There’s nothing more comforting than a homemade hot breakfast. And on the weekends, they are an absolute must. I usually default to making pancakes, but I like to switch things up every once in awhile and this recipe does the trick. These French Breakfast Puffs are so yummy; they’ve been added to my “make often” list and I think you should add them to yours too. Essentially, they are light and fluffy muffins, coated in melted butter and then coated in cinnamon-sugar… Seriously delicious!
After first discovering these on The Pioneer Woman, I found a whole host of recipes for these beloved puffs online (like here, here, and here just to point out a few). All of them are very similar and most seem to rely on vegetable shortening for the muffin base. When I make them, I skip the processed shortening, in favor of good old-fashioned natural butter with results just as delicious. And chances are that you have most of these ingredients already in your pantry, so you have no excuse not to make them this weekend!
French Breakfast Puffs
Fresh nutmeg makes all the difference in these puffs (and in anything else that requires nutmeg), so I always buy whole nutmeg and grate it myself. Also, these must be eaten warm, so if you are making them in advance, reheat them in the oven before serving.
Muffins:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, room temperature
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup (a little more than 5 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Coating:
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a muffin tin or line with paper liners and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, nutmeg and salt. In a separate bowl whisk together the egg, milk, melted butter, and vanilla until well combined. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with a rubber spatula just until blended.
Fill each of the muffin cups 2/3 full with batter (I used about 1/4 cup of batter per muffin) and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until they are puffed and golden. In the meantime, combine sugar and cinnamon in a shallow dish (such as a pie plate) and place the melted butter in another shallow dish.
When the muffins are cool enough to handle, but are still hot, roll them into the melted butter and then in the cinnamon-sugar. Serve warm.
Makes about 8 medium sized muffins.
