Apple Cider Doughnut Muffins

These muffins were incredibly moist, tender, and delicious. Perfect for a special autumn breakfast. 🙂 I divided the batter between standard muffin and mini-muffin pans. Mini-muffins are such a perfect after school or lunch box snack.

The recipe was adapted from The View from Great Island.com. I incorporated whole wheat pastry flour and halved the amount of cinnamon-sugar topping. Amazing!

Yield: 20 standard muffins or 15 standard muffins plus 24 mini-muffins

Dry Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup rolled oats (or 1 cup oat flour)
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp coarse salt

Wet Ingredients:

• 1 cup apple cider
• 3/4 cup applesauce or apple butter
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil (corn, canola, safflower)
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Topping:

• 3 T unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, preferably on convection.
2. Lightly butter muffins pans or coat with cooking oil spray. (I used standard and mini-muffin pans.)
3. Place the rolled oats in the bowl of a food processor and process until the oats resemble flour. (Alternatively, use oat flour.)
4. Whisk the dry ingredients together to combine.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk the wet ingredients together.
6. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk until just combined, being careful not to over mix.
7. Scoop the batter into the muffin cups and bake for about 19 minutes for standard muffins or about 10 minutes for mini-muffins.
8. Meanwhile, whisk the sugar and cinnamon together for the topping.
9. Let the muffins cool for about 5 to 10 minutes, then remove from the pan.
10. Brush the muffin tops with melted butter, then roll in the cinnamon sugar to coat really well. If necessary, coat twice to get a good coverage.

Note: Muffins keep at room temperature in a sealed container for up to 3 days.