I really wanted cinnamon rolls but every recipe I found required yeast and the dough to rise. I don’t have the patience for that sort of thing at night. I just wanted cinnamon. So I thought about doughnuts, then how much of a pain in the ass they are because you must deep fry them. And cinnamon muffins sounded easy. So I made doughnuts LIKE muffins. And this was created.

Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Muffins
makes 24 miniature muffins, takes about an hour

1/2 cup softened butter
3/4 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup applesauce
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt

Topping:
1/2-3/4 cup butter, melted (and still hot)
1 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon powder

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine sugar and softened butter. Once fully mixed, add vegetable oil, heavy cream, and applesauce. Mix well. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix this batter into the liquid batter in as few stirs as possible. It is important not to over-mix the baking powder. Try to mix the dough as quickly as possible. The batter should be relatively thick but still wet.

Spoon the batter into the holes of a mini muffin tray, filling each one almost to the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 13-15 minutes and allow to cool.

Combine the sugar and cinnamon for the topping in a plastic sandwich bag. Using the microwave or stove, melt the butter so that it gets a bubbly foam on the top and reaches it’s hottest point. Drop each muffin into the melted butter, then immediately move into the bag with cinnamon sugar and shake it so that the mixture sticks to the muffin on all sides. Repeat for each muffin.

Enjoy these little beauties!

And Happy Friday! 🙂