Little Black Apron: Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins

Because I know you still have holiday treats to bake for friends, co-workers, and family functions I don't want to turn my back on the sinful food posts all together. Over the holiday weekend I just HAD to test out this recipe for Martha Stewart's Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins. It was in her Everyday Food magazine last month and had been calling my name from the pile of magazines every since. Funny how that happens.

This dough is more like the consistency of doughnut batter rather than muffin batter. Which was a little alarming at first. I double and triple checked my ingredient list before scooping them into tins just to make sure I didn't omit something to make this odd batter. Nope.  All systems go. These are pumpkin flavored, but not too over-powering. I like a little pumpkin flavor, not a lot.

There is not much sugar baked into the actual muffin because when they are out of the oven and cooled down enough to handle you....

wait for it....

...brush them with hot melted butter all over and roll the muffins in cinnamon and sugar!

Did you just die?  'Cause I died!

Anything rolled in butter and cinnamon/sugar is an instant winner with me. Might be because it reminds me of my all time favorite breakfast in bed as a child, cinnamon toast. Yum!

Okay, sorry, I got off track there.  The recipe made 12 muffins and I was a good girl and gave away all but two of them. I nibbled on it for two days. There is a note on the recipe at the end that they only keep for up to one day in an air tight container. I just couldn't resist saving one of the muffins past her expiration date to see why. She was right, as always. After a day the butter starts to break down the sugar and cinnamon on the outside of the muffins. The muffin still tasted amazing, but was not as pretty as the first day, for sure. I recommend eating these the same day you make them. They were the best an hour or so after they came out of the oven.

If you have a brunch to go to make them the morning of, they will be a hit! You will get to brag how "oh, they are just something I just threw together this morning", it's a win/win. (~Wink~)

Now before you go making these and coming back giving me a piece of your mind, let me warn you. These are not exactly easy to make. In fact, without a stand mixer (kitchenaid) I don't think I would have attempted these. It's not that they are complicated per se, there is just a lot of mixing in slowly, alternating with dry and wet ingredients, yada yada... The typical baking shenanigans. But let me remind you, I do not now, nor have I ever claimed to be a baker. So perhaps I over think things like this. I just don't want you to go into this recipe blind. Know there is a little labor involved in making the dough. K?

All this said, I will now give you a link to the recipe and post my photos so you can get an idea of the process.

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/pumpkin-doughnut-muffins

To butter and flour twelve muffin cups was even less fun than it sounds. If that's possible. It makes quite a little mess of flour dust in your kitchen. Take my advice and do most of the labor over the sink to minimize the damage.

Do you know why most baking recipes say "spoon and level" by the dry ingredients like flour?

It makes a huge difference in the finished product. If you pack flour down in the cup you can cram up to an extra tablespoon or more of flour in the measuring cup. Exact measurements are very important in baking. (It's the only time you will see me not eyeballing measurements in the palm of my hand.) When recipes call for spooning the flour in the cup it is keep flour light and airy, not packed and tight. Packed or too much flour might give you a packed and heavy muffin!

For perfect baking measurements, lightly spoon the flour in the cup, overfilling it. Then use the back of a knife to gently level it off; taking caution to just knock the extra flour off, not pack it down in the cup.