Apple Cinnamon Doughnut Muffins

Posted on May 3, 2011 by Kelly

Sometimes just seeing the title of a recipe makes me drool a little bit. This was one of those times.

When I saw this recipe on Julie’s blog, I knew I had to make them right off the bat. I might even have printed out the recipe without really reading the ingredients or instructions. (that might say more about my trust in Julie’s savvy baking skills than the title of the recipe though) You can find the recipe here.

Even though these are called “doughnut” muffins, they do taste healthier and less doughnuty than the other Donut Muffins that I made. This is both bad and good. While they both are delicious, I don’t have a problem with letting myself eat two or three this version, whereas if I were to eat too many of the other version, it would be more like eating three ACTUAL doughnuts.

One big difference that I found between the two – besides the obvious apple cinnamon touch to these – is that Julie uses olive oil to coat the top with cinnamon-sugar where in the other recipe, butter is used. I wasn’t sure about the olive oil at first – really how could you top buttery sugary muffin tops? However, it still tasted as good to me! Also, as I was eating it, I realized that maybe I didn’t need 1/4 inch of sugar on top of my muffin to make it delicious.

I ate a couple of these muffins without the filling – they are just as good.

When I went to fill them using the traditional technique, I had issues. Yes, I did take a cake decorating class where they also taught us proper technique to fill cupcakes and muffins. (I promise to blog more about this class in the near future. It was a ton of fun and I learned a lot.) But I never learned. Every time I have tried since then, it has ended up with filling all over the place and only a minuscule amount actually in the baked good where it is supposed to go. The same thing happened with these muffins.

I had some leftover batter after that little experiement, so I decided to use the same method that I used when I made the Strawberry Surprise Muffins. Good news: It worked perfectly, and it was SO much easier! I will definitely use this method from now on when filling cupcakes or muffins!

Ease:A-, there is a bit of prep work, but nothing too difficult at all.
Taste: A, delicious. With or without the apple butter filling.

Would I make them again? Yes, I think so. In fact, I might even make them again today. Seem random enough for you? It is, in fact, not so random. Why? Because today is Savvy Julie’s Birthday!! Maybe you should make these in honor of Julie as well?

In honor of her birthday, I hear that Julie is hosting some awesome giveaways today on Savvy Eats. Be sure to stop over there to wish her a Happy Birthday and check them out!

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