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. 🥰
I will try these muffins, but I was so sorry to read about poor Dozer’s health issues. I hope he is on the mend and will stay healthy for a long, long time. You are the best Mom so he will thrive once again.
Thanks for your lovely message Mary! let us know how you go with the mini muffins 🙂
It’s ALWAYS hard to watch our fur babies sick and feeling helpless when you don’t know what’s happening. So glad for both your sakes the wonderful vets were able to tell you why he was sick. Don’t envy the sleepless nights. Hope he’s getting better xoxo.
Poor Dozer, sorry to hear he hasn’t been well but what a trooper that he didn’t stop eating throughout the ordeal.
Wishing Dozer a speedy recovery and can’t wait to make the mini cinnamon muffins as I love everything cinnamon ❤️
Get well soon Dozer!
Dozer, I’m so sorry for your health issues but you have the best Mom ever so please continue to gain your strength and feel better. Lots of love and healing energy. xo
Oh, poor both of you. I can imagine how scared you must have been! It’s always so difficult to see our friends suffering and having no clue about what’s wrong with them.
I’m truly glad things are looking up now.🤗
And I must admit, I laughed out loud when I saw the pic with the nappies with a hole XD
I’ll try those mini muffins this weekend, as they look delicious.
Lots of love for you both ♥
So – imagine what it looked like when I’m trying to put that nappy ON him!!! It was a battle, and his fighting legs tore the first one, then the second one he was playing dead weight so I was trying to lift the rump of a 40kg dog to slide it on, but with him completely lying on his side refusing to get up, it was impossible to fit on him properly!!! I laugh now but at the time…OMG!😂
I loved the adult nappies! Years ago I had a female German Shepherd Dog who had not been “fixed” so she occassionally had “periods” and would drip… Not pleasant. I tried little girl panties with a hole cut for her tail. Didn’t work well. Then toddler pull-up “Pampers” (nappies), also with a hole cut for the tail. She would shred these. Finally I bought a bunch of dog diapers/nappies that fastened with velcro. They worked. But, my, what a hassle it all was! So, my heart goes out to you having to endure all that frustration and to poor, not-feeling-well Dozer having to put up with that! 🥰
OMG! 🤣🤣🤣 Dozer’s fight for dignity! .
It must have been very stressful, but luckily, it’s now another funny tale in the ongoing saga ‘Life of Dozer’ 😂
Was keen to make these as soon as I saw the recipe! I made them for a coffee treat for my grandparents. They were very popular. Thank you for a yummy treat idea.
Just made these and they were perfect. My partner commented they tasted just like a donut…then I showed him the description 😋
Beautiful Dozer such a precious boy, keep him going he loves his life and his Mommy. Bet he’s glad he can’t see his rear end! Bless him, we love you Nagi and our Dozer stay strong xx
Oh Dozer, you poor boy. Hang in there. Nagi needs you and you need her. Lots of love Clare
Dozer is a fighter that’s for sure. I made these as soon as I saw the recipe this afternoon and they were lovely! They are like a miniature tea cake, recommend you go heavy with the cinnamon sugar and eat whilst warm!
So happy to hear that Dozer is on the mend. It’s such a worry when our furries are so unwell. We have an older ‘sugar faced’ beagle who has health issues too. We do what we can to keep them healthy 🐾❤️. Hope you are looking after yourself too Nagi 😌. BTW – these mini muffins look scrummy. Will definitely give these a go.
I’ve never cooked something so fast after reading a recipe and my goodness this one is brilliant! Bang on for the measurements exactly right for one mini muffin tray, they came out of the oven perfectly and are absolutely delicious in every way!
After cooking I read about Dozer, what a trooper I hope he’s on the up and up soon.
So sorry for what you and Dozer have been through, but glad the worst of it is over. What size is the cookie scoop you used for these please? I’d like to get them uniform, so wondering if 2 tablespoons would be too much as I don’t have a small cookie scoop?
OMG, I LOVE cinnamon donuts, so I am making these little gems tomorrow for sure. I can’t wait to indulge in them. Poor Dozer, it’s so scary when your baby is so sick, I’m so glad he is on the mend now. As another person said, Thank You for taking the time to send us another wonderful recipe when you have had your hands full with Dozer.
Just like anyone I guess – have to balance personal life and work! 🙂 Besides, cooking is my happy place, it’s a break from Dozer-cleaning!!!😂
Made these and they were great! I used my airfryer, followed the same 160 degrees for 12 mins and they were just right! Another success. Thank you and God bless.
WOW! How did you make them in an airfyrer, did the muffin tin fit??? N x
Hey Nagi,
I know it’s mini muffins, but would it still work if I put it in a madeleine tray?
So happy that Dozer is doing better! Our 80 lb German shepherd is our “little baby” girl. So, we can certainly identify with you and your distress, Nagi! Oh, we can hardly wait to make the muffins!
Sending you and Dozer MUCH LOVE and BIG HUGS from Estonia!!! ❤️❤️❤️
Barbara and family
He he I call Dozer my baby boy too and he is 80lb as well!!! Thank you for the hugs, need it today, it’s been a long week! Have a great weekend Barbara – N x
Hi Nagi,
Thank you so much for your lovely response! You need to know that we have been following you and your PRECIOUS Dozer for years! We actually feel that you are family, even though we sadly have never met you in person.
Sending both of you big hugs from Estonia! ❤️❤️❤️
Barbara and Family
Nagi – SORRY for being ill-mannered and ‘speaking another language’ on your post – BUT how many people in the world can reach one another in Estonian most people do not even know exists ! Take a look and smile 🙂 !!!
Kas tohib tervisi talvisest Sydneyst tagasi saata 🙂 ?
Muidugi tohib, aitäh tervituste eest! Saadan suvised tervitused Tallinnast vastu 🙂
I am so sorry to hear about poor Dozer. Glad though he is getting better, he is such a champion to go through this and still want to eat, god bless him. All the very best to you and Dozer. Speedy recover Dozer. xxxooo
Just made these! They came out perfectly! So perfectly they’re all gone now!
You’re the first person in the world to make this!!🤗 So glad they were enjoyed! N xx