I swear, these Mini Cinnamon Muffins taste just like doughnuts! Except, well, you know. They’re baked, not deep fried. 🙂 And the inside is plusher and more buttery. I challenge you to stop at one!
Mini cinnamon muffins
These mini cinnamon muffins are an easy, bake-now treat made with pantry staples – butter, sugar, flour, eggs, and cinnamon. No store runs for buttermilk, no overpriced out-of-season blueberries, no frustration because someone’s raided the chocolate chips!
I made them mini rather than regular muffin size for extra cute factor (think – popping in your mouth) and you’ll love how plush the crumb is. Noticeably softer and more delicate than regular muffins.
Honestly, these little bites of joy taste just like mini cinnamon doughnuts and will vanish by the handful! Make them for breakfast, lunchboxes, afternoon tea… or simply when you need a bit of mini muffin happiness. Which is – always, no?😃
Proof of extra plush soft crumb
Here’s a close up of the inside. Notice how the crumb looks more like soft Vanilla Cupcakes – tighter with smaller holes – rather than regular muffins which tend to have larger more irregular holes and are not quite as soft inside. This extra plush crumb is borrowed from Madeleines, the little French butter cakes. Apparently the French know a thing or two about baking….?. 😉
Ingredients in Mini Cinnamon Muffins
Here’s what you need to make these. Tell me you have everything you need! 🙂
Flour – Just plain / all-purpose flour. Wholemeal flour can be used but will make the crumb less soft and it will probably puff up a bit more because the batter will be a bit thicker.
Caster sugar (superfine sugar) – Used in two ways: some goes into the batter, and the rest for coating the mini muffins. While regular granulated sugar can be substituted in the batter, you’ll need the finer caster sugar for the coating so it sticks (the regular sugar grains are too large).
Baking powder – The leavening agent that makes these mini muffins rise. You can substitute the flour plus baking powder with self raising flour, but the crumb won’t be as soft and it won’t rise as much, simply because the built in baking powder is not as fresh.
Check – If your baking powder has been hiding in your cupboard unused for months, check it’s still active!
Eggs – Large eggs – which are sold in cartons labelled “large eggs”, 600 – 660g for a dozen (21-23 oz) or 50 – 55g each in shell (~2oz). Don’t need to be pedantic about exact size in this recipe, just don’t use say, giant ostrich eggs. 🙂 If you’ve only got mega eggs, use the conversion here to figure out how much to use in this recipe.
Best at room temperature but will still work if they’re fridge cold in this recipe (give it an extra vigorous whisk with the sugar before adding everything else).
Unsalted butter – For beautiful buttery flavour! I rarely use butter as the dominant oil in muffins as they tend to dry the crumb out. But for these muffins, it doesn’t – thanks to the different order in which the ingredients are mixed into the batter. The French are so clever!
I almost always used unsalted butter so I can control the amount of salt in recipes, bearing in mind that the amount of salt in salted butter varies from brand to brand.
Oil (tiny amount) – Any neutral flavoured oil (vegetable, canola, grapeseed). Just 2 teaspoons improves the shelf life of these muffins. The general rule of thumb with fat in baked goods is – butter adds flavour, oil keeps things moist – because oil stays liquid at room temperature.
Milk – This is to loosen the batter a little bit, rather than using more oil (too greasy, weighs it down).
Vanilla – Extract rather than artificial essence, which is imitation so doesn’t taste as good.
Salt – Standard baking practice these days, to bring out the flavours.
Oil spray – For easy greasing of the many little holes of mini muffin tins. If you don’t have oil spray, brush with plain oil. I know it’s tempting to use butter, but it’s not as good for ensuring it doesn’t get stuck – as I found out myself first hand – because butter is ~15% water.
How to make Mini Cinnamon Muffins
Note to experienced bakers: the batter is looser than regular muffin batters, and the order in which ingredients are added isn’t typical for Western muffins because, as mentioned above, this recipe borrows from French Madeleines. And that is why they are softer and more plush inside compared to regular muffins!
Wet – Whisk the egg and sugar vigorously using a handheld whisk for 20 seconds until it becomes pale yellow. Then add the oil, vanilla, milk and whisk to incorporate.
Dry – Whisk the dry ingredients in a medium bowl (flour, baking powder and salt) then gently whisk into the egg mixture in two batches (ie add half, whisk, add rest, whisk).
Add butter last – Lastly, gently whisk in the butter until it’s incorporated.
Batter thickness – You have a smooth, fairly loose batter than can be poured rather than scooped like in a mound like ice cream into the muffin tin. When you fill the muffin tin, the surface should level out.
