cold or room temperature). Adds depth of flavor and moisture. Key for fermentation if you’re fermenting the batter overnight.
- Egg + egg yolk (room temperature)– provide structure and lift with moisture, works as a binder for ingredients.
- All-purpose flour-Â Gives the donuts structure while keeping them soft and cakey.
- Baking powder + Baking soda– Ensures the right rise to the donuts.
- Salt- Balances sweetness and enhances all the other flavors.
- Cinnamon, Ginger, Nutmeg, and Cardamom-Â Rounds out the pumpkin flavor and brings that classic pumpkin spice warmth. You can substitute these spices for a pumpkin spice blend of you prefer, but I like to mix my own to guarantee the flavor is the same each time. See the recipe card for the pumpkin pie spice swap.
- Maple Syrup– adds maple flavor to the glaze.
- Unsalted Butter- adds richness and flavor to the donut glaze.
- Maple Flavoring (optional)- I recommend adding some maple flavoring if you’re wanting a stronger maple flavor to the glaze. I absolutely love this Maple Flavoring that is Organic and non-GMO from Frontier Co-op.
- Powdered Sugar- sweetens and stabilizes the maple glaze.
- Milk or half and half- thins out the glaze to help achieve correct consistency.
Instructions
Step 1: Mix the Batter
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, egg yolk, sour cream, sourdough discard, white sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, pumpkin purée, and oil until smooth.
Add the flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to the wet ingredients. If you want to use pumpkin pie spice instead of the spices listed, please see the notes under ingredients.
Mix the dry ingredients into the wet gently until all of the batter is smooth and no streaks remain. Avoid overmixing the batter or the donuts will get tough.
Optional Overnight Fermentation: Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8–12 hours for added fermentation benefits. If baking the donuts the same day, skip this step.
Step 2: Bake the Donuts
If you fermented your batter overnight, allow the batter to rest for 30 minutes to an hour at room temperature to warm up before baking the donuts. Use a spatula to mix the batter after resting to pop any air bubbles.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Spray your donut pans with cooking spray so they don’t stick.
Transfer some of your donut batter to a ziplock bag or a pastry bag. Snip a 1/4 inch tip off the corner of the bag.
Pipe the batter into the pans filling the donut cavity 3/4ths of the way full. This will give you a really nice tall fluffy donut.
Bake the donuts for 13-14 minutes. They should spring back when you touch the top with your finger. Remove from the oven and dump gently onto a cooling rack, and allow the donuts to cool fully before icing.
Step 3: Glaze the Donuts
While the donuts cool, prepare the maple brown sugar glaze.
Add the unsalted butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup to a small saucepan over medium/low heat.
As the glaze cooks, whisk allowing the butter to melt. Once the glaze is smooth, bring the mixture to a gentle simmer and cook for 30–60 seconds, stirring frequently to help dissolve the brown sugar.
After the brown sugar has dissolved fully, remove the glaze from the heat and allow the glaze to cool for a few minutes.
Once the glaze has cooled, whisk in the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, maple extract, and salt. If the glaze is too thick, add milk or half and half by the Tablespoon until the glaze is thick but able to run off of a spoon.
Go slow adding the milk to avoid thinning out the glaze too much; this glaze is meant to be thick!
Allow the glaze to stand for another 2–3 minutes, or until it reaches a thick but dippable consistency.
Dip the tops of the cooled donuts into the warm glaze, allowing any excess to drip off. Place them back onto the cooling rack and allow the glaze to set before serving. I like to sprinkle the tops with a little extra cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice.
Glaze Tip:Â The glaze thickens quickly as it cools. If it gets too thick for dipping, microwave for ten seconds and whisk then continue dipping the donuts.
Yields 15 donuts
How to Store:
Room Temperature- Keep frosted donuts in an airtight container at room temp up to 2 days.
Refrigerator- For longer storage, keep them refrigerated for up to 4–5 days and bring them back to room temperature before serving.
FAQ’S
Yes. I’d bake the donuts a day ahead and store them unglazed in an airtight container. Make the glaze and dip them closer to serving for the prettiest finish.
Yes. You can replace the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cardamom with approximately 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, depending on how strongly spiced you like your donuts.
The butter and powdered sugar cause this glaze to set fairly quickly as it cools. Simply whisk in a teaspoon of warm milk at a time and microwave tens seconds until it returns to dipping consistency.
Yes. For a non sourdough version, replace the 1/3 cup (80g) sourdough discard with 1/3 (40g) cup additional flour + 3 Tbsps (40g) whole milk.
It’s best for the classic shape, but you can bake these in a muffin tin too! The texture will still be soft and fluffy. Just spray a regular muffin tin and coat with butter and sugar as directed. You may need to bake longer (until a toothpick comes out clean), if using a muffin tin. I would advise around 18-20 minutes.
No, it already contains sugar and spices, which will throw off the balance of the recipe. Use pure pumpkin purée.
If you enjoyed this recipe, drop a comment and leave a star review and don’t forget to try more of my sourdough pumpkin recipes!
Sourdough Pumpkin Recipes:
- Sourdough Pumpkin Cinnamon Swirl Bread
- Sourdough Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins (with oat crumble!)
