These cinnamon sugar donut muffins are an easy treat to make with ingredients you most likely have to hand. The muffins are reminiscent of a favourite donut shop treat, the cinnamon sugar cake donut. Even better, they come together in a matter of moments, yet taste as though you have spent hours in the kitchen. They are light and fluffy with a moist crumb, thanks to the addition of oil. Once baked, the muffins are dipped in butter and tumbled around in cinnamon sugar to create a sweet buttery coating. The sugar sticks deliciously to your fingers and just begs to be licked off at the end of your last bite.
I have adapted this recipe from Nigella Lawson’s recipe for Jam-Doughnut Muffins, from her famed book How to be a Domestic Goddess. You will, indeed, feel like a domestic goddess as you spend a few minutes rustling up these muffins. Both as a treat for your family or as a solo adventure, these muffins are worth it!
Julianne’s Notes
Why oil over butter?
The preferred fat in these muffins is vegetable oil. Adding oil to muffins and cakes helps to keep them moist. You could swap in butter for the oil, with the addition of a bit more milk; however, you will find the muffins to be drier in texture. They also will only really stay fresh for one day. I encourage you to give the oil a try here.
Which oil should I choose for baking?
When baking with oil, you will want to choose one with a neutral flavour so you don’t overpower your other flavours. Good options are canola oil and vegetable oil. Coconut oil can also be used successfully in some bakes if the other flavours lend themselves well to a hint of coconut.
What is vanilla extract?
Vanilla extract is used in many baked goods to enhance the flavours of the other ingredients. Typically, the extract is made by macerating vanilla bean pods in a mixture of alcohol and water. I recommend using pure vanilla extract over artificial extract as the former has a much deeper flavour with less of an alcohol taste. The enhanced flavour that comes from using pure vanilla extract is worth it. I also like to use vanilla bean paste in my bakes. The flavour is not unlike pure vanilla extract and it leaves tiny specks of vanilla beans in the batter. Very pretty! You can usually find vanilla bean paste in most grocers.
Troubleshoot
Why are my muffins dry and hard?
Put the spoon down! The more you stir and mix a muffin batter, the more the gluten will develop which makes your muffins dry and hard. I know it feels wrong to leave lumpy bits of flour in your batter, but trust me, this is exactly what you want for a muffin batter. Stir only until all of the ingredients just come together. No less, no more.
Storage
These cinnamon sugar muffins are best if eaten warm on the day they are made. They will keep for up to 3 days in an airtight container, but they probably won’t last that long!
Head over to my Books page to read my recommendation of How to Be A Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Food.
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Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins
Ingredients
- ½ cup milk
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil, (see notes)
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract, (see notes)
- 1 ⅔ cups self-rising flour
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup granulated sugar, for rolling
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F/180C.
- Liberally grease a muffin tin. Since this recipe makes 9 muffins, I only grease 9 of the holes in my tin. I like to use a canola oil cooking spray to grease my tins, but you can use regular oil or butter – whatever works best for you.
- Add the milk, vegetable oil, egg, and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl. Give everything a vigorous whisk with a fork.
- In a separate bowl, measure out the flour, cinnamon, cardamom, and sugar. Loosely stir all of the ingredients together.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and, this is the important bit, stir with a wooden spoon only until the ingredients are just incorporated together. When you look at your batter, you should still see many lumpy bits of flour. This is exactly how you want it to look at this stage. Over mixing now will cause your muffins to be dry and hard.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin, filling the holes almost full. They will rise somewhat, but you don’t have to worry about them overflowing the tin.
- Bake on middle rack of oven for 20 minutes. Once baked, the muffins will be slightly golden on the bottom and sides.
- While you let the muffins cool for a few minutes, get on with melting the butter in a heatproof bowl in the microwave. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t colour or burn. In a wide bowl, tip in some sugar and cinnamon and mix together.
- After the muffins have cooled for 10 minutes or so, remove them from the muffin tin and one by one, dunk them into the liquid butter and then directly into the cinnamon sugar. You want to make sure that the muffins are coated on all sides. Once the muffins are coated with the cinnamon sugar goodness, then tuck in!
Adapted from: Jam Doughnut Muffins, How to be a Domestic Goddess, Nigella Lawson (1998)
[…] Looking for other quick muffin recipes? You might like my oatmeal chocolate chip muffins or cinnamon sugar donut muffins! […]