Mini brown butter donut muffins have a soft, moist interior with a slightly crisp exterior that has been dunked in melted butter and then rolled in a whole whack of cinnamon sugar goodness.
Today I have just a few quick questions for you…
- Do you like muffins? {I loovvvee muffins}
- Do you like donuts? {Donut lover – guilty as charged}
- Do you like cinnamon sugar? {Mhmmmmmm…}
- Do you like butter? {I may be something of a butter addict}
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then these Mini Brown Butter Donut Muffins will definitely be your new best friend.
Why you’ll love this recipe:
- easy to make
- no yeast needed
- baked…no need to fry
- moist and fluffy
- rich brown butter flavor
- ready in under 30 minutes
- amazing eaten fresh from the oven
What is a donut muffin?
Little donut muffins have a soft, moist interior with a slightly crisp exterior that has been dunked in melted butter and then rolled in a whole whack of cinnamon sugar goodness. So, pretty much my definition of heaven wrapped up in a tiny little bite.
My sister years ago found a French Breakfast Puff recipe in a Taste of Home cookbook. They were amazing…so we gave them a twist and make this brown butter version.
Start with Brown Butter
What gives these cinnamon sugar dipped muffins their flavor? Browned butter. If you’ve never made it before, don’t worry…it’s easy! We have a complete guide to making brown butter here.
Can you make the muffins without brown butter? Yes. But although they’ll be good, they won’t have the same flavor.
Tips for Making Donut Muffins
- Make the browned butter enough in advance so that the butter cools slightly.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients. And don’t forget about the cornstarch! Cornstarch makes muffins tender by softening proteins in the flour.
- Mix the wet ingredients separately to make sure they’re well combined. Then fold the wet into the dry.
- Don’t overmix! It’s ok if there are a few small bits of flour. They’ll bake out during cooking.
- We baked the muffins in mini muffin tins. You can bake them in regular muffin tins. They’ll only make 12 muffins and you will have to bake them slightly longer.
- As soon as you can handle the muffins, roll them in butter, then in cinnamon sugar.
- The brown butter donut muffins are best if they are served warm.
- If you have leftovers, store in an airtight container and warm them in the microwave for 15-20 second or so when you are ready to serve them.
Mini Brown Butter Donut Muffins
Mini brown butter donut muffins have a soft, moist interior with a slightly crisp exterior that has been dunked in melted butter and then rolled in a whole whack of cinnamon sugar goodness.
Servings 24 servings
Calories 162kcal
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cup all purpose flour
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ½ cup brown butter
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cinnamon Sugar Topping
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ tablespoon cinnamon
- ½ cup butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit if you are using a regular oven or 375 if you are using convection. Grease your mini muffin tins and set aside.
- First you want to brown your butter. In a heavy bottomed saucepan melt your butter over medium heat. Once melted, turn the heat up to medium high and allow your butter to sizzle and get happy until it is golden brown; be sure to swirl the butter around in the pot every so often to ensure bits on the bottom don't burn.
- Once your butter has a nice nutty aroma and is a beautiful golden brown, remove the pan from the heat and transfer the brown butter to a heatproof bowl to cool slightly.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients; set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, vanilla until well combined. Slowly whisk in the browned butter. Once combined, pour the wet ingredients into the well of the dry ingredients.
- Use a spatula to gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined, being careful not to over-mix your batter – it is perfectly fine if you still have some streaks of dry ingredients here and there, as this will just end up giving you a more tender muffin.
- ** Note: If you over-mix, you run the risk of your muffins being tough – and let's be real, tough muffins are the enemy.
- Once your batter is mixed, fill your prepared mini muffin tins with about 1 tbsp of the batter each. They should basically fill the molds to the top but not be overflowing.
- Bake your mini muffins for about 12-14 minutes or until the tops are a nice golden brown and they spring back to the touch.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for five minutes in the pan. Don't let them cool off completely, because you want them to be a little warm still when you roll them in that cinnamon sugar.
Turning the muffins into donuts…
- Whisk together the cinnamon and sugar in a large mixing bowl; set aside. Once your donuts have cooled for a few minutes in the pan, turn them out onto a wired rack.
- Now it’s time to get real, and get your hands dirty. Dip one mini donut muffin at a time into the melted butter, just a touch and use a pastry brush or your fingers to lightly coat the muffin in the brown butter. You don’t need to go crazy here and start soaking the muffins, just moisten them a little bit on all sides.
- Once coated in the butter, toss the muffin into the cinnamon sugar mixture. You can probably toss about 4-5 mini donut muffins into the cinnamon sugar mixture at once, and then gently toss them in the cinnamon sugar to coat them with a generous layer of allllll that sugary goodness. Gently remove them from the bowl and return them to the wired rack. Repeat this process until all of your mini donut muffins have been coated.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
The calories shown are based on the recipe making 24 donuts, with 1 serving being 1 donut. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate. **We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information.**
Nutrition
Serving: 53g | Calories: 162kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 27mg | Sodium: 99mg | Potassium: 88mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 157IU | Calcium: 45mg | Iron: 1mg
Other Cinnamon Sugar Recipes
Cinnamon Swirl Bread 
Bisquick Cinnamon Rolls Cinnamon Scones Cinnamon Chips Brown Butter Cinnamon Rolls Cinnamon Butter Easy Cinnamon Muffins Churro Waffles Cinnamon Cupcakes
Thank you for this delicious recipe!
I was slaying it on my diet this morning. And now. I will be slipping into sweatpants for the next month and living on these alone. Don’t alert the authorities. I refuse to share. YUMMYYYYYY!!!