I was overdue for a new donut creation and seeing that my carrot cake bars were a big hit I thought, why not a delicious carrot cake donut? This recipe for Carrot Cake Donuts will not disappoint. You get all of the delicious flavor, without the unnecessary overload of calories and sugar. These delicious copycat donuts are just four Weight Watchers points each – so you may even have two of them!
By using freshly grated carrots, you’re adding in a ton of flavor and nutrients. These donuts are slightly sweet, and have an amazing cake-like texture (they aren’t fried donuts!), and the icing drizzle on top really finishes them off perfectly. They keep well, so you can make a few batches and store them in the freezer for when you need a quick sweet treat. They are as simple as mixing together the ingredients and baking, so the donuts don’t take long at all to whip up. Keep this recipe in your back pocket for when you need something fun to impress a few last minute guests. Let me tell you, these donuts went so fast, we all loved them!!
Three reasons why you need to make this recipe!
You can’t go wrong with a copycat recipe.
Dunkin Donuts created an amazing thing when they started offering these carrot cake donuts. Now, you can have them right at home, without any guilt over what you’re eating.
A donut for under 100 calories? Sign me up!
Seriously, these donuts are packed with flavor considering they’re only 91 calories! You’ll enjoy the full, comforting flavor of carrot cake but in donut form.
Carrot Cake Donuts are perfect for breakfast or a mid morning snack.
Whether you need a quick, sweet breakfast or a mid morning pick-me-up, you don’t have to worry about these donuts giving you a sugar crash. There’s only 7 grams of sugar per donut. In a real Dunkin Donuts donut, there can be over 13 grams of sugar.
Ingredients you need to make Carrot Cake Donuts:
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons white cake mix
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons liquid egg whites
- ⅓ cup skim milk
- ½ cup grated carrots
- 1 tablespoon light, softened cream cheese
- 1.5 tablespoons icing sugar/confectionery sugar
- 1 teaspoon butter
How to make Carrot Cake Donuts (step by step):
- Preheat the oven to 350F, and spray a regular sized 6 hole donut pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a bowl, mix the all purpose flour, cake mix, baking powder, and sugar together.
- Stir in the milk, egg whites, and vanilla extract.
- Fold in the grated carrots and mix well.
- Fill the donut pan with the batter and bake in the oven for approx 14 minutes. Let the donuts cool for 5 minutes.
- In a small bowl, mix the cream cheese, icing sugar, and butter until it’s nice and creamy. Spread the icing evenly onto the donuts. Enjoy!
Makes 6 donuts. Nutrition info for 1 donut: Calories 91, Fat 1 g, Saturated fat .77 g, Carbs 17 g, Fiber .67 g, Sugars 7.2 g, Sodium 71 mg, Protein 2 g.
WW Points
- All purpose flour 6 points
- White cake mix 5 points
- White sugar 4 points
- Baking powder 0 points
- Vanilla extract 0 points
- Liquid egg whites 0 points
- Skim milk 1 point
- Grated carrots 0 points
- Light softened cream cheese 1 point
- Icing sugar/confectionery sugar 2 points
- Butter 2 points
4 points per donut based on the WW app recipe creator.
If you’re using an older version of WW, check out these points below.
3 Points Plus
3 Smart Points on blue, green, and purple
Different ways to change up this recipe:
- Use Swerve icing sugar to lower the sugar content. It won’t affect the points much, but it will lower the sugar content. And you can use more than just a few tablespoons if you want, because it’s calorie free.
Tips and Tricks for Making Carrot Cake Donuts:
- You can use extra flour instead of cake mix, but the cake mix really gives them a fluffy, yummy texture/taste. I always keep a box of white cake mix in the cupboard for recipes just like this!
- Run your grated carrots through a food processor before adding them to the batter. The grated carrots bought in a store are often too thick and will make the donuts bake unevenly.
- Store any leftover donuts in the fridge for up to seven days.
- These donuts freeze really well if you store them in a ziploc bag first. It’ll keep them fresh for up to three months.
Similar recipes you’ll enjoy:
Carrot Cake Donuts
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup flour
- 3 Tbsp white cake mix, you can use extra flour instead, but the cake mix really finishes them off to have a fluffy yummy texture/taste, I always keep a box of white cake mix in the cupboard
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp liquid egg whites
- 1/3 cup skim milk
- 1/2 cup grated carrots, ran through the food processor
- 1 Tbsp light softened cream cheese
- 1.5 Tbsp icing sugar, confectionery sugar
- 1 tsp butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F, and spray a regular sized 6 hole donut pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a bowl, mix the all purpose flour, cake mix, baking powder, and sugar together.
- Stir in the milk, egg whites, and vanilla extract.
- Fold in the grated carrots and mix well.
- Fill the donut pan with the batter and bake in the oven for approx 14 minutes. Let the donuts cool for 5 minutes.
- In a small bowl, mix the cream cheese, icing sugar, and butter until it’s nice and creamy. Spread the icing evenly onto the donuts. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
OMG, I can’t wait to make these tonight! I might add some ginger or pumpkin pie spice to the mix. Yum!!!
Hope you enjoy them Gia 🙂
Would a muffin pan work?
Hi Lori, yes but they may not rise like a muffin recipe would
another fabulous drizzle recipe! even hubby loved it. calms the sweet tooth but I still wanna eat them all!!!! (Yes they are that good!) 😉 thanks drizzle!
So glad you both enjoy the donuts 🙂
How do your donut recipes do if you freeze them after baking? I would love to make a few batches and then freeze to have as a grab and go?
HI Sue, they should freeze fine, just the same a muffins 🙂 just ones with toppings you might want to leave the topping of..
Love the donut recipes but I’m wondering how you add the batter to the donut pan.
Hi Sandra, I just use a spoon, I know some pipe out of a bag but I find there is waste using that method and you need all the batter you can get 😉
if I use 1 % milk instead of skim would that change the point value?
Hi Mary, overall for each donut, no it should not change it
These are so good I don’t want Dunkin’ Donuts anymore!!! Thank you SO much. Trying. The chocolate ones next
So glad you enjoyed them Karen 🙂
I’m new to WW and these look yummy, since these were made back in 2016 before the new WW current program are they still 3 points. I’d put it in my recipe builder but don’t know how to add 3 Tbsps of cake mix. TIA
Hi yes points are the same, only recipes with the zero foods would of changed points
Do you have to use liquid egg whites? And what exactly ARE liquid egg whites, you mean like Egg Beaters?? Can’t you just use regular egg whites since they are zero points??
Hi Laurie, yes egg beaters, same thing or sure you can use the white of the egg, I made a lot of these recipes that call for egg whites before freestyle came out and eggs still had points, so if following blue or purple you can even use a whole egg
Would you be able to use spice cake mix, instead of white…would that change the points??
HI, yes that will work just fine and I think the points would stay the same, it is a small amount you are using anyway