Is yours a little thicker? That’s ok! It will still work, your muffins will mound a bit more, it’s not a big deal. Thicker batters can happen because your eggs or milk were not at room temperature (cold liquids make stiffer batters).
Fill – Grease the muffin tin with oil spray generously. Doing it immediately prior helps the muffins release easily – don’t do this ahead and don’t grease with butter (it’s ~15% water!). Fill the holes 3/4 full. If you do too much, they will overflow and will not rise as much as they could. If you have a little leftover batter, use a paper liner in a regular muffin tin and bake it on the floor of the oven (this way it won’t get in the way of the heat circulation of the mini muffin tin.
Bake for 12 minutes at 180°C/350°F (160°C fan-forced) until the mini muffins on the outer edge have golden tops, the ones in the middle are pale golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean, no raw batter.
Bang out – Leave in the muffin tin for 2 minutes, then invert and bang out the mini muffins. They’re too fragile to pick out one by one.
Coat in cinnamon sugar – As soon as they’re cool enough to handle, toss the muffins in cinnamon sugar to coat all over. The sugar clings best to the tops while hot, but it sticks to the sides and base just as well whether warm or cooled. If you are having trouble getting the sugar to stick to the top, brush lightly with melted butter.
Pile the Mini Cinnamon Muffins into bowls and serve right away. They’re at their absolute best warm, but still taste wonderful for a couple of hours after baking, even without reheating.
For the next day – and the one after – I can’t stress enough how much better they are lightly warmed! Just 20 seconds in the microwave makes them extra soft and brings out their gorgeous buttery flavour.
And once again, impossible to stop popping in your mouth, one by one, until – gasp, shock, horror – who ate all the Cinnamon Muffs??!!! – Nagi x
Mini cinnamon muffins FAQ
I’m afraid I haven’t tried but I don’t think they will be as soft inside!
3 to 4 days in an airtight container, coated in the sugar – it sticks well and doesn’t sweat off. However, I strongly recommend warming them up lightly! It makes them so soft again, like they’re freshly made. 🙂
Pretty straight forward actually. I have wanted to add a simple plain muffin recipe to my repertoire, one where you don’t have to go to the shops for, say, buttermilk which is a common ingredient in muffins as it makes them soft and improves shelf life (muffins are notorious for being quite stale even on day 2).
So I decided to make a simple cinnamon muffin. Made regular size ones then mini ones, and the mini ones were just irresistible!! The whole popping-in-mouth thing was the clincher, and also I like that they are smaller so you get a higher cinnamon-sugar-to-cake ratio.
As for the batter – I have been meaning to see what else I could make using the Madeleines batter. I love it because Madeleines are softer and more buttery than regular muffins, I’d go as far to say they are as soft as my Vanilla Cupcakes – but with a fraction of the work. For one, Madeleines are entirely hand whisked. And there’s just less steps to make the batter.
The batter for Madeleines, however, needs to be rested preferably overnight. So I tweaked the batter to remove that step but still achieve the same texture inside, and also I fiddled with the baking powder ratio because I didn’t want the Madeleines hump, I wanted a sweet dome. 🙂
Surprisingly straightforward, even version 1 was pretty good, but the batter quantity was way out (way too much), and I wasn’t impressed with the shelf life – dried out more than acceptable on Day 2. So I fiddled with ratios again, and was pretty happy with Version 2.
After this, I tried iterations with less sugar, less butter, more oil (thinking it would improve shelf life – didn’t, weighed the batter down). All up, I probably made it 8 times? On the low end for a baking recipe, to be honest, plus it’s fast to make. 🙂
Watch how to make it
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Mini Cinnamon Muffins
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup plain flour / all-purpose flour (Note 1)
- 1 1/4 tsp baking powder (make sure yours is still active!)
- 1/8 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
- 2 large eggs , at room temperature (55-60g/2oz each)
- 1/2 cup caster sugar / superfine sugar (Note 2)
- 2 tsp oil (canola, veg or other neutral oil)
- 2 tbsp milk , full fat best but low fat ok
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 75g (5 tbsp) unsalted butter , melted and cooled but still warm
- Canola oil spray , or other neutral oil spray (Note 1)
Cinnamon sugar:
- 2 tbsp caster sugar / superfine sugar (Note 2)
- 3/4 tsp cinnamon powder
Instructions
ABBREVIATED:
- Whisk flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and sugar vigorously, then oil, milk and vanilla. Add flour in 2 batches, then butter. Spray mini muffin tin, fill 3/4 full, bake 12 min at 180°C/350°F (160°C fan), bang out then toss in cinnamon sugar.
