Muffin Mondays | Buttermilk Spiced Doughnut Muffins

Buttermilk spiced doughnut muffins with a coffee buttercream on the side for dipping. Yeah I did that.

Tender, crumbly and loaded with fragrant spices, these are cake doughnuts disguised as muffins. They remind me of Hostess mini spiced crumb doughnuts I used to eat as a kid. Do you remember those? They had the powdered sugar version too. About 8 to a package, I could devour those little puppies within seconds. My five year old self would be really proud of these muffins.

I used hazelnut meal with flour for these doughnut muffins which gave an added airiness to the dough. There is no real hazelnut flavor more just a texture. The doughnut muffins is brushed with melted butter (oh yeah!) and then rolled in a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg and a hint of ginger for added zing. I made a little coffee buttercream for dipping or smearing giving the muffins a little added creamy sweetness. Coffee flavored butter paired with doughnut muffins – a match made in heaven.

(recipe below)

Buttermilk Spice Doughnut Muffins (adapted from Lottie and Doof)

          12 tablespoons unsalted butter

         1/2 cup sugar

          1/4 cup brown sugar

         2 large eggs

         2 cups all-purpose flour

         1 cup hazelnut meal

         2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

         1/4 teaspoon baking soda

         3/4 teaspoon salt

         1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

         3/4 cup whole milk

         1/4 cup buttermilk

Topping:

         4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

         1 cup granulated sugar

         1 tablespoon cinnamon

          1/2 tablespoon ground nutmeg

          1/4 tablespoon ground ginger

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease and flour a standard-size muffin tin.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until just mixed in. Sift together the flour, hazelnut meal, 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 overmix. Scoop enough batter into each tin so that the top of the batter is even with the rim of the cup, about 1/2 cup. Bake the muffins until firm to the touch, 30-35 minutes.

For the topping: Combine the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger in a small bowl. When the muffins are just cool enough to handle, remove them from the tin, brush them all over with melted butter and roll them in the sugar spice mix.

Coffee Frosting (recipe from Christina Tosi’s Milk Bar cookbood)

8 tablespoons butter, room temp

1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar

1/4 c. milk

3/4 teaspoon instant coffee powder

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Combine the butter and confectioner’s sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes, until fluffy and pale yellow.

Meanwhile, make a quick coffee milk: whisk together the milk, instant coffee and salt in a small bowl.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. On low speed, gradually stream in the coffee milk. You are essentially forcing liquid into fat so be patient. The butter mixture will clump up  and separate upon contact until the previous addition is fully incorporated; keep the mixer on and remain patient. The result will be a wildly fluffy coffee frosting, pale brown and super shiny. Use immediately.