These deep fried donuts are filled with the most delightful pumpkin spice cream then rolled in cinnamon sugar! They're light, fluffy, and the most perfect fall dessert!
If you make both the dough and the pumpkin cream the night before, you'll save yourself a ton of time the day you actually want to make donuts!
If you love pumpkin season, you might also like these pumpkin cream puffs, these Nutella filled donuts, or my homemade pumpkin spice latte!
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Ingredient Notes
Pumpkin Pie Spice - You can buy pumpkin pie spice at most grocery stores, or just make your own!
Pumpkin Puree - I almost exclusively use Libby's Pumpkin because it really is the best of the best! A ton of people have run blind taste tests comparing different brands of pumpkin puree, and Libby's is always the winner! But you can also always make your own!
Bourbon - This is optional, but I love the extra flavor it adds to the pumpkin cream!
Egg Yolks - I always have leftover egg yolks from making these pumpkin spice macarons!
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
How to Make Pumpkin Cream
I always make the pumpkin custard the night before I make the donuts to save time!
Whisk together brown sugar, cornstarch, pumpkin pie spice, salt, heavy cream, and egg yolks in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat and whisk constantly until the mixture is thickened, about 1 minute.
Remove from heat. Stir in the pumpkin puree, butter, bourbon and vanilla until smooth and silky.
Transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap (place the plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pumpkin cream so a film doesn't form). Chill for at least 1 hour!
Keep the pumpkin cream covered in the fridge for up to 5 days!
How to Make Fried Donuts
The dough for these pumpkin cream filled donuts is super easy to make!
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine all of the dough ingredients and knead on medium low speed for about 5 minutes. The dough should come together in a cohesive ball that pulls away from the sides of the bowl but is still slightly sticky. If the dough does not come together, add in more flour 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
Place the dough in a large, lightly greased bowl and cover. Place the dough in the fridge and chill overnight (8-12 hours).
In the morning, remove the dough from the fridge and allow it to rise at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
When the dough is finished rising, lightly punch it down and then turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a large rectangle about ½ inch thick.
Using a 3 ½ inch round cookie cutter, cut the dough into 12 circles. If you don't quite get 12 you can re-roll the scraps and cut out more circles. If desired, you can then use the leftover scraps to make donut holes! Use a 1 inch or 1 ½ inch round cookie cutter to punch some donut holes out of the scraps. Lightly cover the donuts and let rest while the oil is heating.
[I love this round cookie cutter set for the donuts!]
Pour 2-4 cups of vegetable oil (you want it to be about 2 inches deep) into a large, heavy bottomed pot or dutch oven and heat over medium high heat until the oil reached 375°F. Place a cooling rack on top of a baking sheet and position it next to your stove. [I love this thermometer because it clips to the pot.]
While the oil is heating, whisk together the sugar and cinnamon and set aside. [You could also use pumpkin pie spice instead of the cinnamon!]
Once the oil reaches 375°F, fry 3-4 donuts at a time for 1 minute on each side. The donuts should be a deep golden brown. Remove from the oil and place on the cooling rack to allow excess oil to drain off. I always make 1 donut first and check to make sure it's cooked through!
Repeat with the remaining donuts as well as the donut holes.
While the donuts are still warm, toss them in the cinnamon sugar! Place back on the cooling rack and allow to mostly cool to room temperature before filling.
Transfer the pumpkin cream filling to a piping bag fitted with a large bismark tip. Poke the bismark tip into the side of each donut and fill with the pumpkin custard! [It's easiest to make a hole in the side of the donut using a chopstick prior to filling.]
These donuts are best eaten the same day while they're still slightly warm!
Store unfilled pumpkin donuts at room temperature for up to 3 days and store the custard in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Tips For Donuts at Home
To cut the pumpkin cream donuts, you can use a legit donut cutter, or just different sized round cookie/biscuit cutters! I have a set of round biscuit/cookie cutters that work great perfectly! I use the 3.5" circle for the donut and the 1.5 inch circle for the hole.
Recipe FAQ's
This recipe was specifically designed for deep frying the donuts. If you would prefer baked donuts, I suggest looking up a different recipe. You might like my baked brown butter pumpkin donuts!
You don't have to! I prefer a cold rise because the dough is easier to work with. But you can do a minimum of 3 hours in the fridge instead of overnight.
Use an instant thermometer to check the internal temperature! You want to shoot for around 190°F.
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
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Recipe Card
Pumpkin Spice Cream Filled Donuts
Special Equipment
Ingredients
Pumpkin Cream
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- 3 large egg yolks
- ¾ cup pumpkin puree
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons bourbon, optional
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Donuts
- 4 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups whole milk
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2-4 cups vegetable oil, for frying
Cinnamon Sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon, substitute pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
- I recommend making both the pumpkin cream and the donut dough the night before!
Pumpkin Cream
- Whisk together brown sugar, cornstarch, pumpkin pie spice, salt, heavy cream, and egg yolks in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat and whisk constantly until the mixture is thickened, about 1 minute.
- Remove from heat. Stir in the pumpkin puree, butter, bourbon and vanilla until smooth and silky.
- Transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap (place the plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pumpkin cream so a film doesn't form). Chill for at least 1 hour!
Donuts
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine all of the dough ingredients (except the vegetable oil) and knead on medium low speed for about 5 minutes. The dough should come together in a cohesive ball that pulls away from the sides of the bowl but is still slightly sticky. If the dough does not come together, add in more flour 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
- Place the dough in a large, lightly greased bowl and cover. Place the dough in the fridge and chill overnight (8-12 hours).
- In the morning, remove the dough from the fridge and allow it to rise at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
- When the dough is finished rising, lightly punch it down and then turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a large rectangle about ½ inch thick.
- Using a 3 ½ inch round cookie cutter, cut the dough into 12 circles. If you don't quite get 12 you can re-roll the scraps and cut out more circles. If desired, you can then use the leftover scraps to make donut holes! Use a 1 inch or 1 ½ inch round cookie cutter to punch some donut holes out of the scraps. Lightly cover the donuts and let rest while the oil is heating.
- Pour 2-4 cups of vegetable oil (you want it to be about 2 inches deep) into a large, heavy bottomed pot or dutch oven and heat over medium high heat until the oil reached 375°F. Place a cooling rack on top of a baking sheet and position it next to your stove.
- While the oil is heating, whisk together the sugar and cinnamon and set aside.
- Once the oil reaches 375°F, fry 3-4 donuts at a time for 1 minute on each side. The donuts should be a deep golden brown. Remove from the oil and place on the cooling rack to allow excess oil to drain off. I always make 1 donut first and check to make sure it's cooked through!
- Repeat with the remaining donuts as well as the donut holes.
- While the donuts are still warm, toss them in the cinnamon sugar! Place back on the cooling rack and allow to mostly cool to room temperature before filling.
- Transfer the pumpkin cream filling to a piping bag fitted with a large bismark tip. Poke the bismark tip into the side of each donut and fill with the pumpkin custard! [It's easiest to make a hole in the side of the donut using a chopstick prior to filling.]
- These donuts are best eaten the same day while they're still slightly warm!
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Julie Rosenthal says
You had me at spice cream!