Cinnamon Sugar Muffins

What better way to start your day than with cinnamon sugar muffins? I have a few memories of waking up on the weekends to steaming blueberry ones topped with cane sugar that my mom made. They were so sweet and she always put extra pats of butter in mine. I'm not sure if she used a mix from a box, but I would still stuff my face with them today.



I saw this recipe on tastespotting and knew I had to try it when I saw the enticing photo. This was my first time baking muffins and they didn't turn out as nice as the original baker's; the tops failed to raise high enough to form crowns and I slightly overmixed the ingredients. I halved the recipe and the proportions seemed fine.

I didn't read the recipe carefully at the last step that called for dipping in butter, then dipping in a cinnamon-sugar mixture. I instead mixed the melted butter, sugar, and cinnamon together. Dipping them individually in the butter was messy and caused the butter to dribble onto the paper thingys, giving an oily appearance so I stuck to spreading the topping mixture with a knife.

Cinnamon Sugar Muffins
Recipe adapted from here



Muffins
2 cups flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
1 cup plain yogurt
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
4 to 8 tbsp. vegetable oil*
1 tsp. vanilla

Topping
1/2 stick of butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line standard muffin pan with paper cups.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, yogurt, sugar, oil and vanilla. Slowly add the flour mixture to the wet mixture. Do not over mix.

3. Divide batter among the muffin cups and bake for about 12-13** minutes. As soon as the muffins are done, remove from pan and place on a wire rack with a paper towel underneath.

4. While the muffins are baking, melt 1/2 stick of butter. Mix sugar and cinnamon with melted butter. Spread the topping mixture over each with a knife.

5. Sprinkle additional sugar and cinnamon as desired onto muffins.

Serves 20 muffins
*Add oil depending on how moist you want the muffins to be. I added halfway between the range and they turned out fine, texture-wise.
**The original recipe called for 12-15 minutes, but I only left mine in for 13 but the edges came out darker than I would have liked so adjust your time accordingly.