I love a basic, caky donut that’s just coated in cinnamon and sugar. The kind you get at farm stands. These muffins have those flavors, without the heavy frying. They are so tender and delicious!! They aren’t overly sweet and come together easily in minutes. In my house we call these muffins, “Dirt Bombs” after a similar muffin we’d get on the Cape. Hope you enjoy them too!

Tips:

• Store any leftovers in an airtight container.

• Want to make "real" doughnuts — but baked, not fried? Spoon the batter into a lightly greased doughnut pan, filling the wells to about 1/4" shy of the rim. Bake in a preheated 425°F oven for 10 minutes; remove from the oven, and shake warm doughnuts in a bag of cinnamon sugar (no dipping in butter necessary). The recipe makes 12 to 14 doughnuts, depending on how full you fill the wells in the pan, so you'll have to bake in at least two batches (unless you have two pans).

• For mini muffins, reduce the baking time to 12 to 13 minutes. Yield: about 30.

• To make cinnamon-sugar combine 1/4 cup granulated white sugar

  1 tablespoon cinnamon. Store leftover sugar mixture in the pantry.

Old-Fashioned Donut Muffins

Recipe from King Arthur Flour

Makes 12 muffins

PREP 10 minutes

COOK 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS

Batter

4 tablespoons (57g) butter

1/4 cup (50g) vegetable oil

1/2 cup (99g) granulated sugar

1/3 cup (71g) brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, to taste

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 2/3 cups (319g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

1 cup (227g) milk, at room temperature

Topping

3 tablespoons (43g) butter, melted

3 tablespoons (39g) cinnamon-sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Place 12 muffin liners in a tin. You can also grease the muffin cups if you don’t want to use the paper liners.

2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, vegetable oil, and sugars until smooth.

3. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating to combine.

4. Stir in the baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, salt and vanilla.

5. Stir the flour into the butter mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour and making sure everything is thoroughly combined.

6. Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared pan, filling the cups nearly full. If you are using an ice cream scoop, like I do, you want to really mound the scoop. These are generously sized muffins! Smooth the tops of the muffins before baking to get a prettier muffin.

7. Bake the muffins for 15 to 17 minutes, or until they're a pale golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle of one of the center muffins comes out clean.

8. Remove them from the oven, and let them cool for a couple of minutes, or until you can handle them. While they're cooling, melt the butter for the topping (this is easily done in the microwave).

9. Dip the top of the each muffin in the melted butter then the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Allow to cool before enjoying or storing.

10. Serve warm, or cool on a rack and wrap airtight.