Baked Carrot Cake Donuts

5 from 2 votes

These baked carrot cake donuts are moist, flavorful, and topped with an easy-to-make cream cheese frosting. The batter comes together in minutes and tastes like a slice of classic carrot cake in donut form when baked.

Prep Time8

Cook Time20

Total Time28

Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Servings: medium-sized donuts

Author: Lily Payen

Equipment

Silicone Donut Mold

Ingredients

Carrot Cake Donuts

⅔ cup cooked, sliced carrots ½ cup when mashed
⅓ cup milk
1 egg
3 tbsp mild tasting oil ex: avocado oil, coconut oil (at room temperature), etc.
¼ cup maple syrup
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground nutmeg

Optional Cream Cheese Frosting

4 oz cream cheese
2 tbsp maple syrup
¼ tsp vanilla extract

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
Add the carrots to a medium bowl and use a fork to mash them down into a puree. You should end up with about ½ cup of mashed carrots. It's ok if there are a few small chunks left, but try to mash them down as much as you can so that there aren't any large chunks in the baked donuts.
Add the milk, egg, oil, and maple syrup to the same bowl and mix until smooth.
To the same bowl, add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and mix until just combined. The batter will be a little lumpy and that is normal.
Place about 3 tablespoons of batter into the molds of a silicone donut pan. If you are not using a silicone donut pan, spray the mini donut pan well before pouring in the batter. Do not overfill the donut molds as the donuts will rise while baking.
Bake the donuts for 20 minutes and let them cool completely before removing them from the pan.
For an optional cream cheese frosting, heat up cream cheese in the microwave for about 15 seconds (or until softened) and mix it together with the maple syrup and vanilla until smooth. Once cooled, dip the donuts until the cream cheese frosting and top with sprinkles or cinnamon if desired.

Notes

This recipe makes 9 medium-sized donuts using this silicone donut pan. If you are using a different donut pan, be sure not to overfill the molds as they will rise during baking.

Use canned cooked carrots to make the process quicker! Canned foods are sometimes given a bad rep, but they're just as nutritious as fresh! Canned foods are oftentimes canned at peak freshness and canned carrots work great for these donuts.

Let the donuts cool completely in the pan before removing and frosting them. If you try to remove them while hot, they may break apart easily.

Top the donuts with these festive sprinkles for a fun touch!

Nutrition