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These MINI DONUT MUFINS are the ultimate breakfast treat! We dunk the tops of these donut muffins in melted butter and then dip them in a mixture of cinnamon sugar for a buttery, sweet crust on top.
I have a confession to make. Before I do, please promise me that you won’t shun me. Are you ready?
My children eat cold cereal for breakfast almost every morning. And they aren’t eating the healthy shredded wheat stuff either.
They eat the cereal that is basically dessert. And, while I want to be ashamed of it, I just don’t really have the bandwidth for that. They eat healthier the rest of the day, so it’s fiiiiiiiine. Right?
Of course, other days they get surprised with things like homemade biscuits and sausage gravy. Or I whip up my Belgian waffle recipe. Or we do my Amish breakfast casserole.
But, of course, sometimes we want donuts…and not just any donuts!
Donut Muffins – the kind that you dip in melted butter, roll in cinnamon sugar, and devour with a cup of hot coffee.
We’re obsessed with these little donut muffins and I think you will be too!
What We Love About This Recipe:
These little donut muffins bake up quickly and only take about 25 minutes from start to finish. They remind us of donuts with that crackly cinnamon sugar topping, but they’re baked instead of fried.
Ingredient Notes:
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Vanilla Extract – A must in any baked goods. We love this brand.
Nutmeg – The nutmeg gives these a warm, delicious flavor.
What Readers are Saying!
“Made these this morning for the family, and the were great. They all loved them. The tasted almost like snicker-doodles, so that was a major plus also. Thanks for the amazing recipe! ^_^” – Sara
How to Make Muffins:
Muffin Batter: This cinnamon sugar donut muffin batter is simple to make and you probably have most, if not all, of the ingredients at home! First up we’ll need to do some mixing. In a large bowl beat together the milk, sugar, egg, and oil.
In a separate bowl start mix the dry ingredients; some flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.
Combine those with the wet ingredients and mix until smooth.
Bake: When you’ve prepared the donut muffin batter you can start pouring it into a greased mini muffin tin. There should be enough batter for 24 mini muffins, and you’ll only need to fill each tin about 3/4 of the way full.
Mini Muffin Tin
This mini muffin tin gets a workout in our kitchen. It’s perfect for making smaller sized muffins, but we also use it make homemade tots and baked quiche bites.
They’ll rise in the oven and should be finished in about fifteen minutes. Once they’ve finished baking let them cool for a few minutes before you move on to the final (and my favorite!) step.
Dunk: These muffins are good as they are right out of the oven, but we’re going to make them even better!
Once the muffins have cooled enough to handle, melt some butter in the microwave and then mix together some cinnamon and sugar in a separate bowl.
This will make the perfect topping for the muffins! Start dunking each muffin top into the melted butter, and then into the cinnamon and sugar mix. Finally, they are ready to eat!
Why Do We Call These Donut Muffins?
The richness of the butter and the crackle of the cinnamon and sugar topping gives these that deep fried cake donut vibe. These are the best mash-up between muffins and donuts!
FAQs:
Nope, you can use a regular sized muffin tin, though you’ll need to adjust bake time accordingly. These should take closer to 20-25 minutes in a full size muffin tin.
I’ve not tested it myself but these should work well with any 1:1 gluten free flour blend.
Sure! They will keep best in an airtight container for a few days. Place a paper towel in the bottom of the container. Add your muffins. Place a second paper towel over the top. This will help keep them from getting too soggy in the container.
More Breakfast Recipes:
More Muffin Recipes!
We love muffins for breakfast or just as a snack or treat any time of the day! Check out the muffin recipe category to find all of our muffin recipes. Below are a few of our favorites:
- Applesauce Donut Muffins
- Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Muffins
- Monkey Bread Muffins with Icing
- Blackberry Muffins with Streusel Topping
- Pigs in a Blanket Pancake Muffins
Sugar Donut Muffins
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup milk
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 cup melted butter for dipping
- 1/2 cup sugar for rolling
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon for rolling
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and grease mini muffin tin with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl beat together milk, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg until well combined.
- In small bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir to combine.
- Pour into muffin tins, filling each about 3/4 full.
- Bake for about 15 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
- Melt the butter in a small bowl in the microwave.
- Stir together sugar and cinnamon in another small bowl.
- When the muffins are done allow to cool for a few minutes, until you are able to handle them easily.
- Dunk the tops of each muffin into the melted butter and then the cinnamon sugar. Set aside to cool.
Serena says
Making these tomorrow! I’m going to use coriander instead of nutmeg since that’s the classical donut taste imo. (And I don’t particularly like nutmeg.) And regular size muffin pans because I don’t have a mini but boy, the mini muffins look so cute that I now need a mini muffin pan!
Secret Mom Thoughts says
I’ve dreamed about these. Yummy.
Dina says
this is a great idea! i love doughnuts.
Laura says
I just made these for breakfast and OH MY GOD, they are the BEST muffins I’ve ever had in my life. I made regular muffin sized, and they were perfect at fifteen minutes exactly. You are the current #1 hero in my (picky picky) household! Next time I might try subbing applesauce for the vegetable oil. Thanks for posting this! Now I’m going to dig through all of your archives and see what else I can add to my thighs…
melissa says
my kids eat all those unhealthy cereals too!! AND bacon! AND instant oatmeal. yay, i’m so glad i’m not the only horrible mother!!
btw…trying these muffins this morning!! they look droolingly delish and my kids would love them!
the Provident Woman says
Those look so good!
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Bunny says
Fruity Pebbles, Cocoa Krispies, yeah that’s what our kids eat for breakfast!!! LOL!! I’ve made these babies, I know how good they are!!!
Hannah says
Wow, those look delicious!
Denise says
I made a batch of these yesterday and my boys ate them all so I made another batch this morning. Needless to say, these are a hit around here. Thanks for sharing this yummy recipe!
Gala says
You’ve got some amazing pictures on your blog! Love the donuts.
diva says
oh these are adorable and a perfect combination of 2 of my favourite sweets. yum yum. the rounded tops are real cute too.
Lori says
I love muffins, and I love donuts! I will definitely try these out. They sound wonderful. A person can never, ever have too many muffin recipes.
CatHerder says
omg…i used to make these in highschool cooking class, only the teacher called them “french breakfast puffs”…..i had forgotton how good they are…i looked up my old recipe in the file when i saw this and it is the same….I havent thought of them in years…im DEFINATELY going to make them!
Nikki says
I just read this recipe with my mouth hanging open. I’ve never done that before, so I thought I’d share.
Leslie says
soooo yummy. I am going to have to make these