FULL RECIPE:
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan-forced). (Don't grease the muffin tin yet)
- Cinnamon Sugar – Mix the ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
- Dry ingredients – Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.
- Wet ingredients – In a separate medium bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar vigorously for 20 seconds until pale yellow. Add oil, milk and vanilla and whisk again.
- Finish batter – Add half the flour, gently whisk in, then whisk in the remaining flour. Gently whisk in the butter until incorporated. Set aside while you prepare the muffin tin.
- Spray and bake – Generously spray a 24 hole mini muffin tin with oil. (Note 3) Fill each 3/4 full with batter (don't be greedy and overfill, they will not rise as they should!). A small cookie scoop with lever is handy, or a jug or piping bag.
- Bake 12 minutes. Cool for 2 minutes then invert and assertively bang the pan edge on a work surface to knock the muffins out of the tin. (Don't try to pry out, they will break)
- Toss in cinnamon sugar while warm (sticks better) then serve immediately!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Mr Dozer has had a rough week. 😢 We’ve had a fair few visits to the vet – four in five days (!) – to try to figure out what was wrong with him. He was extremely weak, barely able to walk, and showing signs of extreme nausea but was not bringing anything up, and the rear end was business as usual. He was hit with frequent “gulping” episodes, and he’d look at me with panicked “help me” eyes.
The vet was a bit stumped, so he was subjected to a series of tests, from bloods to X-rays to ultrasounds to try to figure it out, with some worrying possibilities mentioned.
Then all of a sudden on Day 5 it transformed into acute gastro. We are talking, explosive. We are talking – battening down the hatches to prepare the house for the inevitable storm that is Dozer going through mega-gastro. Waterproof floor coverings “everywhere”, cordoning off “Dozer-proof” areas. Rubber gloves. Carpet cleaner. Industrial laundry liquid. Baby wipes galore. Freaking out if Dozer parks himself anywhere in the house not protected.
Even – adult nappies. 😂 I had a thought that I could cut a tail hole. It didn’t work. 😂 It wouldn’t stay on, and he was so unhappy during the fitting sessions when I was deep in the design phase, I decided he’d been through enough and scrapped it.
IF YOU KNEW WHAT I HAD DEALT WITH AT 11 PM, 1 AM AND 3 AM YOU WOULD NOT MOCK ME FOR TRYING THIS!!
BTW, there are actually such things as dog nappies apparently, but I needed an immediate solution!
Anyway, he is home, minus a good chunk of fur on his rear end and belly, and based on where things are at there’s a few days to go yet. But it’s a relief to know what the problem is, and he’s definitely not in as much discomfort has he was a few days ago!
I am also pleased to report that through all of this, he didn’t lose his appetite at all. Even when he was so weak he couldn’t stand long enough to eat all the food in his bowl, his legs shaking and near collapse, relying on me to hold him up, when his nausea was at his worst and he was barely sleeping because of the constant gulping – he ate his way through the entire ordeal.
Atta boy. 🥰
Much love to dozer and hope he’s feeling better soon. Gastritis is so scary and wow what an exhausting mess to deal with! Hope you get some rest too after dealing with the stress of it all. I did the same thing trying to cut holes in diapers to contain everything when our shelter would get that. I have so much empathy for you and dozer!
OMG these are FABULOUS and so quick and easy to make. Just as well because the first batch I made disappeared in less time than they took to cook. Just whipped up another lot !
I hope you and Dozer both have a better week this week!
Ain’t they amazing Sue! Thank you very much for the great feedback!
As per my comment yesterday, I have just pulled my GF muffins from oven shaken them in cinnamon sugar and they are brilliant. One of my best GF efforts to date. I used WhiteWings GF plain flour. Next time I make them I am thinking of adding jam to them. Just can’t decide if I should add jam in the cooking process use a syringe once cooked. Any thoughts?
Hi Janette, we are happy to hear that worked with GF flour 🙂 Using a syringe to inject jam in the centre at the end sounds great!
I add lemon or passionfruit curd or jam to regular muffins via 1/3 mixture in tin then a small layer of jam, then 2/3 mixture. It doesn’t work in mini pans as the bottom goes soggy.
tldr. I’d syringe jam they’re after cooked. Let us know how it went?
These were soo good! I “veganized” them for our kids, turned out just like the little mini doughnuts they sell at our fair grounds! Thanks for another great recipe.
Hope all goes well with Dozer.❤️
Hello Nagi
I baked these mini muffins as soon as I received your recipe yesterday . Simple bites of happiness, just as you described them !!! Shall I confess there is not a single mini muffin left this morning 😇😉!!!
