Cinnamon sugar donut muffins like Dunkin Donuts baked in the oven as regular or mini muffins are delicious. Dust with powdered sugar or make a maple glaze for the top and enjoy this treat on the weekends.
These are light fluffy bites of goodness. The perfect breakfast or brunch treat you can eat for dessert later too. Just one of the best muffin recipes here on The Typical Mom blog. (affiliate links present)
Donuts Muffins
Of course you can use a variety of other ideas for the toppings. When experimenting with pressure cooker donuts I instead melted chocolate and let that harden. With some candies stuck on top of each one, they were a fun edible project to do with the kids.
Air fryer donuts are more similar to these with just a sprinkle of the same ingredients on top and sticks nicely with just a bit of added butter.
There are many toppings you can make to make this baked good even better. Simple would just be a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar or powdered sugar. If you wanted to make a glaze like we did with our Dunkin Donuts Apple Fritter you could. Or melt a tub of frosting even and pour that over the top of each one.
If you visit this popular doughnut store you may have tried one of theirs which will remind you of these. I promise if you make these and our Dunkin Donuts Apple Fritter during your Christmas brunch or at a baby shower everyone will ask you for the recipe. 😉 This is what was used for this batch.
Ingredient Notes
- Cake flour will give you that really fluffy texture, just like at a bakery. If you do not have this or need an alternate you can use our flour substitution chart
- Egg should be added at room temperature to get them the best texture to fluffy and light.
- Milk + lemon juice = buttermilk will be the best dairy product because it is thicker yielding a more moist outcome.
- Sugar, white granulated will add the sweetness you would expect in the batter. You will want more at the end to combine with cinnamon to coat the outside.
- Softened butter, not melted for the batter, that is an important thing to remember. Take it out at least an hour before making these so it is tender to the touch to blend with sugar easily. You could use a dairy free alternative too.
- You will need melted butter too to dip the tops of doughnut muffins in a bowl mixed with sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg
- Half and half gives them a tender and moistness you won’t get with cow milk.
- Vanilla extract or a bit of almond extract adds a nice touch of sweet flavor
- Baking powder will be the leavening agent used for these to make them fluffy
- Cinnamon is added into the batter as well as the top when done to roll them in.
- 2 large bowls
During the Fall you could add pumpkin pie spice or crushed nuts like our coffee cake muffins into this mix too! Want to add something in the middle too?? Fill a pastry bag with homemade jam and push into the bottom with a little squeeze. Surprise in the middle is complete!
Tips
Always preheat oven, never start bake time until it beeps that it has reached the correct temperature or it won’t work right.
You can easily mix the topping together yourself, or buy it already combined together here. Alternatively you could sprinkle them with powdered sugar. Glazed donuts can be achieved with a mix of confectioners sugar and a bit of water to loosen it up.
I really do suggest a metal muffin tin as opposed to a ceramic “pretty” one. The temperature varies significantly if you use the latter so the timing below wouldn’t be adequate as the pan will absorb a lot of the heat. I do like using muffin papers if I have them to avoid cleaning the pan later.
How do you know when muffins are done? You can use a toothpick but I think the “finger trick” is better. It is easy to tell, if it bounces back you want to take them out immediately so they don’t continue cooking. If it sinks a bit it needs a few more minutes. Now you can print recipe below and keep it on hand for next time, or just come on back!
But before you jump to recipe below take a peek at one more idea you’ll want to consider after you enjoy these. Using Pillsbury refrigerated biscuits you have got to try our biscuit donuts next! Different, easier, but made in your air fryer or deep fried they are a close second in my opinion. 😉
Our cinnamon roll muffins are fast with no yeast too but with the same great flavors.
Donut Muffins
Equipment
- 1 muffin tin
Ingredients
- 1.5 c cake flour
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup butter, softened
- 1/4 cup half and half
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp salt
Topping
- 1/3 c sugar
- 5 tbsp butter, melted
- 2 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Set oven to 350 degrees F. Mix together milk and lemon juice to create buttermilk. Stir and set aside for 10 minutes to thicken.. In a medium size bowl, whisk together egg and sugar.
- Whisk in vanilla extract, buttermilk and half & half. Whisk in soft butter. In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
- Whisk flour mixture into batter until smooth. Grease muffin pan or use muffin papers. Bake 18-20 minutes and then check for doneness by touching gently in the center. If they bounce back take them out and set on cooling rack.
- In a small bowl, mix together sugar and cinnamon for topping. Melt butter in the microwave in a bowl. Dip muffins upside down into butter and then dip into cinnamon sugar mixture. Set on wire rack.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Well these muffins are a good second. You can use our cake mix donuts ingredients and use that instead. Those yield a much more dense cake donuts like texture instead of fluffy. You won’t have a hole in the center but really who cares about that?
How can I make my muffins light and fluffy?
You’re going to use cake flour instead of all purpose for this reason. This will give it a much fluffier texture, similar to a cake or cupcake somewhat. If you need help with what you have in the cupboard at home, here is a flour substitution chart for reference. Another tip is to always measure flour properly, if not they’ll be dense.
To make them more moist, you’re going to use half and half + buttermilk too. You can make the latter by adding lemon juice to milk. That way you don’t need to make an extra trip to the grocery store, I hate that.
