Pumpkin Pie Donut Holes (Paleo & AIP)
These pumpkin pie donut holes are the easiest paleo and AIP treat for fall! They taste just like the real thing, but are made with healthier ingredients.
Pumpkin Pie Donut Holes
Remember donut holes? If you have food intolerances it may feel like an eternity since you last had them. I never thought I would be able to have donut holes that taste like the real deal again, and you may feel the same way, but these will change your mind!
These pumpkin pie donut holes are the ultimate donut hole if you’re grain-free, egg-free, and dairy-free, complete with a coconut-based glaze.
The Ingredients for Pumpkin Pie Donut Holes
- Tigernut Flour. I really love baking with tigernut flour because it’s a grain free, nut-free way to get really great baked goods. Tigernuts are a tuber, not a nut, and they taste great in these donut holes.
- Coconut Flour. This helps to offset the moisture from the pumpkin. I haven’t tried subbing this out.
- Tapioca Starch. These help bind and make the donut holes more “doughy”. You can sub arrowroot in it’s place, and possibly even cassava flour.
- Maple Syrup. Gotta sweeten donuts! You can also sub honey.
- Palm Shortening. Palm shortening makes this super cake-y! I typically work with coconut oil, but I love the texture that palm shortening gives these donut holes.
- Pumpkin Puree & Cinnamon. These ingredients give it the pumpkin pie element.
- Gelatin. Gelatin helps to bind the donut holes, however, you can add it in without blooming it like a gelatin egg for this recipe. Just scoop it in dry 🙂
- Coconut Butter. Also known as coconut mana or coconut cream concentrate. This acts as a glaze over top the donut holes. You can leave this out if you don’t have any on hand.
How to make Pumpkin Pie Donut Holes
- Sift together the flours.
- Cream together the palm shortening and maple syrup.
- Combine the palm shortening, maple syrup, and flours.
- Mix the rest of the ingredients. Add in the pumpkin, dry gelatin, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda.
- Roll the dough into donut holes. Place on the parchment paper.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack to lightly cool.
- Make the glaze. Combine the ingredients for a glaze in a bowl and spoon over the donut holes.
Can you swap out different flours in this recipe?
I’ve found that this specific flour blend works best, and I wouldn’t swap out any of the flours in this recipe. The only swap that could work 1:1 here is arrowroot starch instead of tapioca starch!
Can you make this recipe ahead of time?
This recipe is definitely best fresh, but you can store them in the fridge for 1-2 days.
Can you make this recipe without the palm shortening?
I find that the palm shortening gives this recipe a cakey crumb. I haven’t tried it with alternatives like coconut oil.
You’ll also love…
Just look at that yummy, cake-y texture! So, so good! Here’s how you make them…
Pumpkin Pie Donut Holes (Paleo & AIP)
Want to save this for later?
Just drop your name and email below. Then we’ll email right to your inbox. ✉️
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup tigernut flour
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- ¼ cup tapioca starch
- ¼ cup palm shortening
- ¼ cup pumpkin puree
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 tbsp gelatin
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp salt
- FOR THE GLAZE, optional
- 2 tbsp coconut butter, melted
- 1 tsp coconut sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Sift together the flours and set aside in a separate bowl. Cream together the palm shortening and maple syrup until thoroughly combined.
- Combine the palm shortening, maple syrup, and flours and stir. Then add in the pumpkin, dry gelatin, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda and mix to combine.
- Roll the dough into donut holes (you'll have 6-7) and place on the parchment paper, evenly spaced. Bake for 15 minutes or until baked through and lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack to lightly cool.
- Combine the ingredients for a glaze in a bowl and spoon over the donut holes.
Notes
This post appeared on Unbound Wellness in 2017 and was updated in 2021.
Recipe by Michelle, Unbound Wellness. Photos by Eat Love Eats
These turned out perfectly. I’m so thankful for your site. I’ve been able to make a few of your recipes and they’ve been excellent, which is such a relief, not to mention a time and money saver.
So glad they turned out well!!
Hi, where did you find the tigernut flour?
So thankful I found this recipe! AIP is no joke and these were a blessing in the midst of cutting out so many foods! I didn’t know what to expect with tigernut flour and I ended up using coconut oil instead of palm shortening , and they turned out better than I imagined! My husband and our 7 year old loves them, especially warm out of the oven!
I’ve made this recipe twice and followed it to the letter. Both times they came out more flattened. Any reason why this could be happening? I’d really prefer them to be round like donut holes.
Absolutely delicious even after subbing Almond Flour for Tigernut, and Coconut Oil for Palm Shortening. I added a tablespoon more of all flours since I knew I was using liquid coconut oil. I did use an immersion blender to mix the liquid coconut oil and maple syrup, which seemed to thicken it up very well! Then dipped one side of the raw dough balls into coconut sugar. Nothing more needed!
Just made these and they taste delicious, but I must have done something wrong because they did not keep their shape and turned out more like cookies than donut holes. I followed the recipe to the letter and did not substitute anything. I wonder if I made them too large even though it yielded seven? Any suggestions?
OH MY GOODNESS these are DELICIOUS! And so easy!! Next time I’m making a triple batch, haha. We ate them all up the same day.
So good. I don’t know why I’m just now trying these. They would be great to make a double batch to share with family before thanksgiving dinner or friends at brunch.
Thanks so much, Sara!
Love these! Such a treat on AIP. Easy and fun to make, too. Thanks so much! I make these probably bi-monthly!
These are soooo good!! And they were really easy to make!!
Thank you so much, Shalayne!!
These are delicious! I only used one TBS of maple syrup and no glaze because I’m trying to consume very little sugar. They are still so yummy, especially warmed up with some ghee! Perfect healthy Fall treat!
Yummity Yum Yum — i gave these a whirl and they will get the honor of being placed in my top five baked AIP goodies list!!! I might have whipped a little too much as they came out light and fluffy (not necessarily a bad thing) and not as donutty as I thought they would be. Also, I subbed maple butter from my last Trader Joe trip for the coconut butter. Just in time for fall pumpkin season. I brought out the last batch of frozen pumpkin from last years storage. I’ll just have to make five more batches to use it all up! It defiantly won’t be wasted but I might make myself from eating too many. My little batch made 30!!! Not sure how this happened since the recipe said 6-7. I’m not complaining!
Thank you!!
I can’t get my coconut butter to melt. It’s either solid or burnt…is their a secret?
Using a homemade double boiler method is my favorite way to melt coconut butter 🙂
Made these tonight. I substituted cassava for the tigernut because that’s what I had on hand and it turned out great! My husband said you can’t tell the difference from a normal bakery food and these. Thanks for the recipe!
YAY! So happy you liked it, Julie!! 🙂
Wow. These are A.MA.ZING! I’m relatively new to AIP but I seriously miss baked goods. I’ve tried so many recipes, only to have them come out gritty, flat, too moist, or with NO flavor. These were none of the above. So soft, so flavorful, so yummy. The palm oil really does make all the difference. So glad I happened upon this recipe and decided to give it one more try. Thank you for making this recipe real!
Thank you SO much Meagen! I’m so happy you enjoyed them! The palm shortening really does make a huge difference 🙂