Muffin or Donut...

I've made muffins, and I’ve made doughnuts; and now I have made muffin doughnuts – or to put it more clearly, muffins that taste like doughnuts. Whether you spell ‘doughnut’ as such or ‘donut,’ it is a culinary testament to the glory of deep-frying. Throw anything edible in a pot of hot oil and its deliciousness factor spikes up several notches.

But deep-frying is a lot of work, and sometimes I’m not in the mood to knead dough, wait for it to rise, then shape, let rise again, fiddle with the temperature of oil, and finally cook the darn things. My appetite is as impatient as I am and when it’s feeding time, it’s feeding time. As you well know, frying is an art form that comes about only through practice and untold gallons of cooking oil.

Wanting to bake something for breakfast this morning, but not wanting to make yet another batch of scones; I dug out a recipe that’s as intriguing as it is tempting ~ muffin doughnuts: muffins that taste like doughnuts. It didn’t take me long to get in the kitchen and soon, the flour is flying.

Remarkably easier to make than regular doughnuts, these doughnut muffins are made like a cake: butter and sugar beaten together, eggs mixed in one at a time, and then the wet and dry ingredients are added alternately in five additions. This method, also known as the creaming method, produces a crumb that’s soft and cake-like with a pleasingly crunchy top.

In my baking, I discover that nutmeg is the “secret ingredient” in making anything taste old-fashioned, especially doughnuts. It’s responsible for that great flavor that I can’t quite put my finger on.

Using a large ice cream scoop, I place the batter in a regular muffin pan, filling it until the batter is even with the rim of the cup. If you like muffins with a domed top just like the commercial ones, then mound most of the batter in the middle.

These muffins don’t really give off any heady aromas while baking, no hint of the lip-smacking goodness that awaits. They’re done when they’re firm to the touch. I’m supposed to wait until the muffins are “cool enough to handle,” but because I possess what I’ve been told are “asbestos hands,” I pick the muffins up as soon as they come out of the oven and dip them into a waiting bowl of melted butter. I try brushing on the butter with a pastry brush but the butter doesn’t adhere as well as just dunking the muffin into the butter. It’s this lustrous glaze that satisfyingly mimics the “just fried” taste of a regular doughnut. A quick smooch with the cinnamon-sugar mixture and these delectable babies are ready to go.

Pairing it with my double beaker of fresh brewed coffee and browsing my favorite blogs, I am in doughnut muffin paradise. I think it's the buttery crumb merging with the steam that escapes from its divine depths, that creates this glorious place with every bite. Obviously, I can’t mistake this for a real doughnut, not even cake doughnuts, but it surely tasted incredible satisfying.



Muffin Doughnuts
Adapted from a recipe in Southern Living, 2008

Ingredients:
1½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1¾ cups sugar
4 large eggs
6 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1¾ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1⅔ cups milk
¼ cup buttermilk

For dipping:
1 cup unsalted butter; more as needed
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Put a rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 350 degree F.

In a stand mixer or a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until just mixed in. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. Combine the milk and buttermilk. With a wooden spoon, mix a quarter of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Then mix in a third of the milk mixture. Continue mixing in the remaining dry and wet ingredients alternately, ending with the dry. Mix until well combined and smooth, but don't over mix. Grease and flour a standard-size muffin tin. Scoop enough batter into each tin so that the top of the batter is even with the rim of the cup, about ½ cup. A large ice-cream scoop gives you the perfect amount. Bake the muffins until firm to the touch, about 30 to 35 minutes.

Melt the butter for the dipping mixture. Combine the sugar and cinnamon. When the muffins are just cool enough to handle, remove them from the tin, dip them into or brush them all over with the melted butter, and then roll them in the cinnamon sugar.

You don't have to bake all the muffins right away; the batter will keep, covered and chilled, for up to three days in the refrigerator.

Makes 24

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George’s notes:

• Doughnuts have been around for centuries. Archaeologists turned up several petrified fried cakes with holes in the center in prehistoric ruins in the Southwestern United States. How these early Native Americans prepared their doughnuts is unclear.
• There is a very popular half-truth in doughnut lore centered on a very real sea captain and his mother. In 1847, Elizabeth Gregory was known in her New England circle to make a very fine olykoek. Her secret was to add a hint of nutmeg and fill the center with hazelnuts or walnuts. She even had a special name for her creation -- dough-nuts.
• Olykoek, also known as Oily Cakes, are sweet dough balls fried in pork fat. Made by the Dutch in the mid-19th century, olykoeks were predecessors of the modern donut.
• Muffins are generally, but not always, quick breads - meaning that a leavening agent other than yeast is used to make the bread rise. Muffins are made with a variety of flours, fruits and nuts and are baked in a muffin pan. Traditionally, muffins are sweet to a degree, but savory muffins are not completely uncommon.