Homemade Pumpkin Muffin Doughnuts

The popular treats just like easy desserts were never in the house, so we’d only have them once in a while, usually if there was a function after church. As a result, I never became much of a doughnut connoisseur. That being said, I certainly did have my favorites when I was presented with a box of doughnuts. They were, in this order: Boston cream, the ones with chopped nuts around the outside, and cinnamon-sugar. Last year, I made my first batch of homemade buttermilk doughnuts and tried three different varieties – chocolate-glazed, vanilla-glazed and cinnamon-sugar coated and ice cream recipes too. My favorite was, by far, the cinnamon-sugar variety. 

Once I saw the recipe, I recalled other muffin recipes I had seen on some other sites that used the same type of technique to mimic the flavor of a doughnut. Once the muffins come out of the oven and are still warm, they’re brushed with melted butter and then immediately rolled in a cinnamon-sugar mixture they would be added to some easy dessert recipes. The result is a fabulous pumpkin-flavored muffin with a doughnut-like cinnamon-sugar coating. They are every bit melt-in-your-mouth fantastic as you could imagine. I love how much the pumpkin flavor in these shines through, and I love that these taste just like a pumpkin doughnut, but have the advantage of being baked, and not fried. Not as much fat, not as much effort, not as time-consuming, and not as much mess. That translates to a perfect Sunday morning treat.

INGREDIENTS:

For the Muffins:

10 tablespoons (5 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 cups all-purpose flour

2½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

1/3 cup buttermilk

1¼ cups pure pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

¾ cup light brown sugar

2 eggs

For the Cinnamon-Sugar Coating:

¼ cup unsalted butter, melted

¾ cup granulated sugar

2½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour 12 standard muffin cups.

2. Make the Muffins: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves; set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and pumpkin; set aside.

3. Beat the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Reduce the mixer speed to low, then add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with two additions of the pumpkin mixture, beating until barely combined. Turn off the mixer and fold the batter a few times with a rubber spatula to catch any pockets of flour that weren't incorporated.

4. Divide the batter evenly between the muffins cups (about a heaping 1/3 cup batter). Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let the muffins cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

5. Make the Cinnamon-Sugar Coating: While the muffins are resting, combine the sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl. Working with one muffin at a time, remove the muffins from the pan, brush all over with the melted butter, then toss to coat in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Return to the wire rack and let cool completely.

Source: BrownEyedBaker