Cinnamon Sugar Muffins (French Breakfast Puffs)
These cinnamon sugar muffins, also known as French breakfast puffs, are a delicious creation that’s easy to whip up and absolutely irresistible. Don’t be surprised when these mini muffins disappear at lightening speed!
Cinnamon Sugar Muffins (French Breakfast Puffs)
The best way to describe these cinnamon sugar breakfast muffins are to relate them to the flavor of cinnamon sugar donuts. You know, the classic donuts you’d find at somewhere like Krispy Kreme, with a cinnamon sugar exterior? Because these breakfast muffins are treated in a similar fashion — simple on the inside, but boasting plenty of cinnamon sugar goodness on the outside.
These cinnamon sugar muffins, or French breakfast puffs, are basically flour, butter, and sugar puffed up into a mini muffin shape. When they come warm out of the oven, they’re dipped in melted butter and rolled in cinnamon sugar. They’re so simple, yet so genius and tantalizing.
You can also eat two of them and not feel guilty (I warn you, however, that you’ll want to eat more!).
Mini Muffins
Like I mentioned, these are mini muffins, which is probably part of their irresistible charm. You’ll need to use a [easyazon_link identifier=”B004EBS16G” locale=”US” tag=”monpetitfour-20″]mini muffin tin[/easyazon_link] to get them this small.
One of the reasons these cinnamon sugar muffins are bite-sized is because they’re much more dense than a standard muffin. They’re tender and moist, but they’re more akin to pound cake than a super fluffy muffin.
While these muffins are technically not French, they’ve been called French breakfast puffs throughout the 20th century in American cookbooks.
These cinnamon sugar muffins work great as a breakfast pastry, an afternoon pick-me-up, or even dessert.
The best part is that once you’ve prepped them (about 10 minutes), it only takes another 12 to 14 minutes to bake. No long wait time to enjoy these babies!
Cinnamon Sugar Muffins (French Breakfast Puffs)
Fluffy, sugar and cinnamon dusted mini muffins.
Ingredients
for the dough
- 2 ⅔ cup all purpose flour
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ¾ tsp salt
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp orange zest or lemon zest
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- 2 tbsp milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
for the topping
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. In a large bowl, beat the sugars and the melted butter together until combined. Add the vanilla extract and the eggs, then mix to incorporate.
- Add in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, orange/lemon zest, and nutmeg. Stir until mixed in. The batter will look dry and clumpy - this is OK.
- Add in the milk and yogurt, stir everything together until the batter is smooth and clump-free. The batter will be very thick - this is normal.
- Spoon about 2 tablespoons worth of batter into each mold of a greased mini muffin pan until pan, filling the molds to the rim. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, or until tops become golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle of the muffins comes out clean.
- While muffins slightly cool, melt the ¼ c of butter in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, combine your ½ c of granulated sugar with your teaspoon of cinnamon.
- While the muffins are still warm, dip the tops in the melted butter and then roll them in the sugar-cinnamon mixture.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 24 Serving Size: 24 ServingsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 158
Can I freeze these?
Hi Rhonda! You can. Usually with muffins like these, you’ll want to place in a ziplock bag and freeze for up to 3 months. In this case, I would also hold off on the cinnamon sugar topping and apply that after the muffins have thawed and been reheated either in an oven or microwave.
Can I use sour cream in place of yogurt
Hi Donna, yes you can! 🙂
Can I use Greek yogurt.
Hi Chris! Yes Greek yogurt would work 🙂
I notice that you grease the muffin pan instead of using small cupcake papers. Will it work as well with the papers?
Hi Kathy! You can definitely use paper liners. I just didn’t mention it because most people don’t have mini cupcake liners on hand, but they will definitely work. You’ll just want to make sure you either use the liners or grease the pan so that the muffins pop out easily.
Did you use melted butter (salted or non-salted) to grease the muffin tin? Thanks!
Hi there! Typically when I grease a pan, I use softened butter. So it’s in between melted and non-melted…pretty much the consistency of spreadable butter. 🙂
What is the oven temperature, please?
Hi Jocelyn! You caught me right before I edited the recipe card to include the temperature hehe…it’s 425°F. 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
As soon as I figure out that whole Fed-EXing food thing… 😉
Yum!!! You could totally mail us some! Wink Wink.. Nudge Nudge! 😉