Keto Pumpkin Spice Donuts With Cream Cheese Glaze

These keto pumpkin spice donuts bring all the warm, spicy, fall, pumpkin feels without the guilt. Drizzled in a sweet cream cheese glaze, eating one of these is like putting on your favorite cozy sweater. The best part is that you can be eating them in under an hour… and most of that time will be spent waiting… and then drizzling sweet and creamy cream cheese on warm pumpkin spice cake.

The Inspiration

Well, fall arrived… I tried to ignore it as long as possible and immerse myself in the serious glut of tomatoes, peppers, and vegetables from the garden this long hot summer. But then there was pumpkin, and pumpkin spice, and it got chilly, and I wanted to eat cake too. But being keto I can’t just run out to Starbucks and get my pumpkin spice fix, or buy something at the grocery store to eat. So I decided to make my own.

While I was looking through Carolyn Ketchum’s cookbook, The Ultimate Guide To Keto Baking, for a shortbread recipe, I saw this recipe for Pumpkin Spice Donut Holes. I decided to try it and make them into donuts instead. This has since become my fall tradition. However, I have added a few layers. I coat them in a sugar coating and drizzle them in a cream cheese glaze, because everything is better with cream cheese.

The Ingredients

The ingredients for the recipe are almost the same as a traditional pumpkin spice cake or donut. There are three main changes which you need to make these low carb.

First, the sweetener. For this recipe I used a brown sugar replacement. My favorite is Swerve’s Brown Sugar. The texture and flavor are spot on, and it measures and acts the same as brown sugar, without any calories or carbs.

For this recipe traditional flour is replaced with coconut flour. I use this Coconut Flour from Nutiva. Coconut flour is a popular flour in keto baking. It is made from the coconut meat which is leftover from the production of coconut milk. This is dried and then ground to produce a fine flour which has that sweet, nutty coconut scent. It goes beautifully with the pumpkin spice.

This recipe also uses unflavored whey, something which I did not have in my pantry until I started the keto diet. Unflavored whey is a protein powder derived from dairy, which replaces the protein bonds which gluten forms. It helps create baked goods which are fluffier and lighter. It is added to a number of keto baking recipes, so I now consider it an essential ingredient to have on hand. To see more of my baking essentials click here.

The Steps

These donuts are quite quick and easy to prepare.

1. First, preheat the oven to 350°F. Liberally spray your donut pan (recipe is for 6 donuts) with cooking spray. I used a coconut oil cooking spray. Set aside.
2. Then whisk the dry ingredients together: coconut flour, brown sugar alternative, whey, pumpkin spice, baking powder, and salt to incorporate well.
3. Next, mix the wet ingredients together: pumpkin puree, melted butter, and eggs, until well combined. The dough should be scoopable, not pourable. To get the right consistency you can add a bit of water if needed.
4. Scoop the dough into the donut pan being careful to not fill in the center. But don’t worry if you aren’t too precise as you can be clean up and trim them after baking.
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until they are golden and firm yet springy to the touch.
6. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before removing them from the pan.
7. While they are cooling prepare the ingredients for you sugar coating by melting 2 tbs of butter in a dish. Add 1 tbs of brown sugar alternative and 1 tbs of granular sugar alternative to a bowl with 1/2 tsp of pumpkin spice mix. Mix to combine.
8. Remove them from the pan and trim them to be a more perfect donut shape if they have spread or have seams anywhere. Mine spread a bit at the center seam so I trimmed that off prior to frosting. (Bonus, you get to snack on that while you wait to frost them!)
9. While they are still warm, brush them with the melted butter. This adds to the flavor making them taste more like a fried donut. Then roll them in the sugar mixture to coat.
10. Mix up a batch of the Cream Cheese Glaze and drizzle over donuts. You can drizzle the glaze or spread it to create a coating on top – or even serve as a dip alongside. But note, it will set and stay in place but will not harden. So stacking these will make a mess.

These baked Keto Pumpkin Spice donuts are delicious as is at this point, rolled in the pumpkin spice sugar coating.

But everything is better with cream cheese. Drizzle away to your heart’s content!

The Results

These Pumpkin Spice Donuts are such a welcome treat when those fall flavor cravings come calling. I went without baked treats for a long time when I started the keto diet because I didn’t know how to recreate my favorite recipes in low carb, keto-friendly versions. Being able to prepare these makes me so happy, I hope that it helps you enjoy a healthier approach to fall baking too.

If you make these Keto Pumpkin Spice Donuts be sure to leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you. And if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram, I’d love to see!

How To Make: Keto Pumpkin Spice Donuts With Cream Cheese Glaze