Glazed Spice-Cake Donut Muffins

I love spice cake.  I love donuts.  I love muffins.  Why not combine them all?  This recipe does not result in your typical Krispy Kreme, fried donut...although the glaze is quite similar.  The texture is more of a cake donut consistency, with a wonderful, spiced flavor.  They are the perfect thing to have in the morning with a warm, cup of coffee...so comforting, and very suitable for dunking.  They also keep well for a couple days (for best taste, no more than three), and who doesn't love leftovers? Another thing I love about this recipe is that there are so many options on how to prepare the batter.  You can bake them: into mini muffins (just reduce baking time), on parchment paper or greased baking sheet to create muffin top cookies, into one, large pan to create a snack cake/quick bread, in a donut pan, and/or you can frost them with cream cheese icing.  However, I absolutely adore this recipe the way it is - no alterations necessary.  

Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients:

For the muffins:

• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
• 3 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly

For the Glaze:

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1 cup confectioners' sugar; sifted

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons hot water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium muffin pan with cooking spray, or line with paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, mix sugar, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and flour. Whisk buttermilk, eggs, maple syrup, and butter in a separate medium bowl until just combined, and stir into the dry ingredients. Do NOT over mix. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan, about 3/4 of the way full.
3. Bake 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown.  Let rest for at least 5 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack.
4. For glaze, combine melted butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla, and hot water in a medium bowl.  Whisk until smooth.  When muffins have cooled slightly, dip the muffin crown into the glaze.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Churros

I will never forget the first time I had a churro.  I was at a local mall, walking by the Great American Cookie store (best place ever!), and I begged my mom if I could get something due to my caving in toward the mouth-watering smells of baked goods.  She said yes, of course, and I was about to order a couple cookies when I spotted a long, sugar coated, stick-like thing - a churro.  Since I was in Spanish at the time, I had heard of them and seen them in my textbooks.  I knew they were a popular breakfast/snack item in Mexico and Spain, and people often ate them with coffee or chocolate.  So I decided to try one...and I loved it sooo much.  It was crunchy on the outside, with a sweet, cinnamon sugar coating, and super moist, cakey, and soft on the inside.  It was like a cinnamon sugar donut, but ten times better.  This morning, I decided to try making it myself.  I was surprised at how easy the recipe I had saved was; there were no eggs, and the dough itself only had three main ingredients (vegetable oil, sugar and flour).  The result was even better than the churro I had at the cookie store! Mine literally -->melted in your mouth<--, and were incredibly addicting.  I think mine tasted so much better because they were fresher and very warm, whereas the one I had at the mall was room temperature and had probably been made a few hours earlier.  I was planning on saving one of my churros to see how it tasted at room temperature, but they didn't last that long - now that I think about it... the lasted maybe five minutes. These are very tasty with coffee, chocolate, or dipped in caramel sauce, but I love them the most hot from the frying pan - coated in lots of cinnamon sugar - with a refreshing, cold glass of milk on the side.  Yum.

Yield: about 2 to 3 servings (about 8 donut-hole sized churros, and 3 larger, long ones)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup water

• 2 1/2 tablespoons white sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 2 quarts oil for frying (I used vegetable oil)

• 1/2 cup white sugar, or to taste

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine water, 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar, salt and 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Stir in flour until mixture forms a ball.
2. Heat oil for frying in deep-fryer or deep skillet to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Pipe strips of dough into hot oil using a pastry bag, or make round, bite sized balls with your hands.  Fry until golden; drain on paper towels.
3. Combine 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon. Roll hot, drained churros in cinnamon and sugar mixture.

Baked Sugar and Spice Donuts

Hallelujah Bisquik! I made these donuts this morning and they were SO good!  The credit goes to Bakergirl, and you can find the recipe here. You have to make them. Seriously. But be warned: they are incredibly addicting.  I would have these over Dunkin Donuts any day.  And you get a buttery-sugar mixture on your fingers and you have to lick it off and - omg they're just amazing!!  And because they're made with Bisquik, they were ready within 20 minutes of me stepping foot in the kitchen.  Oh Bisquik..where would the world be without you??

Mini Donut Muffins

Last year, I made these goodies for a Christmas party with a ton of hungry athletes, and they were a huge hit.  These little donut muffins are the most addicting dessert I've ever had. They're like potato chips...once you have one, you just keeping popping them in your mouth and can't stop!  They taste just like cinnamon-sugar donuts, but in muffin form.  Typically, I would prefer a donut over a muffin...but these taste better than any donut I've ever had. The nutmeg is the secret ingredient that give them a wonderful, slightly spiced taste.  Because they're tiny, you get a buttery, cinnamon-sugary taste in every bite.  I promise you: you won't be able to have just one.

Yield: 12 mini muffins

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 3/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
•  
• 2 Tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease 24 mini-muffin cups.
2. Mix 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons butter, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Stir in the milk, then mix in the baking powder and flour until just combined. Fill the prepared mini muffin cups about half full.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the tops are lightly golden, 15 to 20 minutes.
4. While muffins are baking, place 2 tablespoons of melted butter in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together 1/4 cup of sugar with the cinnamon. Remove muffins from their cups, dip each muffin in the melted butter, and roll in the sugar-cinnamon mixture. Let cool and serve.