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A pile of sugar coated donut bites on a small white plate, with bowl of more pumpkin spice sugar in the background.

4 Ingredient Pumpkin Spice Donut Holes


  • Author: Kate Alexandra
  • Total Time: 18 minutes
  • Yield: 16 donut holes 1x
  • Diet: Vegetarian

Description

Who knew you could make donuts with just 4 ingredients in less than 30 minutes? These pumpkin spice donut holes are the ultimate sweet treat. Just mix your flour and yogurt dough, roll into balls, fry, and then toss through a very delicious pumpkin spice brown sugar mix.

Remember, if you’re after cup measurements, just use the ‘Units’ section below and click on ‘US’.


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 300g self raising flour (or use plain flour and add 2 teaspoons of baking powder)
  • 280g Greek yogurt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup pumpkin spice (or make your own using 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 1 teaspoon ground cardamom, 1 teaspoon all spice, 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves and 1/4 teaspoon salt)
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • Oil for frying (rapeseed/sunflower/vegetable oil is best – you’ll need enough to fill a deep pot about 1/3 of the way up)

Instructions

  1. Mix the dough. Add your Greek yogurt, self-raising flour and 1 teaspoon of salt to a large mixing bowl. Stir to combine with a large wooden spoon or spatula until little floury lumps form. At this point, get your hands into the bowl to press the lumps of yogurt into the flour and bring it together into a rough dough. 
  2. Shape the donut holes. Transfer the dough onto a clean, lightly floured surface. Flatten the dough out into a rough rectangle, about 20cm long. Slice the dough into 4 long strips, then each strip in 4 to get 16 small pieces. They should be about the size of a golf ball. Form the pieces into little balls, then set them aside on a plate or tray. Cover with a clean tea towel while you heat the oil and mix the pumpkin spice brown sugar. 
  3. Mix the pumpkin spice brown sugar. Add the pumpkin spice mix (or the individual spices if you’re making it yourself), brown sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of salt into a large bowl (you want one large enough to fit your donut holes in to toss them through the sugar). Mix to combine then set aside.
  4. Heat the oil. Set a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, and fill the pot about 1/3 of the way up with your vegetable oil. Let it heat to 180C (356F) – use a thermometer if you have one to keep things really accurate, or you can use the wooden spoon test. For that, put the handle of a wooden spoon upright into the oil. If you see little bubbles start the form around it, your oil is good to go.  
  5. Fry your donut holes. Once your oil is at the right temperature, prepare a wire rack over an oven tray or dish for the donuts to cool slightly and drain on. Then, carefully lower half of your donut holes into the oil (the amount will depend on the size of your pot – you want them to have a little room to move around, so don’t crowd the pot). Move them around with a spatula or slotted spoon through the oil, so they don’t stick to the bottom and so that they brown evenly. Fry them for 4 minutes, then carefully remove them onto the prepared wire rack. Let the donuts cool for about 1 minute, then transfer them to the pumpkin spice sugar bowl and give them a good toss through (I find it’s easiest to literally shake the bowl so that they roll around and get covered evenly). Repeat with the rest of the donut holes. 
  6. Serve the donut holes. Enjoy the donuts while warm – they’re DELICIOUS served with a little dollop of the ginger cream cheese icing from my pumpkin spice cinnamon rolls recipe.

Notes

STORAGE INSTRUCTIONS: The donut holes are best served right after frying, but they’ll be fine for a couple of days stored in an airtight container at room temperature. To freshen them up, give them a little blast in the microwave for 15 seconds before serving.

INGREDIENT NOTES: You want to use a thick Greek or Greek-style yogurt in this recipe – though fat-free is fine. Plain, natural yogurt is too runny for this dough – you’ll end up having to add a lot more flour to form your dough which will mean dense, doughy donuts. You can also use sour cream. If you don’t have brown sugar, just use regular white sugar, or caster sugar.

HAVE AN AIR FRYER? Rather than deep-frying, brush them with a little oil, then pop them in an air fryer at 190C/375F for about 8 minutes, until they’re golden.

  • Prep Time: 10
  • Cook Time: 8
  • Category: snacks
  • Method: deep frying
  • Cuisine: american

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 3 donut holes

Keywords: donut holes, pumpkin spice donuts