You know by now of my love of cheese, but we have not yet spoken of doughnuts. Why is it so easy to love the things that are bad for us? (That truth seems to extend beyond the kitchen.) If I could, I would eat a doughnut every morning. That might kill me, and so instead I treat myself to a doughnut very occasionally. But I think about them often. I kept coming across recipes for Doughnut Muffins and they really piqued my interest. Could something you bake really taste like a doughnut? Is this the solution to all of our problems? No, probably not. But these muffins are a real good thing. They have both the texture and taste of a cake doughnut- minus the time spent frying in oil, which is at least a step in the right direction.
Doughnut Muffins (adapted from a recipe by Kathleen Stewart)
The original recipe made 24 muffins, which seemed a little extreme—unless you were hosting a party. I cut that in half, but feel free to double if needed. The batter can keep in the fridge for a couple of days- so you could make them as you need them. I think it would also be worth experimenting with this recipe, could you fill them with jelly? glaze them?
Muffins:
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
Topping:
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease and flour a standard-size muffin tin.
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until just mixed in. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. Combine the milk and buttermilk. With a wooden spoon, mix a quarter of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Then mix in a third of the milk mixture. Continue mixing in the remaining dry and wet ingredients alternately, ending with the dry. Mix until well combined and smooth, but don’t overmix. Scoop enough batter into each tin so that the top of the batter is even with the rim of the cup, about 1/2 cup. Bake the muffins until firm to the touch, 30-35 minutes.
For the topping: Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. When the muffins are just cool enough to handle, remove them from the tin, brush them all over with melted butter and roll them in the cinnamon sugar.
***The muffins are best the day they are made when they taste most doughnut-y and delicious, although that didn’t stop us from happily eating the leftovers the next day.
Ashley says:
November 15th, 2008 at 2:02 am
heaven. i want these now and always
hanne says:
November 15th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Tim, seriously, I’m freaking out a little bit at how similar our wavelength is. I made these just last week! Your photos are beautiful, and I love your idea of putting jelly in them. I’m sure that would be fantastic.
Susan Wagner says:
November 16th, 2008 at 7:50 am
Oh my goodness…. now I have to go to the grocery and buy some buttermilk because I have to eat these today…….
Y says:
November 18th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
So pretty! These are just crying out for an injection of strawberry jam or gooey chocolate sauce! :D
Erikka says:
November 20th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Of COURSE! Donut muffins, 2 great tastes that are amazing together, I wish I had thought of that.
AndreaDomingas says:
November 23rd, 2008 at 6:10 am
Hi Tim!
I am also looking for years, for a nice muffin-doughnut recipe, so I muss try this one! Thanks also for showing us such beautiful pics!
ingrid says:
November 26th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
I’m not certain if this is the same exact recipe but I’ve made doughnut muffins before….can you say DELISH? Holy cow! For the topping I actually used coarse sugar. I loved the added crunch and my children adsolutely LOVED these!
Thanks for passing along the recipe and the tip about the batter keeping in the fridge!
Happy Thanksgiving!
~ingrid
RecipeOfTheWeek says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 9:44 am
This is genius!
Devon says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 2:27 pm
In my family, these are called ‘birthday muffins.’ The best part is that they get made for each and every person’s birthday on the morning of….there is NOTHING better than these muffins hot and fresh out of the oven.
Eileen says:
April 26th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
I have a recipe for these from the old standby, The Joy of Cooking! They are so delicious, but the way the JoC makes them involves dipping the entire muffin in butter and then rolling the whole thing in cinnamon sugar. Just in case y’all needed a way to make these even more delicious…=]
Kathleen says:
February 15th, 2010 at 12:24 pm
These are amazing, Tim! I was scanning your recipe list (ha ha, just wrote recipe lust; freudian slip?), saw these, made them, and I’m in love. Or at least lust. These are incredible. I filled mine with a little lingonberry jam. Heaven! Thanks for another great recipe.
Tim says:
February 15th, 2010 at 12:41 pm
Glad you liked them, Kathleen! I agree, it is a great recipe and now you have made me want to make them again!
Ben says:
May 23rd, 2011 at 6:54 am
Fantastic website! Looking forward to trying a number of the recipes! Do you ever try wheat free or gluten free baking? I would like to have a go at the muffins but using wheat free plain flour, do you think it would work?
Tim says:
May 23rd, 2011 at 1:07 pm
Hey Ben- I haven’t done much gluten-free baking, so I am not sure what substitutes would work. If you try, let us all know!
Nicole says:
August 12th, 2011 at 7:25 pm
Will be making these in a few days for a brunch with my girlfriends….can’t wait!!!
Deborah says:
July 27th, 2012 at 2:00 pm
Is there a reason that you didn’t cut the original 1/4 cup of buttermilk in half when you halved the rest of the recipe?
Tim says:
July 27th, 2012 at 7:29 pm
Hi Deborah- Yes, there is. I decreased the amount of milk slightly, and increased buttermilk. Mostly to make it easier to measure.
Deborah says:
July 30th, 2012 at 11:31 am
Thanks!
Micah says:
December 28th, 2012 at 2:40 pm
I just made these. They where amazing! everyone loved them. Do you have any suggestions for a glaze?
Linda T says:
June 25th, 2014 at 12:16 pm
Ive made these several times and they turn out fabulous. Today I made an error. I made homemade buttermilk by taking 1 cup milk and adding 1 Tablespoon lemon juice then letting it sit 5 min. measured out my milk and 1/4 cup buttermilk and while mixing put 1/4 cup buttermilk and 3/4 cup of remaining buttermilk instead of the plain milk. Turns out it wasn’t such a disaster. They were just as awesome. Maybe a little less dense than usual but tasted just fine. Nice surprise. Thanks for the Recipe. My family adores them.
Beth Reeve says:
July 22nd, 2015 at 7:13 am
Hi, this recipe looks great. I run a community kitchen and I think I will give it a try.
Vicky says:
February 11th, 2016 at 9:03 pm
I made these all the time, except in mini muffin pans! I also fill the minis with Nutella and/or peanut butter. I also drizzle them with caramel sauce! Yummy!!!!!