Glazed Doughnut Muffins

At work, we have an extremely busy part of the year (referred to as our "busy season"). Busy season runs from about January to March. For my team, it ended on February 23rd. To celebrate the end of this stressful and grueling period, some of the girls on the team went to get Mani/Pedi's (manicures/pedicures for my abbreviation-challenged friends) and drink Mimosas. To add one more "M" to the mix, I decided to make muffins for the ladies (I'm pretty crafty, I know).

I stumbled upon this recipe when I browsing through FoodGawker (great site to gather recipes, by the way). Apparently, doughnut muffins are the new "thing" because I found a ton of different kinds. I chose this basic recipe since it was my first time making them; didn't wanna get too crazy right off the bat!

 

Look at those marvelous specks of nutmeg. Simply gorgeous.

Even though I gave up sweets for lent, I made sure to include a little caveat: I can still taste the food I make to ensure that all the proper flavors are there. Therefore, I cannot eat anything I make past the initial point of completion (hours after the finish product has been created). So I was able to taste these muffins... and boy did they taste amazing! The muffin wasn't as dense as I imagined it to be, which is a good thing. I'm not a fan of super heavy pastries (probably because it would make it hard for me to eat more than one). Even dense biscuits are a turn off to me. Yeah, I said it!

The nutmeg in the recipe takes these otherwise ordinary muffins to the next level. Talk about flavor explosion! But the real anchor of this recipe is the glaze. Definitely out of this world. Make sure to double-dip the muffins in the glaze to make them extra-great.


Recipe (adapted from My Baking Addition)

For the Batter

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk

For the Glaze

• 3 tablespoons salted butter; melted
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar; sifted
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons hot water

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly grease a standard muffin tin. Or line with 12 paper muffin cups, and grease the cups with non-stick vegetable oil spray; this will ensure that they peel off the muffins nicely.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together the butter, vegetable oil, and sugars till smooth. Add the eggs, beating to combine. Stir in the baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla.

Stir the flour into the butter mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour and making sure everything is thoroughly combined.

Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared pan, filling the cups nearly full.

Bake the muffins for 15 to 17 minutes, or until they’re a pale golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the middle of one of the center muffins comes out clean.

In a medium bowl, prepare the glaze by mixing together the melted butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and water. Whisk until smooth.

When muffins have cooled slightly, dip the muffin crown into the glaze and allow the glaze to harden. At this point, you can leave them as is or go for the double dip. As I said above, I glazed the muffins twice.

Serve warm, or cool on a rack and wrap airtight. Muffins will keep at room temperature for about a day.