Carrot Cake Donuts
These baked Carrot Cake Donuts feature a tender and delicious donut topped with a creamy brown sugar + cream cheese frosting. These donuts are perfect for Easter!
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Why should dessert get to have all the fun when it comes to carrot cake? I mean I love a good slice of carrot cake – 2 layers of flavorful cake topped with cream cheese frosting. Delicious! But breakfast should get to have some fun, too. And that’s where these Carrot Cake Donuts come in. (In truth, we ate these donuts for dessert…but they could be served for breakfast or dessert.)
These Carrot Cake Donuts are baked, not fried. We’ve been known to fry donuts and donut holes around here on occasion, but let’s be honest – baked donuts are so much easier to make than their fried cousins. These baked Carrot Cake Donuts feature a spiced carrot cake batter topped with a creamy brown sugar cream cheese frosting. Sprinkle a few toasted walnuts on top as garnish, and you’ve got one heck of a good breakfast treat…or dessert!
Carrot Cake Donuts
I always associate carrot cake with Easter, and these baked carrot cake doughnuts would be a great recipe for Easter brunch. However, the brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg flavors in these donuts makes this a fitting recipe for fall, too. No matter the time of year, these donuts are going to be a hit!
Just like traditional carrot cakes, these donuts are oil-based and also include a generous amount of shredded carrots. The result is a moist and flavorful donut that could be eaten by itself. My son isn’t a fan of cream cheese frosting, and I left a couple of these donuts unfrosted for him. Needless to say, they didn’t last long! If you do like cream cheese frosting, then the creamy brown sugar cream cheese frosting on these donuts is a MUST! I could eat this frosting by the spoonful.
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour. When measuring flour, always fluff up the flour in the bag a bit and then spoon it into a measuring cup. Use the back of a table knife to scrape off any excess flour.
- Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ginger, Vanilla Extract. These spices add a ton of classic carrot cake flavor to the doughnuts!
- Vegetable Oil, Milk. Oil is traditionally used in carrot cake batter to create a moist and tender baked good. Milk also contributes to the sift and tender crumb of these donuts once they are baked.
- Brown Sugar. I recommend using brown sugar in carrot cake as it provides an extra depth of flavor compared to granulated sugar. The flavor of brown sugar also pairs well with cinnamon, nutmeg and other baking spices.
- Grated Carrots, Raisins, Chopped Walnuts. When grating carrots, I recommend using a box grater. While it might be tempting, don’t use the pre-shredded carrots from the store. Spend the extra few minutes to peel and grate the carrots at home. The raisins and walnuts are optional additions, but I highly recommend them for flavor and texture.
- Cream Cheese, Butter, Confectioner’s Sugar, Milk. The basic ingredients to create a luscious cream cheese frosting.
- Brown Sugar, Vanilla Extract, Cinnamon. A tiny bit of each of these adds a wonderful depth of flavor to the creamy frosting.
What if I don’t have a donut pan?
This Carrot Cake Donuts recipe calls for the donuts to be baked in a donut pan. If you don’t have a donut pan, you could always order one on Amazon – there are lots of great baked donut recipes out there! Another option would be to use a muffin tin instead. If you make 6 muffins, the baking time should be similar, but the muffin version might take an extra couple of minutes. I recommend just grabbing the donut pan!
How to Store Leftovers
Leftovers should be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days. The unfrosted donuts can be frozen, too – just place them in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 4 months. If you freeze the donuts, I recommend just adding the frosting later.
This is seriously the best carrot cake donuts recipe ever! I was tempted to eat all of these doughnuts as soon as they were frosted, but I somehow managed to restrain myself. Of course, a little nibble is totally acceptable – Happy Baking!
Did you bake this Carrot Cake Donuts recipe at home? Leave a comment, or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog) – I’d love to see your version!