- Sourdough Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Sourdough Pumpkin Donuts (with brown sugar maple glaze)
Equipment
- Standard donut pan (or muffin pan)Â –Â for baking donuts. I love these pans from Wilton linked here. If you want to bake mini donuts, this pan linked here is great too.
- Kitchen scale (optional) – for accurate measuring, especially helpful with sourdough baking.
- Measuring cups and spoons – for measuring smaller ingredients.
- Small pot – for melting the brown sugar for the glaze.
- Spatula –Â for combining ingredients.
- Mixing Bowl –Â for mixing donut batter.
- Hand mixer or sturdy whisk –Â for mixing donut batter.
- Cooling rack – to cool donuts.
- Ziplock bag or pastry bag (optional) – for piping batter into pans.
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients:
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 (30g) Tbsp sour cream or full-fat Greek yogurt
- â…“ (80g) cup sourdough discard
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¾ (180g) cup pumpkin purée
- â…“ (75g) cup avocado oil or neutral oil
- ½ (100g) cup granulated white sugar
- ¼ (50g) cup light brown sugar
Dry Ingredients:
- 1¾ (220g) cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon you can substitute spices listed for 2 tsps pumpkin pie spice blend
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- â…› tsp ground cardamom
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp fine sea salt
Sourdough Discard Swap:
- 1/3 (40g) cup all-purpose flour
- 3 (40g) Tbsps whole milk
Brown Sugar Maple Glaze:
- 2 (28g) Tbsp unsalted butter
- ¼ (50g) cup light brown sugar
- 3 (60g) Tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1¼ (140g) cups powdered sugar sifted
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp maple extract
- â…› tsp fine sea salt
- 1-2 Tbsps half-and-half or milk
Instructions
Step 1: Mix the Batter
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, egg yolk, sour cream, sourdough discard, white sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, pumpkin purée, and oil until smooth.1 large egg, 1 egg yolk, 2 (30g) Tbsp sour cream, ⅓ (80g) cup sourdough discard, 1 tsp vanilla extract, ¾ (180g) cup pumpkin purée, ⅓ (75g) cup avocado oil , ½ (100g) cup granulated white sugar, ¼ (50g) cup light brown sugar
- Sourdough Discard Swap: If you're swapping the discard for additional flour and milk, add the milk to the wet ingredients above and the extra flour to the dry ingredients below.1/3 (40g) cup all-purpose flour, 3 (40g) Tbsps whole milk
- Add the flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to the wet ingredients. If you want to use pumpkin pie spice instead of the spices listed, please see the notes under ingredients.1¾ (220g) cups all-purpose flour, 2 tsp ground cinnamon, ½ tsp ground ginger, ½ tsp ground nutmeg, ⅛ tsp ground cardamom, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, ¾ tsp fine sea salt
- Mix the dry ingredients into the wet gently until all of the batter is smooth and no streaks remain. Avoid overmixing the batter or the donuts will get tough.
- Optional Overnight Fermentation: Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8–12 hours for added fermentation benefits. If baking the donuts the same day, skip this step.
Step 2: Bake the Donuts
- If you fermented your batter overnight, allow the batter to rest for 30 minutes to an hour at room temperature to warm up before baking the donuts. Use a spatula to mix the batter after resting to pop any air bubbles.
- Preheat the oven to  350°F (175°C). Spray your donut pans with cooking spray so they don’t stick.
- Transfer some of your donut batter to a ziplock bag or a pastry bag. Snip a 1/4 inch tip off the corner of the bag.
- Pipe the batter into the pans filling the donut cavity 3/4ths of the way full. This will give you a really nice tall fluffy donut.
- Bake the donuts for 13-14 minutes. They should spring back when you touch the top with your finger. Remove from the oven and dump gently onto a cooling rack, and allow the donuts to cool fully before icing.
Step 3: Glaze the Donuts
- While the donuts cool, prepare the maple brown sugar glaze.
- Add the unsalted butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup to a small saucepan over medium/low heat.2 (28g) Tbsp unsalted butter, ¼ (50g) cup light brown sugar, 3 (60g) Tbsp pure maple syrup
- As the glaze cooks, whisk allowing the butter to melt. Once the glaze is smooth, bring the mixture to a gentle simmer and cook for 30–60 seconds, stirring frequently to help dissolve the brown sugar.
- After the brown sugar has dissolved fully, remove the glaze from the heat and allow the glaze to cool for a few minutes.
- Once the glaze has cooled, whisk in the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, maple extract, and salt. If the glaze is too thick, add milk or half and half by the Tablespoon until the glaze is thick but able to run off of a spoon.1¼ (140g) cups powdered sugar, ½ tsp vanilla extract, ¼ tsp maple extract, ⅛ tsp fine sea salt
- Go slow adding the milk to avoid thinning out the glaze too much; this glaze is meant to be thick!1-2 Tbsps half-and-half
- Allow the glaze to stand for another 2–3 minutes, or until it reaches a thick but dippable consistency.
- Dip the tops of the cooled donuts into the warm glaze, allowing any excess to drip off. Place them back onto the cooling rack and allow the glaze to set before serving. I like to sprinkle the tops with a little extra cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice.
- Glaze Tip:Â The glaze thickens quickly as it cools. If it gets too thick for dipping, microwave for ten seconds and whisk then continue dipping the donuts.
- Yields 15 donuts