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These Mini Donut Muffins are the ultimate breakfast treat! We dunk the tops of these donut muffins in melted butter and then dip them in a mixture of cinnamon sugar for a buttery, sweet crust on top. I’ve been making these since I was a teen!
Let’s face it—there’s something magical about donuts.
It’s The Butter Bath For Me!!
Did I decide to make donuts a wee bit less indulgent by baking up a batch of mini muffins that look and taste like donut holes?
Yes. Sure did.
Did I then decide to give them a little bath in a bowl of warm, melted, salted butter?
Guilty as charged.
Less indulgent than a deep-fried donut situation? Questionable.
Just as delicious? 100%.
Honestly, I’ve been making these mini donut muffins since I was a kid myself! They’re giving major donut hole vibes and the rich, buttery crunch on the outside is the stuff that dreams are made of.
Grab a cup of coffee and a pile of donut muffins. Your day is about to get delicious.
3 Reasons You’ll Love This Recipe!
- Bite-Sized Perfection: Mini donut muffins mean you can have “just one more” without an ounce of guilt. That’s how it works, right?
- No Frying Required: All the donut flavor, none of the hot grease + mess.
- Cinnamon-Sugar Magic: The buttery coating and sweet topping take these over the top.
More Breakfast Favorites:
We love lazy weekend morning breakfasts! Here are some of my personal favorites:
What Readers are Saying!
“Made these this morning for the family, and the were great. They all loved them. The tasted almost like snicker-doodles, so that was a major plus also. Thanks for the amazing recipe! ^_^” – Sara
How To:
Muffin Batter: In a large bowl beat together the milk, sugar, egg, and oil. In a separate bowl start mix the dry ingredients; some flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Combine those with the wet ingredients and mix until smooth.
Bake: When you’ve prepared the donut muffin batter you can start pouring it into a greased mini muffin tin. There should be enough batter for 24 mini muffins, and you’ll only need to fill each tin about 3/4 of the way full.
Mini Muffin Tin
This mini muffin tin gets a workout in our kitchen. It’s perfect for making smaller sized muffins, but we also use it make homemade tots and baked quiche bites.
They’ll rise in the oven and should be finished in about fifteen minutes. Once they’ve finished baking let them cool for a few minutes before you move on to the final (and my favorite!) step.
Dunk: These muffins are good as they are right out of the oven, but we’re going to make them even better!
Once the muffins have cooled enough to handle, melt some butter in the microwave and then mix together some cinnamon and sugar in a separate bowl.
This will make the perfect topping for the muffins! Start dunking each muffin top into the melted butter, and then into the cinnamon and sugar mix. Finally, they are ready to eat!
Why Do We Call These Donut Muffins?
The richness of the butter and the crackle of the cinnamon and sugar topping gives these that deep fried cake donut vibe. These are the best mash-up between muffins and donuts!
FAQs:
Nope, you can use a regular sized muffin tin, though you’ll need to adjust bake time accordingly. These should take closer to 20-25 minutes in a full size muffin tin.
I’ve not tested it myself but these should work well with any 1:1 gluten free flour blend.
Sure! They will keep best in an airtight container for a few days. Place a paper towel in the bottom of the container. Add your muffins. Place a second paper towel over the top. This will help keep them from getting too soggy in the container.
More Breakfast Recipes:
More Muffin Recipes!
We love muffins for breakfast or just as a snack or treat any time of the day! Below are a few of our favorites:
- Applesauce Donut Muffins
- Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Muffins
- Monkey Bread Muffins with Icing
- Blackberry Muffins with Streusel Topping
- Pigs in a Blanket Pancake Muffins
Sugar Donut Muffins
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup milk
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 cup melted butter for dipping
- 1/2 cup sugar for rolling
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon for rolling
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and grease mini muffin tin with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl beat together milk, sugar, vegetable oil, egg, and vanilla until well combined.
- In small bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir to combine.
- Pour into muffin tins, filling each about 3/4 full.
- Bake for about 15 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
- Melt the butter in a small bowl in the microwave.
- Stir together sugar and cinnamon in another small bowl.
- When the muffins are done allow to cool for a few minutes, until you are able to handle them easily.
- Dunk the tops of each muffin into the melted butter and then the cinnamon sugar. Set aside to cool.
Erica from Cooking for Seven says
How can you make me so hungry?! Those look so delicious.
HaB says
Oh…I think I need a moment….and I think this is what we will be having for breakfast in my house tomorrow.
Niki says
Wow, these look fantastic! I love the little cinnamom sugar donut holes from Dunkin Donuts! You know, these would probably be good if you left out any spice and piped jelly in the middle, then rolled them in just sugar. I think when I make these for my co-workers, I will make half cinnamon sugar and half jelly filled! They’d love them!
Diane says
My kids love these when I make them without the nutmeg.
Nooschi says
Mmmm…those look delicious. They do look like donuts in muffin form.
ABowlOfMush says
aww these are so incredible cute!!
Memoria says
*scratches head* I don’t understand how children eating cold cereal is a bad thing. Well, anyway, your muffins look delicious! I would love some!
Emily says
These sound great! I definitely will be trying them next time I get a donut craving.
Aliceson says
This recipe couldn’t have come at a better time. My grandparents are staying with us for a few weeks and my grandfather’s must have treat is a plain cake donut. It seems that the bakeries around here only sell cake donuts with glaze, frosting, etc. on them. I will make these and leave half plain for him but do the cinnamon sugar for the rest of us.
Yumm, thank you!
Jill says
Oh, sweet mother of God, I love you. I love you more than I love my husband right now.
Anh says
These look amazing! I love the spices and the sugar!
Karly says
Nancy,
The nutmeg probably does make them a bit tastier, but I wouldn’t hesitate to make them if I was out. I’d probably substitute either cinnamon, mace, or ginger in place of it, just to give it a little spice.
Karly
Nancy says
Any chance they taste just as delicious without the nutmeg?
Danielle says
Loving these! I am going to have to try them out one of these days!
Thanks for the recipe!
MamaBug says
I think you want to make sure I stay chubby. 😉