Carrot Cake Donuts
Ingredients
For the Carrot Cake Donuts
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 3 Tbsp milk
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¾ cup grated carrots ~2 medium carrots
- ¼ cup golden raisins
- ½ cup walnuts chopped, can substitute pecans
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 oz. cream cheese room temperature
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 Tbsp light brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
- 1-1½ Tbsp milk
- {garnish} ½ cup walnuts chopped and toasted, can substitute pecans
Instructions
For the Carrot Cake Donuts
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Spray a 6-cup donut pan with nonstick baking spray; set pan aside.
- Using a large bowl, add the dry ingredients (flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, ginger, salt and nutmeg); stir until well combined.
- Using a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients (vegetable oil, milk, egg and vanilla extract).
- Fold the carrots, raisins and walnuts into the liquid mixture.
- Pour the liquid mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients; gently mix until well combined. (Note: The batter will be thick.)
- Spoon or pipe the donut batter into the greased donut pan.
- Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into one of the donuts comes out mostly clean.
- Let donuts cool in pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- Using a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth.
- Add brown sugar, vanilla and cinnamon; mix until smooth.
- Add the powdered sugar; mix until smooth.
- Add milk until frosting loosens enough to be able to spread (Note: frosting should still be thick).
- Garnish with toasted chopped walnuts.
Looking for more carrot cake recipes? Check out these other favorites, too:
I need to try this soon for me BTW cant wait to make your recipes soon for me
I hope you enjoy these donuts, Ramya!
YUMMO! I have a question for ya….no one in my house likes raisins- what do you think of using Craisins? Gonna try it out this weekend! Thanks for another great recipe! Hope y’all are well!
Hey Marla! I think Craisins would be a perfectly fun substitution here. In fact, they might be better than raisins. 🙂 Lemme know how these turn out if you make a batch!
Love that you’re on a donut streak, David! These carrot cake donuts look so fluffy and delish!
Haha – yeah, I realized that I had back-to-back donut posts. What can I say? Sometimes you just need donuts!
Carrot cake for breakfast? Genius! These donuts look absolutely irresistible, love that they’re baked (less mess, more snackability) and that brown sugar cream cheese frosting sounds like a dream.
The brown sugar cream cheese frosting that I used here is fantastic…it’s one of my go-to’s whenever I need a cream cheese frosting!
Oh David I am putting on weight just looking at your doughnut recipes this week! :=) This sounds marvellous!
sherry
Haha! Good think photos don’t add calories, right?? Thanks, Sherry!
I haven’t made real yeist donuts for ages because baked donuts are such an easy recipe (although they couldn’t really beat an old-fashioned fried doughnut, right?) Making a carrot cake donut sounds like a fun and healthier treat (well, as long as you don’t check the calorie information haha), and they’d be perfect around Easter. I’d also add some cardamom as it goes so well with carrots.
It’s really hard to beat the classic version of anything! While frying is a bit of a pain, sometimes you just need a classic yeasted donut. But other times you just need something easier…and that’s where baked donuts come in. This carrot cake version is perfect for this time of year! And I agree with you on the cardamom, too.
Thank you for showing me where to get a donut pan. That is a must for baking up these divine masterpieces that you’ve created. Also, that hint of cinnamon makes your lovely frosting simply divine!
That cinnamon frosting is to die for, Heidi – give it a try!!
I agree – breakfast should have some carrot cake fun too! And what a fun and unique way to enjoy carrot cake 4 breakfast! Love that these donuts are baked. I salute you on your restraint, David, I know I could and would do some serious damage to a batch of these!
Honestly, every meal deserves carrot cake, right?? These donuts are (were) absolutely delicious. I could definitely go for one right now with my next cup of coffee. Haha!
You don’t have to convince me to have a doughnut for breakfast! I love carrot cake and I love cream cheese frosting just about as much! So these sound perfect. I don’t have a doughnut baking pan, but I’d definitely try these out as muffins. Although I am tempted to get one of those pans!
Good idea about trying these as muffins – I’m sure they will work. But if you add a frosting to a muffin, does that make it a cupcake? Things to ponder when you’re not pondering other stuff. 🙂 In the meantime, just order a baked donut pan!