Pumpkin Donut Muffins
Fact: Stating over and over that I don’t like pumpkin baked goods is indeed a lie.
Fact: Rolling anything in melted butter and cinnamon-sugar is a good idea.
Fact: The Giants got their a$$’s kicked by the Steelers this weekend.
Football Sunday, as it’s affectionately referred to in our house, is day for lounging, watching the NFL ticket, and usually a day that I spend in the kitchen trying out new recipes and and letting my boys have at my tasty creations. This past week we had a another enthusiastic Giant’s fan over to watch the game, Heather, who also happens to be my hiking partner and a pretty incredible baker. My husband only allows visitors on Sunday if they are Giants fans. He’ll make an exception if you root for a team the Giants aren’t playing but he under no circumstances will invite you over on Sunday if you are a Cowboy’s fan.
To answer your question, yes, he does have some issues to work on.
Wanting to make something that would double as dessert but also serve duty as a lunch box filler this week, the idea of the Pumpkin Donut Muffin was born. I know I’ve said over and over that I don’t like pumpkin baked goods but I think I might be coming around. While I’d always pick something lemony or chocolate over pumpkin, the idea is starting to grow on me. Especially when said baked good is rolled in melted butter and cinnamon-sugar. But then again, I’d probably eat my shoe if it was rolled in butter and cinnamon-sugar………
Not too heavy on the pumpkin, these muffins teeter-toter between sweet and savory. The actually batter is thick and creates a dense muffin that is just the perfect amount of spice. The cinnamon-sugar adds crunch and a touch of sweetness that is worthy of licking your fingers when you’re through. So even though the Giants lost on Sunday, I’d like to think my muffins made up for it. My husband would kindly disagree.
Other Pumpkin Deliciousness from around the web:
Pumpkin and Feta Muffins, 101 Cookbooks
Baked Pumpkin French Toast, Two Peas and Their Pod
Pumpkin Gruyere Gougeres, FoodieCrush
Pumpkin Spice Granola Bars, Sweet Basil
Pumpkin Donut Muffins
Description
Pumpkin muffins rolled in melted butter and a cinnamon-sugar mixture are donut like and delicious!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
- 1/3 cup whole milk
- 2/3 cup pureed pumpkin
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
- 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 6 tablespoons melted butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees; coat a 1 standard 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick spray.
- Whisk flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Cream butter and brown sugar together in a bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately stir dry ingredients and wet ingredients into the butter mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients; take care not to over mix. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full and bake 22-25 minutes, or until done. Remove from oven and let cool on baking rack.
- While muffins bake, combine granulated sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a shallow dish. When muffins are cool enough to handle but still warm, brush them completely with the melted butter, and roll in the sugar mixture to coat.
Notes
This recipe was created and tested in my high altitude kitchen which sits just below 7000 feet. If you don’t need to adjust for high altitude try these adjustments:
-increase baking powder to 1 1/2 teaspoons
-increase baking soda to 1/2 teaspoon
-increase brown sugar to 3/4 cup
36 Comments
These sound wonderful. I love pumpkin anything!
oh my gosh i looooooooooooove donut muffins! one of my favorite things ever, and i adore this pumpkin version. and since Nate hates pumpkin? more for MEEEEEEE!
Hard to go wrong when “donut” is involved!
oh, these look ah-mazing!!! i’m really tempted to get up and make them right now!
your sundays sound like ours. except at our house, steeler fans are not allowed. my husband grew up rooting for the redskins and i grew up rooting for the eagles so we both hate the cowboys as well. 🙂 nowadays, we’ll root for the giants as long as they aren’t playing the browns. 🙂
Perfect!
I was so excited to bake these until I saw the pastry flour. Don’t have any 🙁
You could substitute whole wheat flour or all purpose flour for the ww pastry flour!
Maybe I too am lying when I say I don’t like pumpkin baked goods, I should give these donut muffins a try and find out!!
Good for the non pumpkin lover, these are pretty mild!
I am not a fan of Pumpkin, but my Husband is. I will bake some up for him this weekend…They look yummy (even to a pumpkin hater)… Oh, and by the way…. We are Pittsburgh Steelers fans…. Sorry……
That’s ok. We can still be friends! 🙂
Amazing! I really could use a dozen of these for breakfast tomorrow!
Pumpkin and butter and cinnamon! Count me in…
I’ve got to make these. I’m a big pumpkin lover (though my husband is much like you) and love anything rolled in cinnamon and sugar. Those boys are cuties!
Awe, thanks Becky!
I make a very similar muffin, they are my kiddos favorite..it might have something to do with the butter bath, powdered in sugar and spice! Yum yours look fabulous!
The butter bath……I love it!
Fact: I need these in my life!
They’re pretty darn tasty!!
these look so good! i love that they’re coated in cinnamon and sugar.
You can’t go wrong when cinnamon and sugar are involved!
I love that your recipes are for high altitude. I am at 7,000′ and have a hard time finding good recipes. Can’t wait to try these.
High altitude baking can be tough. Glad to have you here, thanks for reading!!
any substitution ideas for the whole wheat pastry flour???
You could use all-purpose flour for a lighter texture or whole wheat flour though they’d be a little heavier.
oh, wonderful – thank you! We’ll give ’em a whirl this weekend!
Because I’m not high altitude – I should follow the directions below? (I was a bit confused by the wording…) but I NEED to make these!!! Mmmmm!
The recipe as written, is adjusted for high altitude. Depending on where you are, increase the sugar a bit as well as the leavening agent. They should turn out great!
I was wondering if I could make these into actual donuts by baking them in my donut pan? We have a tradition of baking donuts the first day it snows and it’s snowing!
I live in Colorado in the mountains and not close to a store. I want to make these this morning but do not have buttermilk can I use regular milk or evaporated milk.
You can make buttermilk but using 2 tablespoons of lemon juice of white vinegar and mixing with enough regular milk to make 1 cup.
Do you think I could use homemade apple sauce instead of the pumpkin to make an “apple” version?
For sure!
Thanks Kelley!
Update – I made these with homemade unsweetened apple sauce and they came out fantastic and apple-y! Also I didn’t have whole wheat pastry flour, so instead of the 1 cup of that, I used a 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour, and then in a 1/2 cup put 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, and filled it the rest of the way with all-purpose flour. Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks for sharing your changes. Sounds amazing!