Oh, yes, they’re sweet enough for dessert but not too cloying for breakfast or a snack. They’re bursting with texture — soft bread with crystalline crust — and full of earthy aroma from the nutmeg and the cinnamon.
It is also that crust that gives the muffins their beautiful color. Straight out of the oven, they will look pale but, if you did the batter right, they should be very well risen.
The anemic-looking muffins are then dunked in melted butter. Don’t worry that the dunking will make them soggy. You’re just moistening the surface to prep them for the next step.
The butter-moistened muffins are then rolled in a mixture of sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. And that lovely aromatic crust will flavor and color your muffins perfectly.
Cinnamon sugar breakfast muffins
Muffins are not cupcakes. They are essentially a quick bread than cake. Muffin batter is lumpy. Do not be tempted to continue mixing until smooth. Again, the batter will be lumpy. That’s how it should be. The batter has to be mixed lightly and quickly because overmixing makes tough and dense muffins.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable cooking oil
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup milk
To coat the muffins
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ cup butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Lightly brush the holes of your muffin pans with vegetable oil (I used two pans with a capacity of 2 1/8 oz. per hole).
- Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg into a mixing bowl.
- Add the egg, milk and melted butter.
- Stir just until moistened. Twelve strokes should do it.
- Using an ice cream scoop, fill the holes of the muffin pans with the batter.
- Bake at 350F for 12 to 20 minutes depending on the size of the holes of the muffin pans.
- Take muffins out of the oven and cool for about five minutes.
- Loosen the muffins from the pan (if you oiled the holes of the muffin pans, you can just lift out the muffins without any problem).
- Whisk together the cinnamon and sugar.
- Dip each muffin in the melted butter. The top AND sides for maximum deliciousness.
- Roll the buttered muffins in cinnamon sugar.
- Serve your cinnamon sugar breakfast muffins with brewed coffee or tea, or your preferred morning beverage.
