Easy Cinnamon & Sugar Mini Muffin - Best I've had!

Oh.My.God. That's how this post should start out. My obsession with belgian waffles can finally be put to rest because these little bites of bliss supersede even the best of syrup drenched waffle goodness. It's 95 degrees here in Jerz but I'm craving orchards dotted with apple trees, hot apple cider and those cinnamony donuts you find at the "pick your own" farms. Today, I set out to make a cakey sugar coated donut to please the senses.

Look no further. These are AWESOME! Sorry for shouting. I ate 10 while coating them in the cinnamon and sugar. These mini muffins/donut holes are soft, cake-like and immersed in an intense cinnamon sugar blend. Make these, make them now. Thank you Comfort Cooking for inspiring me. Hers featured banana and are called donut holes but I needed a little fall in the form of applesauce and felt these looked like muffins.

THE RECIPE:

Mine made 28 mini muffins

TIPS: 

• Use a cookie scoop for uniform sized mini muffins. It's great for cookies, muffins and even cupcakes (just fill 3x)
• Allow your egg to come to room temperature (takes about an hour)
• Use fresh grated nutmeg if you can. The flavor is more powerful
• Test your muffins approx. 8 minutes in. Mine took 10 minutes but oven temperatures vary
• Use left-over sugar mixture for baked oatmeal or a flavoring for spicy tea.

For the muffins
1 3/4 c all purpose flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t each of salt, cinnamon & nutmeg (I used fresh grated nutmeg - 1/2 nut)
1/3 c of canola oil
1/2 c of light brown sugar (not packed)
1 large egg
1 t vanilla
1/4 c + 1 T of unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 c of 1% milk

For the sugar topping
2 T melted butter
2/3 c granulated sugar
1 T of cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 24 serving mini muffin tin with muffin wrappers or grease muffin tin. Dry Ingredients: in a medium bowl sift together and then mix well (flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon & nutmeg). Set aside. For wet ingredients: in a large bowl mix the following: oil, light brown sugar, egg, vanilla, apple sauce and milk. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and fold gently until incorporated. Avoid over mixing. Using a cookie scoop, fill muffin tins 3/4 way. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool 10 minutes and then remove wrappers.

While cooling, melt butter in a bowl large enough to dip muffins. Blend sugar and cinnamon together.  Once muffins have cooled for 10 minutes and you've removed papers, immerse in butter, shake off excess butter and roll into sugar blend. Then let sit on wire wrack or consume!