Sugar Donut Muffins (aka Poofs) and CSN Winner

These little breakfast treats are usually found under a variety of names. Some call them Donut Muffins, others call them French Breakfast Puffs. But, I hereby rename mine as Breakfast Poofs due to their domed hi-hat shape.

I suppose you're wondering how they got that way. Well, I learned this trick from another blogger where you preheat your oven to 500F and then bake your muffins at that temperature for 5 minutes. After the 5 minutes are up, you immediately lower the temperature to 350F and continue baking until the muffins are done. Baking them at the higher temperature immediately causes the tops of the muffins to rise super high, leading to the little domed shape (or as my sister described them, "they look like little mushrooms").



Of course, I did notice that other bloggers' breakfast puffs did not look like this. Theirs were nice and even on the tops. I began to think that maybe theirs was the better and more correct way to go about this recipe, but well, my family likes them like this, so Poofs they will stay now and forever.

In the end, the way it looks doesn't really matter because they tasted awesome. Soft, cakey, moist and fluffy with just the right amount of sweetness. I took Reeni's advice and used a cinnamon-sugar mixture for some and a plain sugar mixture for the others. Both versions were equally delicious and have now become a family favorite of ours.

So, whether you call them donut muffins, puffs, or "poofs," I'm sure you'll enjoy them either way. After all, "what's in a name?"

CSN Giveaway Winner!!! Congratulations to Jenn of Eat Cake for Dinner who won my $45 CSN gift certificate giveaway.



Donut Muffins (adapted from Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice)

3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk (low fat is fine)
1 tsp vanilla extract

2 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/2 c. sugar, for rolling

Preheat oven to 500F. Lightly grease mini muffin tins with cooking spray, vegetable oil, or butter.

In a large bowl, beat together the sugar and egg until light in color. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg and add to the egg mixture. Stir to combine. Add the vegetable oil, milk, and vanilla.

Fill each mini muffin cup with a tablespoon of batter (about 3/4 full). Bake for 5 min. After the 5 min. are up, immediately lower the temperature to 350F and continue baking until the muffins test done, about 5-7 min. more.

While muffins are baking, melt the butter and pour the 1/2 cup sugar into a small bowl. When muffins are done, lightly brush the top of each with some melted butter (or you can lightly dip them into the butter) and roll in the sugar.

For the cinnamon-sugar version: Combine 1/2 cup sugar with 1 Tbsp. cinnamon.

Makes about 32 mini muffins

Note: If you'd rather not have the little "poof" at the top, simply bake the muffins at 350F until they test done. I will say that they would probably be easier to coat in the sugar mixture if they were flatter at the top.

This recipe is linked to:
Meatless Mondays
Midnight Maniac's Meatless Mondays
Just Another Meatless Monday
Made It On Monday
Dr. Laura's Tasty Tuesday
Tuesday Night Supper Club
Hearth and Soul Hop
Tasty Tuesdays
Rook 17