The Only 2 Ingredients You Need For Pumpkin Donuts, According To Joy Bauer

Forget apple cider donuts. Your attention should instead be on the tastier alternative: pumpkin donuts. These plush rings of wonder are filled with all that tasty, autumnal flavor you're craving. And, lucky for you, they couldn't be any easier to whip up at home. 

Joy Bauer, an author and Registered Dietician, shared a video on her Instagram account, describing how to make pumpkin donut holes at home with just two ingredients: a box of yellow cake mix and 1 cup of canned pumpkin puree, plus a cup of water. After the mixture reaches a thick cake batter consistency, she pours the batter into a donut hole pan and bakes it. Then once the donuts are removed from the tray, she shows how they can be covered in a cinnamon and sugar mixture and served. 

"Yep, it's that easy — and so GOURDgeous," Bauer says. The resulting donut holes are perfectly rich, soft, and ready for fall. 

While Joy Bauer makes these mini donuts in a donut hole pan, there's no reason why you can't swap it out for a donut pan or muffin pan. Regardless of the size and type of vessel you use to cook these donuts in, though, you should always make sure that it is well-greased with cooking spray beforehand to prevent the batter from sticking. 

Another way to customize these donuts is to swap out the cake base with another flavor. Bauer uses vanilla cake mix in her recipe, but if you want more flavor in your donuts, use a spice cake mix instead. The warming spices, like cinnamon and cloves, will already be in the cake batter, which will up the autumnal ante on these treats. Moreover, you could add a glaze to your donuts once they're fully cooled. Try a simple vanilla glaze with powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract, or swap out the vanilla with a few drops of almond extract for an even nuttier flavor.