Poor Dozer, your description reminds me of a similar situation with our Mambo, a golden too. He was very bad but recovered quicky . I am sure Super Dozer will too. Do take care both of you 😘
Thanks Adeline for your lovely message about Dozer, and we are glad the recipe was well received! Now it’s time to make more!
Dozer – my heart goes out to you Nagi. Before anything else I go to dozer in your recipes. I feel good when you are both doing well and pray to the big dog in the sky when dozer is doing it tough.
Good luck to you all
M
Nagi, I love you so much, you inspire me to cook everything I am hopeless in cooking at, your videos are important to me and help me with my cooking. Thanks you from the bottom of my heart 🙂
Thanks for these lovely words Lucy!
Hi Nagi!! My Japanese mum tried the exact same things with the adult nappies for our dog Cindy 😂 we actually lived in the northern beaches too and used to see you and dozer at the dog park when we took our girls down there. Sending lots of love 🩷🩷 glad dozer is feeling better
Hello, I am so sorry to hear about Dozer’s problems. I hope he is feeling better now. Sending him lots of love and hugs ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗. Take care of him and yourself 🌸
Made these last night in my air fryer. They were so delicious… only 3 of us and we ate 21! Oops! Thanks Nagi for another great recipe 😋
Hi Basia, so glad to hear they worked out well using your air fryer! How long did you cook them for?
Hi JB. I only have 12 cup mini muffin tins so did 2 separate bakes. Both done in 30L air fryer on bake function at 160C and took 15 minutes. Next time I will try at 180C for 12 minutes. We ate the remaining 3 cold and they were still delicious and tasted even more like a cinnamon doughnut. 😋
How many minutes in the air fryer?
Hi Vicki. It took me 15 minutes at 160C on Bake Function. Let me know how you go if you do it differently 😊
Just made these for my son and I for brunch and they were delish! Very light and tasty. We ate them all. Might have to make another batch, now, lol.
Sending our love to poor Dozer (and you too, obviously). xxx
Thanks Monica! Glad you and your son enjoyed them! Time to make more haha
Poor Dozer,Its terrible when they cant tell you what is wrong, but he has to be one of the most loved and cosseted pets of all time and thats why he is so good when you are trying to help him, he knows how much he is loved.
Just made these with GF flour and lactose free milk and lactose free butter, absolutely perfection!!! Thanks Nagi 😊
Made these exactly as stated, but there was batter left over. Because I only have one mini muffin tin, I ended up putting the rest of the batter in my madeleine tin. Oh my Gosh! My kids and I loved them absolutely delicious. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
These fresh from the oven are a mouthful of pleasure x 1z. I have had to put some into the freezer, for another day to avoid giving myself the name of “Gutz.” Thank goodness for Dozer’s recovery.. … that nasty bout had us all worried Nagi.
Nagi, when we were in Texas last winter, our neighbor’s dog went through something similar. She kept taking him back to the vet for all kinds of tests and nothing in particular was found. It took care of itself after a week. We just figured it was some kind of infection that wasn’t showing up. The explosive poos were the most difficult to deal with. She was doing tons of laundry. It’s great that Dozer is on the mend. Since he’s getting older, it worries me. I can’t have a furry pet. My asthma allergy is too severe around furry animals of all sorts. I just live vicariously through the stories of other’s pets. Keep the Dozer stories coming.
Absolutely delicious. Used a full size muffin tin because I don’t have a mini and they puffed up nicely. Beautiful texture. The third recipe of yours I’ve made and they’ve all been foolproof. Thank you Nagi. I hope Dozer feels better soon
Thanks Julie, glad it worked in the large muffin size. Did you use muffin liners?
No Nagi, just brushed them with oil (I didn’t have spray). Used your “bang the pan” method and all came out intact except 2, which left some of the bottom in the pan. I probably didn’t use enough oil in those.
Sorry! I mean Chef JB
As soon as my husband saw this recipe on tv I was under pressure to make them! So, this morning I did and they were delectable little morsels of cakey goodness, reminding me of my mum’s tea cake but in bite-size form. So delicious, so easy and so addictive! (Sending love to Dozer ❤️)
Hi Jane, Sounds like you nailed them! Small size tea cake are the best and dangerously easy to eat one after another!
So glad to hear he is on the mend & commend you on how much of a loving Mom you are. Wishing you both a speedy recovery. Sending much love & hugs from Canada..
I will pray for Dozer’s recovery. Sending my love to both of you.
All I can say is my heart and prayers for complete recovery are with you both