Author Notes
I found this amazing recipe on Tasty Kitchen . It was posted by Lemanda. If I ever met Lemanda, I’d reciprocate by handing her a plate of my decadent chocolate sea salt brownies for sharing this recipe with us. These blond beauties are fantastic. They’ve received rave reviews over at Tasty Kitchen too. What I love about them is how simple and fast they whip up. A few basic ingredients work their magic to create warm-cinnamon- sugared-bliss.
These muffins remind me of snickerdoodle cookies, only I like these better. I highly recommend using good quality cinnamon and crunchy, molasses-like Sugar In The Raw.
Be warned. They’re moist, homey and incredibly hard to resist. Brew some coffee and bake some today!
(minimally adapted from Lemanda’s Recipe posted on Tasty Kitchen)
Makes 12 muffins
Some Notes:
Make sure you don’t over bake these muffins. They don’t brown when they’re done. They remain blond in color. They should take about 15-18 minutes to cook. In my oven they take 17 minutes.
Don’t fill the muffin tins all the way to the top and you should end up with 12 muffins.
Coat the tops of each muffin in a combination of regular white sugar and natural Sugar In The Raw. Sugar in the Raw is found in most supermarkets. The sugar crystals aren’t stripped of any color or flavor, giving it a natural taste. It’s not bleached or refined either. The distinctive taste comes from the molasses that naturally occurs in the crystals. It’s wonderful on these muffins. If you’re feeling decadent, you can coat the entire muffin in the cinnamon sugar mixture.
I use Vietnamese cinnamon in this recipe too. Vietnamese cinnamon is the strongest, richest, and sweetest cinnamon around. For traditional cinnamon recipes such as gooey cinnamon rolls, the vibrant flavor of Vietnamese cinnamon really shines. It is so strong, that in most recipes it should be cut back by about a third, but it is perfect used full strength in any recipe where cinnamon is the main delicious flavor, like this one. I find it at Penzey’s Spices. The cinnamon-sugar topping is the star here. So go for the best cinnamon you can find. If you don’t want to splurge on the fancy stuff, regular cinnamon works just fine too. But again, I highly recommend you seek out Vietnamese cinnamon for this recipe and all your baked goods. It’s also fabulous on French toast and oatmeal. Trust me, you will love Vietnamese cinnamon.
These muffins are freezer friendly. For breakfast or a snack on the go, you can take them directly from the freezer and pop them in the microwave for a few seconds. They’re also delicious warm from the oven. Enjoy! —Vintage Kitchen
Ingredients
-
1-3/4 cup flour
-
1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
-
A pinch of freshly grated nutmeg from a whole nutmeg (optional but good)
-
1/4 teaspoon of Vietnamese cinnamon or your favorite cinnamon (see notes)
-
1/3 cup corn oil
-
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
-
3/4 cup of white sugar or my vanilla sugar (see notes)
-
1 large egg
-
3/4 cup milk
-
For The Topping:
-
1/3 cup unsalted butter
-
1/4 cup of white sugar
-
1/4 cup of Sugar In The Raw (see notes)
-
1/2 tablespoon of Vietnamese cinnamon
-
Pinch of salt
-
Serve sprinkled with more Vietnamese Cinnamon
Directions
-
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grease muffin tin
Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon in a bowl.
Combine the oil, white sugar, egg, vanilla extract and milk in another bowl.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir to combine. Don’t over-mix.
Pour batter into the prepared muffin tin and bake for about 15-18 minutes. The muffins will remain blond in color when cooked.
The topping: As the muffins are baking, melt the butter in the microwave. Combine the white sugar, the Sugar In The Raw, a pinch of salt and 1/2 tablespoon of Vietnamese cinnamon in a bowl. While they’re still hot, remove the muffins from the pan. Dunk the tops of the muffins in the melted butter and then dip into and coat the tops with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Serve sprinkled with more cinnamon on top. Enjoy!
See what other Food52ers are saying.