Cinnamon sugar muffins

AKA: Christmas morning muffins

I found this recipe in the days before Pinterest when I used to troll foodgawker and, well, gawk at food. These sweet nuggets have since become one of my family's absolute favorites.

Though I try to save them for special occasions, I'll gladly whip up these babies any day of the year — because, truly, you just whip 'em up. There's not even an electric mixer involved — just stirring. And if you're even a baby bit of a baker, the ingredients are always in the pantry/fridge. And I haven't even touched on the fact that these are some seriously heavenly, donut-y crisp on the outside and cake-y on the inside, addicting muffins. I make them on Christmas morning for a reason: they taste like Christmas morning.

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CINNAMON SUGAR MUFFINS

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
MUFFINS
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg (ideally room temperature)
1/2 cup milk

TOPPING
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 tsp cinnamon

WHAT YOU'LL DO: 
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a muffin pan (this recipe will make 8–12 muffins, depending how much you fill each cup). Melt the 1/3 cup of butter for the muffin batter. 

2. In a mixing bowl, sift together the batter's dry ingredients. Add the batter's wet ingredients and stir until combined but still lumpy (don't over-mix!). Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan. Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until the edges start to turn golden. *Note: The tops should not be golden — just the very edges.

3. For the topping, mix the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl. In a second small bowl, melt the butter. Dip the still-warm muffins in the melted butter, then roll the muffins in the cinnamon and sugar mix until coated. Place the muffins on a cooling rack. *Note: You can dip/roll just the top of each muffin, but why would you do that when you can coat the whole thing in butter and cinnamon-sugar?

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These muffins are wonderful right out of the oven, after the cinnamon and sugar topping has had a few minutes to set up. The melted butter in the topping sort of sinks into the muffin and creates an almost deep-fried, donut-y outer shell. 

This texture treat is the most distinct if you eat the muffins the day you make them, but they hold up wonderfully the next day and into the next few days when stored in an air-tight container. If you like, you can even pop them in the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds to rekindle that just-baked warmth.