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Gluten-free donut holes rolled in cinnamon sugar, piled on a plate

Easy Gluten-Free Donut Holes

on Mar 22 2025
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    Warm, golden donut holes rolled in cinnamon sugar, and no yeast, no rising, and no rolling pin anywhere in sight. These gluten-free donut holes come together in one bowl with our Pancake & Baking Mix, a little pumpkin pie spice, and about twenty-five minutes start to finish. Drop the batter by the spoonful into hot oil and they puff up into tender little rounds with crisp edges. Store-bought donut holes are almost never gluten-free, so this is the batch you make at home and hand out warm. So good, no one will guess they are gluten-free, the way Pamela's has done it since 1988.

    Why you'll love them

    • No yeast, no rising, no rolling. It is a quick batter, not a dough
    • About 25 minutes from bowl to cinnamon sugar.
    • One bowl and five ingredients, built on our Pancake & Baking Mix.
    • Warm pumpkin pie spice in the batter, which makes them taste like a fall bakery.
    • Endlessly adaptable: cinnamon sugar, powdered sugar, apple cider, chocolate, or glazed.

    Where to buy gluten-free donut holes

    Gluten-free donut holes are genuinely hard to find. Most donut shops cannot offer them, Dunkin' Munchkins are not gluten-free, and the frozen boxed versions are limited and expensive. Making them at home takes about twenty-five minutes and one bag of Pamela's Pancake & Baking Mix, and they are better warm out of the pan than anything you can buy.

    Prep Time 10 minutes
    Cook Time 15 minutes
    Total Time about 25 minutes
    Yield about 24 donut holes
    Serving Size 3 donut holes

    Ingredients

    • 2 cups Pamela's Baking & Pancake Mix
    • 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
    • 3/4 cup buttermilk
    • 1/4 cup canola oil, for the batter
    • 1 egg
    • Canola or vegetable oil, for frying (about 2 inches deep)
    • Cinnamon sugar or powdered sugar, for rolling
    Shop Gluten-Free Pancake & Baking Mix, 4 lb.

    Directions

    In a heavy pan or deep fryer, heat about 2 inches of oil to 350°F.

    In a medium bowl, whisk together the Pancake & Baking Mix and pumpkin pie spice.

    In a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk, the 1/4 cup of oil, and the egg. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix well. The batter will be thick, like a drop biscuit dough.

    Drop the batter by the teaspoonful into the hot oil, using two spoons or a small cookie scoop for rounder holes. Do not crowd the pan. Fry 3 to 5 minutes, turning as needed, until they puff and turn golden brown all over.

    Drain on paper towels for a moment, then roll in cinnamon sugar or powdered sugar while still warm so it sticks. Best served warm.

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    Recipe Tips & Notes

    Fry a tester first. Donut holes can brown on the outside before the center is cooked. Fry one, break it open, and check. If the outside is dark before 3 minutes, your oil is too hot; if they soak up oil and stay pale, it is too cool.

    To keep them gluten-free: Pamela's Pancake & Baking Mix is GFCO-certified gluten-free, so these are real donut holes with no gluten. Fry in clean oil that has not been used for anything with gluten.

    Can you bake or air fry these?

    Baked is the most common question, and it works with a change of format: spoon the batter into a greased mini muffin tin and bake at 350°F for 10 to 12 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. They come out more like a spiced mini muffin than a fried donut hole, tender rather than crisp, but they are excellent and far less work. Brush them with melted butter and roll in cinnamon sugar so the coating sticks.

    The air fryer is trickier. This is a wet batter, so it drips straight through a basket and will not set the way it does in oil. If you want to use your air fryer, bake them in the mini muffin tin first and use the air fryer to warm leftovers back up, about 3 minutes at 350°F.

    Variations

    • Cinnamon sugar or powdered: the two classics. Cinnamon sugar while warm, powdered sugar once slightly cooled so it does not melt in.
    • Apple cider donut holes: replace the buttermilk with 3/4 cup apple cider and add a little extra cinnamon. Roll in cinnamon sugar for the fall bakery version.
    • Pumpkin: add 1/4 cup pumpkin puree and hold back a splash of the buttermilk so the batter stays thick.
    • Chocolate: replace 1/4 cup of the mix with cocoa powder and roll in powdered sugar.
    • Glazed: whisk 1 cup powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons milk and a splash of vanilla, then dip the warm holes.
    • Blueberry or banana: fold in 1/2 cup small blueberries or 1/3 cup mashed ripe banana, reducing the buttermilk slightly.
    • Dairy-free: use 3/4 cup non-dairy milk with 1 teaspoon vinegar or lemon juice in place of the buttermilk. Note the Pancake & Baking Mix itself contains buttermilk, so this makes the recipe lower in dairy, not dairy-free.

    Make ahead & storage

    • Donut holes are at their best within an hour or two of frying.
    • Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. Re-crisp in a 350°F oven or air fryer for about 3 minutes.
    • Freeze cooled, un-sugared donut holes for up to 2 months, then reheat and roll in sugar fresh.
    • The batter does not hold well, so mix it just before frying.

    Gluten-Free Pancake & Baking Mix, 4 lb.

    Featured Product

    $22.49

    View full details

    Size: 4 lbs

    Pack Size

    The same Pamela's Gluten-Free Pancake & Baking Mix families have trusted since 1988, in a 4 lb. bag that makes about 90 pancakes. GFCO-certified, made with cultured buttermilk and almond meal, with 8 grams of whole grains per serving and no added sugars.

    Built for pancake households

    If weekend pancakes are a tradition in your house, the 4 lb. bag keeps up. It covers months of breakfasts plus the muffins, biscuits, and banana bread in between, at a lower cost per serving than the 24 oz. bag.

    Never run out

    Add Subscribe & Save and your next bag arrives on your schedule with 10% off every order. Pause or cancel anytime.

    Brown Rice Flour, White Rice Flour, Cultured Buttermilk, Almond Meal, Tapioca Starch, Sweet Rice Flour, Potato Starch, Baking Powder (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Potato Starch, Sodium Bicarbonate), Baking Soda, Sea Salt, Xanthan Gum.

    Contains Milk and Almonds.

    Pamela's Products are manufactured in a Gluten-Free Certified Facility and peanut-free facility. Our products are produced on equipment that processes Tree Nuts, Coconut, Eggs, and Soy.

    We've Got Answers

    Standard donut holes are not, since they are made with wheat flour, and Dunkin' Munchkins are not gluten-free either. These homemade donut holes are, made with Pamela's GFCO-certified Pancake & Baking Mix.

    Yes, and this recipe has none. It is a quick batter leavened by the baking mix, so there is no rising, no kneading, and no rolling. Start to finish it is about 25 minutes.

    Yes. Spoon the batter into a greased mini muffin tin and bake at 350°F for 10 to 12 minutes. They turn out more like a tender spiced mini muffin than a crisp fried donut hole. Brush with melted butter before rolling in cinnamon sugar so it sticks.

    350°F to 360°F. Too hot and the outside browns before the center cooks; too cool and they soak up oil. Fry one as a tester and break it open before doing the rest.

    You can replace the buttermilk with non-dairy milk plus a teaspoon of vinegar, but the Pancake & Baking Mix itself contains buttermilk, so the recipe would be lower in dairy rather than fully dairy-free.

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