Cinnamon Sugar Breakfast Puffs

Food52 is the best food website I have yet to stumble upon. It's really a food community, where people share recipes and tips, cooks can follow one another, and cooking contests result in the creation of "crowd-sourced" cookbooks. Check it out, it's wonderful. 

Recipes on Food52 are organized in the usual way, by food categories like "Appetizers, Entrees, Cookies, Soups, etc." but they also are sorted by "Top Recipes", "Community Picks", "Contest Winners", and "Genius Recipes". These Cinnamon Sugar Breakfast Puffs were the winner in the "Best Holiday Breakfast" contest. The picture was so alluring, I could practically taste the cinnamon sugar and I decided then and there that I had to make these puffs.

Well I made the puffs Sunday morning and they are pure ambrosia - the aroma of cinnamon wafting through the air was intoxicating but the flavor of these mildly spiced light little puffs covered in cinnamon sugar was sublime. Neither Peter nor I could resist having two and had to exert real self-discipline not to have even more. According to fiveandspice, the source for this recipe, these freeze well, can be defrosted overnight and then warmed up in a 200℉ oven, and that's exactly what we're going to do - with the next batch!

Cinnamon Sugar Breakfast Puffs
(Makes 12 regular muffin-size puffs)

The Breakfast Puffs
1/3 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 pinch ground cloves
1 pinch ground ginger
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/2 cup whole milk, at room temperature

Cinnamon-sugar Coating
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
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• In a heavy bottomed pan, heat the 1/3 cup butter, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until browned and nutty smelling. Pour into a mixing bowl and allow to cool completely to room temperature.
• Preheat your oven to 350F. Grease and lightly flour a 12 cup muffin tin.
• Add the sugar and egg to the cooled butter. Beat with an electric mixer until all creamed together.
• In a separate little bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, spices, and zest. Add the dry ingredients in increments to the butter-sugar mixture, alternating with the milk and beating well after each addition.
• Divide the batter evenly into the cups of the muffin tin. Pop into the oven and bake until golden brown and fragrant, about 20-25 minutes.
• While the puffs are puffing, put the melted butter in one shallow bowl and combine the sugar and cinnamon in another one. When the puffs come out of the oven, use a knife to gently pop them all out of the muffin tin.
• One by one, dip each puff in the melted butter - get it all over it - then roll it in the cinnamon sugar. Transfer it to some lovely, festive serving platter, and continue until you have rolled all of the puffs. Serve warm - they are by faaaaar the best when they are still warm - with coffee, and mimosas, and other goodies.

 Note: These can also be made into bite-size puffs too - that's next.

Comments

[ally]

these look so enticing- I might have to try them this weekend.
so glad to see your postings again and thank you for this site mention.