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Why we love this recipe ❤️
I love and adore this recipe, because we’ve all been there, right?
We have a nice big warm sweet-smelling cinnamon roll, and while sure, the outside layers are wonderful, the ultimate goal, the very best part, the delightful, delectable bite that we save for last is that part right in the center, where it is the most tender and sugary-cinnamon-gooey.
So it occurred to me…there should be a muffin that does this for us. Takes us straight to the center of the cinnamon roll. Life is too short not to have the middle of the cinnamon roll Available Immediately. At All Times.
And so these middle of the cinnamon roll muffins were born! Speedy, scrumptious, and just the ticket for a lazy weekend morning – or a weekday where you need an extra special treat.
Ingredients you need 🧈
Ingredient notes and substitutions 📝
- Nuts: You can use chopped walnuts instead of pecans if you like, or you can leave the nuts out altogether.
- Powdered Sugar: This super-fine sugar is perfect for making that cinnamon roll glaze…look for it in the baking aisle with the other sugars.
- Brown Sugar: We like light brown sugar for this recipe, but if you want a stronger brown sugar flavor dark brown sugar will work too.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities and nutritional information.
How to make this recipe 👩🏻🍳
STEP 1: Preheat your oven to 350.
STEP 2: Line a muffin tin with 12 standard sized paper liners.
STEP 3: Mix together a cup and a quarter of flour and a teaspoon and a quarter of baking powder.
STEP 4: In a separate bowl, mix together a quarter cup of brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of finely chopped walnuts or pecans, and a teaspoon of cinnamon.
STEP 5: Put a third of a cup of softened butter in another mixing bowl and beat on high speed until it is nice and fluffy, about 30 seconds.
STEP 6: Reduce speed to medium and slowly pour in a cup of sugar, scraping down the sides of the mixer as needed. Beat for about 2 minutes.
STEP 7: Add an egg, beat it up well, and then add a teaspoon of vanilla.
Next! Reduce your mixer speed to low and alternately add flour mixture and milk in about 3 stages.
STEP 8: Time to make the muffins happen! Spoon one tablespoon batter into each muffin cup. Top with a generous teaspoon of cinnamon mixture. Spoon remaining batter on top of each muffin, and then sprinkle with a generous topping of cinnamon mixture. Don’t worry if they don’t look perfect – they are going to TASTE perfect.
STEP 9: Bake for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool in the muffin tin until the muffins are cool enough to take out, and then take them out of the tin and finish cooling on a rack.
STEP 10: While the muffins are cooling, make the glaze! Mix a cup of confectioner’s sugar with a half teaspoon of vanilla and one or two tablespoons milk in a small bowl until smooth – I find a fork or a small whisk works great for this.
STEP 11: Drizzle glaze over top of muffins, or if you want to be Totally Professional you can make your own disposable pastry bag by filling a zip-close sandwich bag with the glaze, snipping off one corner with a scissors and squeezing the glaze out through the opening.
Recipe FAQs 🧐
You definitely can, and/or if you have a variety of nut you like better, use those instead!
My favorite way is to heat up a big mug full of water in the microwave for 60 seconds, and while the water is heating, cut your butter into small chunks and put the chunks on a plate. When the water is hot, dump it out and put the mug top side down over your butter. Give it 10 minutes, and your butter should be soft enough to work with! My friend Elise at Simply Recipes also has a few other methods for you.
I gotta say that they are at their all time best the first hour of the first day they are made, but they can be made a day before.
Leave your question (or comment or suggestion) in the Comments box below the recipe and I will answer pronto!
Equipment we used for this recipe 🥣
These are some of my favorite kitchen tools! These are Amazon affiliate links, which means I get a little something if you buy through my links at no extra cost to you. (Which helps pay for all that bacon I keep buying! 😄) And I only share things I use and love. I’m so grateful for your support!
- Measuring Cup: We love these angled cups that show the measurements on both the inside and outside of the cup.
- Cooling Rack: This rack is perfect for letting these muffins cool off.
- KitchenAid Mixer: This champion mixer is one of the few appliances that is allowed to stay out on our counter 24/7!
- Measuring Spoons: These handy magnetic spoons are not on a ring, so you can just pick the one you need.
- Muffin Tin: This tin is perfect for both muffins and cupcakes.
- Pyrex Mixing Bowls: These classic sturdy bowls come in all different sizes and are great for everything from mixing ingredients to being casual serving bowls.
- Cookie Scoop: This scoop makes getting the batter in the muffin tin so much easier…and it’s also great for these flavor-packed snickerdoodle cookies.
Other muffin recipes we love! ❤️
We want to know what you think! 🤔
If you try this recipe, we would love to hear how it came out for you! I’d be super grateful if you could leave a star rating (you pick how many stars! 🌟 ) and your thoughts in the Comments section.
Cinnamon Roll Muffins
These quick and easy middle of the cinnamon roll muffins give you that perfect center of the roll taste we all save for last!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
For the muffins
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/8 cup finely chopped pecans (or walnuts)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/3 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2/3 cup milk
For the glaze
- 1 cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1–2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Line a muffin tin with 12 standard sized paper liners and preheat oven to 350.
- Mix together flour and baking powder.
- In a separate bowl, mix together brown sugar, nuts and cinnamon.
- Put butter in a mixer and beat on high speed until fluffy, about 30 seconds. Reduce speed to medium and slowly pour in sugar, scraping down the sides of the mixer as needed. Beat for about 2 minutes.
- Add egg, beating well, followed by vanilla.
- Reduce speed to low and alternately add flour mixture and milk in about 3 stages.
- Spoon one tablespoon batter into each muffin cup (we love a cookie scoop for this if you’ve got one). Top with a generous teaspoon of cinnamon mixture. Spoon remaining batter on top of each muffin, and then sprinkle with a generous topping of cinnamon mixture.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool in the muffin tin until the muffins are cool enough to take out, and then remove and finish cooling on a rack.
- Mix sugar, vanilla and milk in a small bowl until smooth – use one tablespoon of milk to start, and then drizzle in more if you want a thinner consistency.
- Drizzle glaze over top of muffins (or you can make your own disposable pastry bag by filling a zip-close sandwich bag with the glaze, snipping off one corner with a scissors and squeezing the glaze out through the opening).
Notes
-
- Nuts: You can use chopped walnuts instead of pecans if you like, or you can leave the nuts out altogether.
-
- Powdered Sugar: This super-fine sugar is perfect for making that cinnamon roll glaze…look for it in the baking aisle with the other sugars.
-
- Brown Sugar: We like light brown sugar for this recipe, but if you want a stronger brown sugar flavor dark brown sugar will work too.
Eva says
I made these without the pecans, but they still came out SO yummy! The middle of the cinnamon roll is the best part!
I do love anything that has to do with a cinnamon roll!
Theresa M Murphy says
Muffins are so homey, aren’t they? The perfect little bit of sweetness to start the day. You did an amazing job with the door! Will you also be on the un-decorating committee at the end of the school year? Or will this be a permanent decoration and only teachers named “Ms Jackson” will be allowed to use that classroom? :)
I think Ms Jackson is hoping to keep this classroom forever! And now that I have done all my stickering, I hope that dream comes true. :)