Doughnut Muffins

Yeah, you heard me.

Doughnut Muffins.

And they are good too.

I grew up on freshly made doughnuts.  My Dad would pull out the Fry Daddy, mix up a batch of Hazel's Donuts, and fry up some hot, fresh, melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness.  Hazel was a family friend of ours and I am not about to give up her donut recipe.  My Gramma would invite us kids over, set us up on the screened in porch and deliver hot, fresh, deep-fried baking powder donuts, which we would immediately slather with orange flavored cream cheese frosting (which melted into ooey goodness all over our fingers, hands, and faces- hence the reason we ate them outside on the porch).  We would eat until we had to lay next to our bellies groaning with agony and delight.  They were that good. 

When I came across a doughnut muffin recipe at King Arthur Flour, I thought- yeah, right.  It can't possibly be as good as the real thing.  And I was right!  It was a little bland.  (HA- sorry King Arthur!)  Lucky for you though, I am willing to dink around with my recipes until they are just perfect and this one finally hit it's perfection level last week.  The sad part is that I have almost no pictures of the process because I didn't know it was going to turn out so well.

Still dubious about them?  My son ate 3 in one sitting (unheard of), and rather than tossing stale muffins to the chickens 3 days later- there were none to be found.  NONE.  They were gone- toasted, buttered, and devoured. 

Before you start, you should know that this is not your average muffin batter.  It is thick, it requires a good beating, and it's more cakey than muffiny. 

The one and only (crummy) photo of my successful muffins.  (AHAHA- see what I did there?)

DOUGHNUT MUFFINS

Batter:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup COCONUT oil  (Yes, it must be coconut oil- it gives them an amazing flavor- it doesn't taste like coconut though, so don't worry if you hate coconut.  It just adds a nice depth to them.)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder  (I use Rumford or Trader Joe's Baking Powder.)
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground nutmeg (I tend to add a little more)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 2/3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 cup milk

Topping:

•  1 1/4 cups All-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1) Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly grease a standard muffin tin. Or line with 12 paper or silicone muffin cups, and grease the cups with non-stick vegetable oil spray; this will ensure that they peel off the muffins nicely. 

2) In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together the butter, coconut oil, and sugars till smooth.

3) Add the eggs, beating to combine.

4) Stir in the baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla. 

5) Stir the flour into the butter mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour and making sure everything is thoroughly combined. 

6) Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared pan, filling the cups nearly full. 

7) Make topping by combing all the ingredients and mashing and mixing with a fork.  It will start to clump up a little (that's good- those are the tasty crumbs!)

Sprinkle the tops generously with the topping, patting it ever so slightly to ensure that it sticks.

8) Bake the muffins for 15 to 17 minutes, or until they're a pale golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the middle of one of the center muffins comes out clean.  (I've had them bake as long as 20 minutes, depending on the weather, etc.)

9)  EAT!  NOM NOM NOM................this recipe makes about 12 regular size muffins.  You can also make them in one of those doughnut pans they sell, but I've never had much luck with that.