Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins taste like your favorite cinnamon & sugar donut from the bakery but in a muffin. Soft donut muffins dipped in butter and cinnamon and sugar. These muffins will disappear fast thanks to that sweet and crunchy topping.
Heat oven to 350°. Prepare a 12-cup muffin tin by spraying it really well with cooking spray. You can also use a 24-cup mini muffin tin as well.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir with a wire whisk to break up any clumps.
In a smaller bowl combine the milk, egg, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Stir with a whisk until combined.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir together with a spatula or wooden spoon until combined. You don't want to overmix but you also want to make sure that you mix it enough so no flour pockets or streaks remain in the batter.
Fill each muffin cup 3/4 full with the batter.
Cook regular sized muffins for 18-22 minutes. Cook mini-sized muffins for 12-14 minutes.
Let the muffins cool in the pan for about 10 minutes or until you're able to handle them without burning yourself for dipping.
Cinnamon Sugar Topping : Place melted butter in a small bowl. Mix together the sugar and cinnamon in another small bowl. Dip the tops of the muffins into the butter and then immediately into the cinnamon sugar topping.
Place dipped muffins on a cooling rack and repeat with the remaining muffins. Let cool completely or eat them warm.
Store leftovers, at room temperature, in a covered container or a gallon-sized Ziploc bag.
Notes
Milk : You can try using any milk you want but the recipe has been tested and made dozens of times using the higher fat whole milk. How do I tell when the muffins are done? The tops of the muffins will be puffy and domed. You can insert a toothpick into the center and it should come out with crumbs on it or nothing at all. If it comes out with wet batter then you need to keep cooking them. You can also gently press on the tops of the muffins and it should spring back once pressed lightly. The tops of the muffins will look like they're done, meaning there will be no wet shiny batter visible.Recipe originally published in 2015. It has been updated with more helpful text and better pictures in March 2021.