1/11/09

sugar donut muffins

sugar donut muffins

I loved photographing these. So simple, so basic, the sunlight was finally out on Saturday and was just the perfect light. Plus the sugar was so pretty on the tops of the muffins. It felt good to have some sun today--we haven't had much of it lately. This Saturday night we are expecting yet another snowstorm. It's the second week of January and we've already had seven snowstorms so far this winter! We met our quota for snow, we're done, ok? No more. I hope winter doesn't keep this snow-storm pace, by March I'll be screaming for warm tropical weather. Summer: it felt like just yesterday I was sitting outside on the back deck at night listening to the resounding crickets and frogs croak away as if they were having their own who-can-croak-the-loudest contest. The warm air of summer nighttime surrounding me and my cold, sweaty glass of wine....

sugar donut muffins

How were the muffins you ask? Well, you're asking the wrong person as I thought they were ok; a little plain tasting. Don't get me wrong, they came out just fine. You all know I like things kicked up a notch. So, if I were to make these again (and I will) I want to put a vanilla custard in the middle for a little extra something. Or even a jelly center would be perfect. The muffin has a wonderful mild, tasting vanilla base, but I just wanted to add something to it. My husband LOVED them, but see he loves plain old anything, so...if you're like him then you'll just love these. I have to admit these are the perfect base muffins for experimenting add on or add in's.

sugar donut muffins
print recipe

1 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 cups all purpose flour
1 ½ tsp baking power
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ cup plus 1 TB vegetable oil
¾ cup plus 2 TB buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract

For topping:
4 TB butter, melted
½ cup sugar, for rolling

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a muffin tin with cooking spray or vegetable oil.
In a large bowl, beat together sugar and egg until light in color. Add in all the vegetable oil, all the buttermilk, vanilla extract and mix well.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg; add this to the wet mixture.
Divide batter evenly into 12 muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full.
Bake for 15-18 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
While muffins are baking, melt butter in one bowl and in another bowl pour in the ½ cup sugar. When muffins are done, take muffin one by one and dip top of muffin into melted butter then dip into sugar. If, you’re feeling even more creative you can dip all sides of the muffin. I also used cinnamon on half of the muffins. After I was done doing 6 muffins with the plain sugar I added some cinnamon to the remaining sugar and dipped accordingly. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes 12 muffins.

37 comments:

  1. darn it, i already ate breakfast!!! how bout some pb cups? lol, i get distracted by your header every time :)

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  2. You love photographing them - I'd love EATING them!! :-D

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  3. Oh my LORD - this is perfect for a Sunday morning. Geez...I already had breakfast too :-(

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  4. Maybe a late breakfast..I think I just used the last of the vanilla extract. Dang it!

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  5. Oh these are just tempting me. I love them...wow! They sound so good!

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  6. Well, I do love simple things, so I bet I would love those. But on the other hand I love custard... :)

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  7. they look really good! but I like your ideas about filling up the center...mmmm. let us know how that goes!

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  8. Your muffins look like they'd be great with cuppa something warm! I'm with you on the winter weather. It's been like that here too. And COLD!
    I made a similar muffin this morning. They have nutmeg in the batter, and then they're dipped in butter and rolled in cinnamon sugar. I'll bet you could similarly spice up these.
    Would you mind if I put a link on my blog to yours?

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  9. I'm drinking my coffee, right now, and would enjoy your donut muffins. I share the passion for photography.

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  10. Cake donuts are one of my favorite things- especially the chocolate ones. These donuts could get me in trouble.

    BTW, did they taste like donuts?

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  11. donuts made easy, you say? inconcievable! these are terrific, dawn, and i'd probably eat 'em without even chewing. :)

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  12. those look so good! i could eat a whole batch!

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  13. Come to So Cal!!! It is super sunny (and hot) here :) I am sure you will come up with a way to kick these up, but once in a while, plain is good too.

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  14. The pictures are beautiful dawn, oh custard would be wonderful in the middle of these!

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  15. awesome muffins dear.
    ur blog is a haven of delish recipes....

    couldn't be happier to say "hi".

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  16. Dawn these looks so good and easy to make. My crew would devour these instantly. I have to try them!

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  17. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  18. Sugar? Donuts? Muffins? What a heavenly combination!

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  19. Now adding a custard to the middle of these sounds wonderful! They do look good even though you didn't have the hots for them.

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  20. I love plain old vanilla anything, and these sound right up my alley. Maybe topped with a little Nutella or jam...mmmm.

    The way you described Summer, I miss it now too! It's snowing as I write this, so I'm guessing you're in the same boat - I hate the snow!

    And thanks for your comment, I hope you can find that lemon recipe, sounds delish!

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  21. I would much rather have these beautiies for breakfast instead of my boring bran cereal.

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  22. This does look like a great recipe to play with. Your photos are great! I've noticed mine are all too dark lately, so it's nice to see your bright shiny ones.

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  23. What a pretty subject to photograph ;) Send a few my way when you get the vanilla custard in the middle ok? They are on my diet...

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  24. a little jelly in the middle would be so lovely! yum.

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  25. The photos are stunning! I would have a hard time though. I would throw down the camera and start eating! They look delicious!

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  26. I am sure that first bite into the muffin was a prerequisite for many more delicious bites!
    Trusting you had an enjoyable new year!

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  27. Oh Dawn, these look HEAVENLY. I bet they smell good baking and I bet they're great JUST out of the oven. Oh, yummmm!!!

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  28. Dawn..
    these look scrumptious. I think the addition of the custard would be delish!
    Love the new profile photo!

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  29. Donuts are often a little too greasy for my taste, so I love the idea of eating them in muffin form!

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  30. You know what they are begging to be filled with? Nutella. Oh, yea. That would be my idea of heaven.

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  31. Wow these look good! I love donut-y type things. YUM.

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  32. I love the idia of filling them with custard next time, but they must be nice plain as well!

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  33. i agree, this is a perfect base recipe for experimenting with. i always add extra nutmeg, i love it in these muffins. they look delightful!

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  34. Those look wonderful! I have the recipe printed off and everything. Can't wait to give them a try. As I was reading your comments, the first thing that came to my mind was "Zest! They need some zest!" I'll throw citrus zest into pretty much anything! They'd be great with orange zest and some cinnamon, or lemon zest and some lemon juice in the batter to replace some of the liquid. Or what about lime zest with a little cocnut to hit that tropical fix?! Agghh! I want them NOW! Thanks for sharing!

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  35. These look AMAZING. I've added them to my "must make" list. Do tell if they taste like real donuts?

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  36. I'm definitely reminded of donuts when I saw the crust on your pictures. Very cool :)

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