The key facts
- The recipe yields 12 muffins and takes about 30–35 minutes
- Shortening from the American original is replaced with butter
- The finished muffins are dipped in melted butter, then in cinnamon sugar
A breakfast straight out of old American movies: cinnamon muffins in half an hour
Life.ru has published a step-by-step recipe for cinnamon muffins, styled after breakfasts from American films of the 1970s. According to the outlet, preparing the batter and baking takes about 30 to 35 minutes, and the listed quantities yield 12 muffins. In the original American version, shortening — a solid pastry fat — is added to the batter, but the editors suggest replacing it with softened butter, which gives the baked goods a delicate flavor and aroma.
Ingredients and preparation order
For the batter you need 190 g of wheat flour, 100 g of sugar, 75 g of butter, one egg, 120 ml of milk, one and a half teaspoons of baking powder, half a teaspoon of salt, and a quarter teaspoon of ground nutmeg. For the coating, separately measure out 85 g of butter, 100 g of sugar, and a teaspoon of ground cinnamon. The outlet points out an important nuance: nutmeg goes into the batter, while cinnamon is reserved for the coating; if there is no nutmeg, it can be replaced with cinnamon. It is advised to have extra butter on hand, since some will also be needed for greasing the pan.
How to make it
Preheat the oven to 175 °C and grease the wells of a muffin pan with butter. Cream the softened butter with 100 g of sugar, add the egg, and mix until smooth. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg, then add the dry mixture to the butter mixture in several additions, alternating with the milk. The batter turns out thick, which makes it easy to spoon into the cups: fill them about two-thirds full and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until lightly golden, checking doneness with a wooden skewer — no raw batter should stick to it.
The final step — the sugar crust
While the muffins bake, melt 85 g of butter, and in a separate bowl mix the remaining 100 g of sugar with the cinnamon. Dip the tops of the hot muffins, fresh out of the pan, into the melted butter and immediately roll them in the cinnamon-sugar mixture — it is precisely this step, according to the outlet's description, that creates the sugar crust with a cinnamon aroma: the butter helps the spiced mixture stick to the surface, so there is no need to keep the muffins in it for long. The muffins are best served still warm with tea or coffee; no extra glaze or frosting is needed, and the 'breakfast like in childhood' can be rounded out with a glass of milk.
