Mini Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Muffins

Four glorious days off led to these adorable Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Muffins, in miniature. Thank you, Christopher Columbus, and also  our school department for their wisdom in giving the students a 4-day weekend 🙂 We are blissfully unencumbered with no volleyball,  no work obligations, and just a little bit of soccer.

What to do with all this free time? We had a “few” ideas…

This list makes me laugh. Ice cream tops the list. Cooking. Restaurant eating. Food-centric, maybe? Yeah. But plenty of active activities too!

Clearly this list was more than we can accomplish, but we are doing alright. As of Monday morning, we can also check off the Patriots game, soccer tournament, scrapbooking, and a bike ride. My fave addition to the list is Georgia’s addition of “EVREBUDE NIT” — just so perfect. That’s “everybody night” for those of you who are not fluent in Kid Spelling 🙂

Yesterday I did my part towards the”cooking” goal by finally getting around to my first pumpkin recipe of the season. I have to thank Sally’s Baking Addiction for the inspiration. I am telling you, this gal is a prolific producer of some delicious looking baked goods.  She posts so many recipes every week, I’ve got to assume she is either supporting some very lucky local food pantry or secretly supporting a family of 16 (which is unlikely given her young age and trim physique, not to mention her obvious plethora of free time spent baking, photographing, and blogging her obsession!!) I have to confess I’ve spent more than a reasonable amount of time worrying where all those baked goods go…

Back to these muffins. Don’t they look amazing??

This recipe made 24 minis. Needless to say, the 5 of us sat down and devoured them in just a few minutes.

To be honest, I can’t be sure if anybody liked them. They weren’t saying much with their cheeks stuffed with these sweet little babies. And it was impossible to read their expressions underneath the halo of cinnamon sugar.  Based on the satisfied groans and rubbing of bellies, though, I’d say they were a hit 😛

FYI, for most of these muffins, I dipped the tops in melted butter and then in the cinnamon sugar mixture. However, when almost done, I realized the cinnamon sugar would stick to the muffins WITHOUT the help of melted butter. See?

Sure, butter tastes great. I’m a big fan. However, in this case you can just skip the melted butter part. Seriously good either way.

And,  yes, of course you can make these in a regular muffin pan instead! Just fill cups 2/3 way full, and bake for about 20-22 minutes. Butter dipping optional. Cinnamon sugar is not 🙂

Print

Mini Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Muffins

Sweet, lightly spiced pumpkin muffins with a cinnamon sugar coating. They're the perfect addition to breakfast, your lunch bag, or coffee break!

Course Breakfast

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Servings 24 muffins

Author Julia Robarts

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour may substitute all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 large egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 cup low fat milk
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 tablespoons butter melted
• 1/2 cup brown sugar packed

Cinnamon Sugar Coating

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons melted butter optional

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare a miniature muffin pan with spray oil. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, add the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and nutmeg. Stir with a whisk until combined. Set aside.

3. In a separate bowl, lightly beat the egg, egg yolk, and milk. Stir in the pumpkin puree, vanilla extract, butter, and brown sugar.

4. Add the wet mixture all at once to the dry mixture. Stir by hand just until all the ingredients are combined - do not overstir.

5. Fill each muffin well about 2/3 with batter. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the tops are no longer sticky. 

6. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes while you combine the sugar and cinnamon for the coating in small bowl. If you are using the melted butter for dipping, set that up in a separate small bowl.

7. Remove each muffin from the pan, dip the tops in butter, then roll the whole muffin around in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Serve immediately. To store, cool completely, then keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.