1-Step 1: Prepare Your Equipment and Oven Before you begin mixing, preheat your oven to 350°F. This temperature allows the donuts to bake through evenly without developing a thick crust. Grease your donut tin thoroughly with nonstick cooking spray or a light coating of butter. A donut tin with cavities measuring about 3.25 to 3.75 inches wide produces the best shape for this recipe. If you don’t own a donut pan, don’t worry! You can use a muffin tin instead. Simply adjust your baking temperature to 400°F and increase baking time to 16-18 minutes. The results will be more like domed muffins, but the flavor remains exactly the same.

2-Step 2: Mix the Dry Ingredients In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and all your spices: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves (or allspice). Whisking these ingredients together ensures the leavening agents and spices are evenly distributed throughout the flour. This step prevents pockets of baking soda or spice clusters in your finished donuts. For the most accurate results, consider weighing your ingredients using a kitchen scale. Volume measurements can vary significantly depending on how you scoop the flour, while weight measurements remain consistent every time.

3-Step 3: Combine Wet Ingredients In a separate bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and melted butter until fully combined. The mixture should look smooth and glossy. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking vigorously after each addition to incorporate air and create a light texture. Next, stir in the pumpkin puree until no streaks remain. Make sure you’re using pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling, which contains added sugars and spices. The pumpkin provides moisture and that distinctive flavor we’re after, plus it reacts with the baking soda to help these donuts rise beautifully.

4-Step 4: Bring the Batter Together Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold them together with a spatula or wooden spoon. Mix just until no dry flour remains visible. Overmixing develops gluten, which can make your donuts tough and chewy instead of tender and cake-like. The batter will be thick and somewhat sticky, similar to a thick muffin batter. This consistency is perfect for piping into the donut tin and helps the donuts hold their shape during baking.

5-Step 5: Fill the Donut Tin Transfer the batter to a large piping bag or a zip-top bag with one corner snipped off. Pipe the batter into each donut cavity, filling about three-quarters full. The donuts will puff up during baking, and this fill level ensures they don’t overflow while still creating a substantial treat. Alternatively, you can spoon the batter into the cavities, though piping creates more uniform donuts and is generally faster and cleaner. Smooth the tops lightly with a damp finger or the back of a spoon.

6-Step 6: Bake to Perfection Bake the donuts for 12 to 14 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the thickest part comes out with little to no crumbs. The tops should spring back lightly when touched, and the edges may have pulled slightly away from the sides of the pan. Let the donuts cool in the pan for about 5 minutes. They’ll be too delicate to handle immediately after baking, but leaving them too long can make them stick. After the initial cooling, transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely before coating.

7-Step 7: Add the Cinnamon Sugar Coating While the donuts cool, whisk together the sugar and cinnamon for the coating in a shallow bowl. Melt the butter in a separate small bowl. When the donuts are just slightly warm, brush each one generously with melted butter. Working quickly while the butter is still wet, roll the donut in the cinnamon sugar mixture, pressing gently to help the coating adhere. The warmth helps the sugar stick without dissolving completely. For best results, coat the donuts just before serving. If you coat them too far in advance, the moisture from the butter can make the sugar coating soggy.