Make My Day Camp: French Breakfast Puffs

Wednesday, April 14, 2021

French Breakfast Puffs

French Breakfast Puffs, how I love you. You remind me of what would happen if a cinnamon sugar donut and a snickerdoodle got together - pure heaven :)

I've been making these since I was a kid; it's a muffin rolled in melted butter and then in cinnamon sugar - I mean, c'mon, what's not to love? I'm not even bothering to give these to my sister, they are in no way, under any circumstances, 'healthy'. Or even 'healthy-ish'. Even calling them a 'muffin' is a little misleading, doesn't 'muffin' make you think it's healthier than a cupcake? Let's call these cupcakes without frosting, but with all the sugar LOL.

I have no idea why they're named french breakfast puffs - they aren't breakfasty or puffy. I made them for the first time in mini-muffin pans and only dipped the tops, they are still yummy but I think I prefer the full sized version - or maybe it's just that I'd rather have a big one totally coated in butter and sugar?

I'll give you the recipe I've made for forever, and also a different version I found in a BHG magazine back in '97 - the only difference is they use butter in the batter instead of shortening, and bake them at a different temp. I've made them both ways and think the original is better, but both ways are great.

My recipe:

1/3 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. ground nutmeg
1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup cinnamon sugar (just mix however much cinnamon you want into white sugar)

Mix shortening, sugar, and egg with a mixer until creamed together. Sift the dry ingredients together and add to the shortening mixture, along with the milk. Spray muffin tin with non-stick spray, fill muffin cups 2/3rds full, bake at 300' for 20-25 minutes. Remove from pan and cool enough to handle them. Roll the entire muffin in melted butter and then in cinnamon sugar. Makes 12 regular size muffins or 36 miniature.

BHG version:

same as above except substitute melted butter for the shortening; bake at 350' until done; only dip the tops in the butter and sugar.

the batter is quite thick, I use a small cookie scopp
to equally portion the muffins

dip the top (or the entire thing) in melted butter...

then dip (or roll) in cinnamon sugar

hold on to your hat, I'm about to tell you a sinful secret -
I actually double dip them which is not part of the recipe
but gives them a thicker crunchier sugarier coating!
in the picture above the left one is double dipped