Mini Brown Butter – Donut Muffins

Why hello there friendlies! I am so excited to announce that this recipe post is my first official contributor post to the Tastes of Lizzy T website! Eeeps! I was so nervous about my first contributor post, but at the same time so very, very excited!

I was so humbled when I was asked to be a 2016 contributor to Tastes of Lizzy T among so many other talented food bloggers, so I am so incredibly grateful to have been included. And if you haven’t already checked out her website, you need to asap. There are so many drool educing recipes it’s seriously unreal, so please go and take a peak if you haven’t already <3

 

For any of you lovelies who are visiting my blog for the first time today, I feel like we should get to know each other a little bit better, don’t you? So I have just a few quick questions for you…

1. Do you like muffins? {I loovvvee muffins}
2. Do you like Donuts? {Donut lover – guilty as charged}
3. Do you like Cinnamon Sugar? {Mhmmmmmm…}
4. Do you like butter? {I’ may be something of a butter addict}

If you answered yes to any of these above questions {especially the last one} I have just one thing to say to you…

Why hello soulmate – I really think we are going to be the best of friends 😀

But more importantly if you answered yes to any of the above questions, then these Mini Brown Butter Donut Muffins will definitely be your new best friend.

These little donut muffins have a soft, moist interior with a slightly crisp exterior that has been dunked in melted butter and then rolled in a whole whack of cinnamon sugar goodness. So, pretty much my definition of heaven wrapped up in a tiny little bite.

Not to mention they are super simple to make and don’t require any of the usual donut frying fuss – bonus!

Now because you are my new best friend, I feel it is my duty to warn you about this recipe.

Please be forwarned that these donut muffins may induce an uncontrollable eating frenzy, causing you to devour the entire batch – which may result in intense feelings of fappy-ness …

fappy-ness {fa.py.ness}
noun
the state of being simultaneously fat & happy {aka amazing}
“these donut muffins bring on intense feelings of fappy-ness”

Yes. Very, very intense feelings of fappy-ness…

Not to mention these “donut” muffins are baked, not fried. Soo…. I’m pretty sure they can be considered healthy… Scratch that – they can definitely be considered healthy. Like you can basically tell people that you are on a diet, whilst consuming these muffins…

What? Delusional you say? Me?

Delusional {dih.loo.zhuh.nl}
adjective
having false or unrealistic beliefs or opinions
“saying donut muffins are healthy is pretty much the definition of delusional”

… Okay so maybe I am a bit {a lot} delusional to say that these donut muffins are healthy, but it’s okay, because what they lack in nutritional benefits they make up for in deliciousness… so there. 😀

In all seriousness, these donut muffins are quite literally da’ bomb.

I mean lets face it, they are super moist, fluffy, brown butter cake balls that have been dripped in a bath of melted butter and rolled in a pile of cinnamon sugar goodness…. how could they not be da’ bomb?

So without further adieu, here is the recipe friends and I hope you all enjoy <3

Mini Brown Butter – Bourbon Donut Muffins

Makes: 36 mini donut muffins

Things you need…

Mini Donut Muffins
2 ¼ cup all purpose flour
¼ cup cornstarch
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
½ cup butter, browned
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Cinnamon Sugar Topping
1 cup granulated sugar
½ tbsp cinnamon
½ cup butter, melted

How to make…

Mini Muffins
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees if you are using a regular oven or 375 if you are using convection. Grease your mini muffin tins and set aside.

First you want to brown your butter. In a heavy bottomed saucepan melt your butter over medium heat. Once melted, turn the heat up to medium high and allow your butter to sizzle and get happy until it is golden brown; be sure to swirl the butter around in the pot every so often to ensure bits on the bottom don’t burn.

Once your butter has a nice nutty aroma and is a beautiful golden brown, remove the pan from the heat and transfer the brown butter to a heatproof bowl to cool slightly.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients; set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, vanilla until well combined. Slowly whisk in the browned butter. Once combined, pour the wet ingredients into the well of the dry ingredients.

Use a spatula to gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined, being careful not to over-mix your batter – it is perfectly fine if you still have some streaks of dry ingredients here and there, as this will just end up giving you a more tender muffin.

** Note: If you over-mix, you run the risk of your muffins being tough – and let’s be real, tough muffins are the enemy.

Once your batter is mixed, fill your prepared mini muffin tins with about 1 tbsp of the batter each. They should basically fill the molds to the top but not be overflowing.

Bake your mini muffins for about 12-14 minutes or until the tops are a nice golden brown and they spring back to the touch.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for five minutes in the pan. Don’t let them cool off completely, because you want them to be a little warm still when you roll them in that cinnamon sugar.

Turning the muffins into donuts… 

Whisk together the cinnamon and sugar in a large mixing bowl; set aside. Once your donuts have cooled for a few minutes in the pan, turn them out onto a wired rack.

Now it’s time to get real, and get your hands dirty. Dip one mini donut muffin at a time into the melted butter, just a touch and use a pastry brush or your fingers to lightly coat the muffin in the brown butter. You don’t need to go crazy here and start soaking the muffins, just moisten them a little bit on all sides.

Once coated in the butter, toss the muffin into the  cinnamon sugar mixture. You can probably toss about 4-5 mini donut muffins into the cinnamon sugar mixture at once, and then gently toss them in the cinnamon sugar to coat them with a generous layer of allllll that sugary goodness. Gently remove them from the bowl and return them to the wired rack. Repeat this process until all of your mini donut muffins have been coated.

Now I’m sure I don’t have to convince you to do this, but you want to try and eat these bad boys right away for two reasons;

1. Because honestly who in their right mind could  possibly wait any longer to eat one?

and

2. Because they are just extra amazingly delicious when they are still a little bit warm from the oven – so don’t delay, stuff one in your mouth right this second!

Again, please note that these donut muffins are kind of habit forming … {you have been warned} and the very nature of their deliciousness may result in you consuming the entire batch… but don’t despair! There will be no despair over eating an abundance of delicious treats when you’re on my watch.

So you ate an entire batch of Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins… who hasn’t? I don’t judge, and you shouldn’t either! It’s all about balance lovelies, so indulge in these Donut Muffins. Your tummy will thank you 😀

Thanks for popping by to read this post lovelies – I hope you enjoyed it <3

Happy  donut muffin baking!

KP xoxo