I was bored at work on Monday when the urge to bake suddenly hit me. Just like that - it was spontaneous and unexpected and screaming to be satisfied. Along with that urge was an enormous craving for something cinnamon-y.

What else could I do? I responded to this the way any normal person would - I abandoned my work at once and began scouring the Internet for cinnamon recipes.

I wanted something easy to make but still cinnamon-y enough. Cinnamon rolls were out of the question because much as I want to make them someday, I didn't have the time or patience to wait for the dough to rise. Neither do I have a rolling pin (sad I know). So it had to be something simple. It was a pretty difficult search, because it seems like almost everything cinnamon-y involves rolling and yeasting and rising. But after searching through several pages on Tastespotting, I finally found my answer.


Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins. The name itself is enticing enough, isn't it? And the best thing is, these are super easy to make. Just throw in ingredients, mix, bake, and bam! You're done. There were many blogs raving about these muffins and I decided to give it a shot.

My verdict: these muffins are scrumptious! Great texture, really pretty asthetic-wise, with a satisfyingly nice cinnamon taste. Even my mum, who doesn't like cinnamon or any other spices, liked it enough to have two for breakfast! This will be my go-to recipe if I ever crave something cinnamon-y and don't have enough time for something more complicated.

The original recipe had no cinnamon in the batter, only in the cinnamon sugar that the muffin is coated in. If you want a stronger cinnamon flavour, like I did, you can add some cinnamon powder into the batter itself, together with the flour and nutmeg etc. I added about 1/4 teaspoonful, and I like how it turned out. If you're a big cinnamon fan like me, then I would recommend that. :)


Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins
Adapted from Kokocooks, who had adapted this recipe from Baking Bites

Ingredients
¾ c sugar
1 large egg
1 ½ c all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ c vegetable oil
¾ c milk
1 tsp vanilla

3 Tbs sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions
1) Preheat oven to 350˚F. Lightly coat a muffin tin with non-stick spray.
2) In a large bowl, beat together the sugar and egg until light in color.
3) In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg (Add some cinnamon powder here if you want a stronger cinnamon flavour).
4) Pour dry mixture into the egg mixture and stir to combine. Add vegetable oil, milk, and vanilla, stirring until just combined.
5) Divide batter evenly into muffin tin, filling each cup about 2/3 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes clean, about 15-18 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes, then remove muffins from tin.
6) In a small bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon. While the muffins are still warm, roll each one in the mixture, coating all sides with the cinnamon sugar.

Makes 12 muffins

Labels: cinnamon, muffins