Pass the Plate

I came across this recipe while I was desperately searching for a good spice muffin recipe. All the ones I found were weak and unimpressive, so I tried finding a recipe that used really different ingredients instead. The result was not at all what I was looking for, but great nonetheless.

I call these “cinnamon doughnut muffins” because they have a more dense texture than regular muffins, and in combination with the cinnamon and sugar topping, they remind me of good old-fashioned doughnuts.

Aside from the fact that they taste awesome, I really love these because they’re easy to make and you just about always have everything you need on hand to make them.

Ingredients

• Flour 625 ml 2 ½ cups
• Baking powder 10 ml 2 tsp
• Salt 5 ml 1 tsp
• Nutmeg 1 ml ¼ tsp
• Cinnamon 5 ml 1 tsp
• Butter, at room temperature 225 g 1 cup
• Granulated white sugar 375 ml 1 ½ cups
• Eggs, beaten 2
• Milk 250 ml 1 cup

(for the topping)

• Granulated white sugar 65 ml ¼ cup
• Cinnamon 5 ml 1 tsp
• A bit of water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C.
2. Line your muffin molds with papers or use silicone molds. These muffin stick a lot and no amount of greasing the molds really helps.
3. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and spices.
4. In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
5. Add the eggs to the sugar mixture.
6. Add half the sugar mixture and half the milk alternatively to the dry ingredients and stir until well combined. Don’t over-mix it though, a lumpy batter is good.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out with no more than a few crumbs on it.
8. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon for the topping.
9. Quickly dip the top of a muffin in a bowl or saucer filled with water, and the into the topping mix. Repeat for all muffins.
   

   You could brush the muffins with melted butter to do this as well, but why use fat grease when water does the job just as well?

Makes about 12 muffins.