Every so often, I like to mention how much I love the Pioneer Woman. I own all three of her cookbooks. I’ve followed her online for years and printed out many of her recipes. I’m also an enthusiastic watcher of her television show.
The original of this recipe was featured on her show a while back. The breakfast puffs reminded me greatly of a “mini muffin pan donut” recipe I tried a few years ago. It was one of those recipes that’s really good fresh, but goes stale by the next day. Since Ree Drummond emphasized that her version stayed good and was excellent to freeze as well, I figured I needed to give her variation a try.
This being me, though, I still had that old recipe on my mind. I modified her recipe to amp up the spice, cut down the coating (it made way too much!), and adjusted everything for a mini muffin pan.
This created puffs that were much more friendly for my husband to take to work and share with a lot of co-workers… and for me to try one without having to eat an entire big honkin’ muffin.
In mini size, this makes about 40. They rose beautifully, with the texture light and cakey. Unlike the old recipe, they were just as tasty the next day, and as promised, they froze and thawed wonderfully!
The perfect bite-sized breakfast muffin. Betcha can’t eat just one.
Modified from the original French Breakfast Puffs by Ree Drummond.
Bready or Not: Mini French Breakfast Puffs
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2/3 cup shortening
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1 cup whole milk almond milk works
Coating
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350-degrees F. Prepare the mini muffin pan by using liners (highly recommend the liners) or spray thoroughly with non-stick coating.
- Stir together the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Set aside.
- In a different large bowl, cream together the sugar and shortening. Add the eggs and mix again. Measure the milk. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and milk into the sugar mix until everything is just combined.
- Use a tablespoon scoop or spoon to dollop batter into each cup. It should be about 2/3 full. Bake until golden, 14-18 minutes. Remove the muffins from the pan and set aside as you ready the next batch.
- While that's baking, start the coating. Melt the butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Combine the sugar and cinnamon in another bowl.
- Dip the warm muffin tops in the butter and then in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
Keep in a sealed container at room temperature. They can also be frozen for later enjoyment.
OM NOM NOM!
