These cinnamon sugar pumpkin muffins are dipped in melted butter then rolled cinnamon sugar when they’re warm from the oven. Served with some hot coffee, they are basically the best October breakfast ever.

It still remains to be seen if I’m ever going to make doughnuts. I put off making them for years in our last house because I couldn’t take the lingering scent of oil in the house for days. I figured I would wait until we moved in here because we now have a vent that actually vents outside the house.

Well, it vents into the garage for now, but it’s a start. (It’s on the “99% complete” list.)

But we’ve been here for almost 8 months and still no doughnuts. It’s kind of sad because I really crave them sometimes and basically refuse to buy them because I know I could just make them myself.

These cinnamon sugar pumpkin muffins are kind of a compromise. The recipe is actually for baked pumpkin donuts (or doughnuts) and if you have a donuts pan, have at it.

I don’t, so I made them in mini muffin pans with the anxious hope that they would turn out like little poppable baked doughnuts.

They turned out more like muffins. Womp. Womp.

And not that there’s anything wrong with that [insert the brushing-away-the-guilt Jerry Seinfeld voice here] because they actually were the best baked goodie I’ve made in a while. Heck, they’re dipped in cinnamon sugar when they are still warm from the oven, but I digress.

The pumpkin flavor here isn’t overwhelming or cloying like it can be in some recipes and served with some hot coffee, they are pretty much the best October breakfast or afternoon snack ever.

The doughnuts will come, I’m sure of it, but for now I have these cinnamon sugar pumpkin muffins. (P.S. – Donuts finally made an appearance!)

Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Muffins

Name: Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Muffins
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: ½ cup vegetable or canola oil; 3 large eggs; 1 ½ cups granulated sugar; 1 ½ cups canned pumpkin purée (not pie filling); ½ to 1 tsp salt (see note #1 below); 1 ½ tsp baking powder (see note #1 below); ¾ tsp ground cinnamon; Heaping ¼ tsp ground nutmeg; Heaping ¼ tsp ground ginger; 8 oz (1 ¾ cup + 2 tbsp) all-purpose flour or 2 cups self-rising flour (I used self-rising - see note #1 below); 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly; ¼ cup granulated sugar; 1 tbsp ground cinnamon

Yield: 2 dozen mini muffins

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Bake Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Cinnamon sugar pumpkin muffins are a double-duty recipe for baked pumpkin donuts. They are baked in a mini muffin pan, dipped in melted butter, and then rolled cinnamon sugar when they're warm from the oven. Served with some hot coffee, they are basically the best October breakfast ever. If you want to bake this recipe as donuts, do so in a donut pan and increase the baking time to 15 to 18 minutes at 350° F.

Ingredients

For the muffins:

½ cup vegetable or canola oil
3 large eggs
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1 ½ cups canned pumpkin purée (not pie filling)
½ to 1 tsp salt (see note #1 below)
1 ½ tsp baking powder (see note #1 below)
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
Heaping ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
Heaping ¼ tsp ground ginger
8 oz (1 ¾ cup + 2 tbsp) all-purpose flour or 2 cups self-rising flour (I used self-rising - see note #1 below)

For the cinnamon-sugar topping:

4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease the wells of two 24-well mini-muffin pans with cooking spray.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the oil, eggs, sugar, pumpkin, salt, and baking powder (see note below if you use self-rising flour) on medium speed until the mixture is smooth, about 1 ½ minutes. On low speed, stir in the pumpkin pie spice or the cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, as well as the flour until they are completely incorporated - do not overmix. Fill the wells of the muffin tin ¾ full.
Bake for 14 to 16 minutes or until the tops of the muffins are springy when lightly touched. Cool the pans on wire racks for 10 minutes then remove the muffins from the pans.
While the muffins bake, stir together the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl until well mixed; set aside.
Dip the tops of the warm muffins in the melted butter and then into the cinnamon-sugar topping. Keep the unused topping in a sealed container if you need it again - keep reading. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Storage: The muffins will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 to 3 days. They may need another dip through the topping before serving if it looks like the muffins absorb the topping. This, of course, isn't a bad thing.

Notes

If you use self-rising flour in this recipe, omit the baking powder and reduce the salt to ½ tsp - that's very important.
This recipe calls for a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground ginger but you can also use 1 ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice if you have it. Shockingly, I ran out of my homemade pumpkin pie spice and didn't have time to whip up a new batch for this recipe so I used the spice mixture here. I have no complaints at all about how they turned out so don't feel like you need pumpkin pie spice for this recipe. However, should you feel inclined to make your own, here's the link to my recipe: http://www.smells-like-home.com/2011/09/diy-homemade-pumpkin-pie-spice/

adapted from King Arthur Flour

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