Doughnut Muffins

I wouldn't really say that I am a morning person. No, I wouldn't really say that at all. I do, in fact, love my sleep and am not very fond of waking up. I don't like to be early anywhere, which means I try to wake at the very last second possible.

This is quite the opposite from my husband. He's bright eyed and bushy tailed early, early, early, weekday or weekend. He also lives by the mantra, "If you're on time, you're late, if you're early, you're on time." I hate this mantra. But it's good, I suppose. If you're into that sort of thing. Luckily, my kids take after Daddy in that regard and they hate being late anywhere. Good for them.

So, if you are a morning person like my husband, these Doughnut Muffins would be a delicious way to start your day. If you're not a morning person, like me, just do what I did. Make them around three in the afternoon and they'll serve as a great appetizer before dinner. Remember there aren't rules about when you can eat Doughnut Muffins so you decide. Regardless, they are scrumptious and mine were gone within 24 hours.

ps. This qualified for my pantry cooking! You probably have all the ingredients already.
pps. Kids love to help with the last step-shaking the bag of sugar and cinnamon!

Doughnut Muffins

borrowed from Evil Chef Mom who found it in Blue Ribbon Cookbook
makes 24 mini muffins (it made 36 for me, yay!)

muffins:

3 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup whole milk, at room temperature
2 tablespoons buttermilk, at room temperature **
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature

cinnamon sugar coating:

1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour 2 (12 cup) mini muffin tins.

In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and baking soda. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk and buttermilk. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until just combined. With the mixer set on low speed, beat in one fourth of the dry ingredients. Then beat in one third of the milk mixture. Continue to alternate until all ingredients are incorporated, finishing with dry ingredients. Do not over mix. The batter will be heavy, it's ok.

Fill the prepared muffin cups just to the rim with batter. Bake until lightly golden and firm to the touch, 15-20 minutes. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove the muffins from the tin and transfer to a wire rack set over a baking sheet.

To coat the muffins: Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a paper bag. Brush each muffin generously with melted butter. Then place a few muffins in the bag with the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Shake well to coat the muffins. Repeat. 

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Jelly Doughnut Muffins: Allow muffins to cool and use a small pastry tip to make a hole in the bottom of each muffin. Fill the pastry bag with your favorite jam, jelly, or citrus curd, and squeeze into the muffin.

**If you don’t feel like buying buttermilk, you can make your own. One quick way is to add one tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to one cup of milk and let it sit, about 5-10 minutes – or 1 ¾ teaspoon cream of tartar plus 1 cup of milk. Very easy and inexpensive! Courtesy of Food Lover's Companion.