I love and adore this recipe, partly because it gives me the immediate gratification of getting to the center of the cinnamon roll immediately – these muffins are basically just the heart of the cinnamon roll in muffin form – but also because I wrote this recipe about 459,827 years ago when my baby girl was a baby.
Okay, she was actually a teenager, and she had to get up early one weekend morning for some reason that is now lost to the mists of time (and by early I mean before lunchtime…that is the teenager equivalent to the crack of dawn) and I figured that having warm muffins that tasted like the center of cinnamon rolls would soften the blow.
(Side note: now that she is a full-on married adult and we are all living harmoniously together in our multigenerational house, when she isn’t working she can still stay up until 4 am and sleep until 1pm and be fresh as a daisy.
For me, staying up past 10pm feels like I am pulling an all-nighter. As a result, there is usually someone awake in my house 24 hours a day…we’re like a 7-11. )
I also still love figuring out ways to hang out with my bunny. For example, this past week I came with her to help get her classroom ready for the new crop of bright and shiny fourth graders that will be coming soon. I was on Decorate The Door Duty.
Which meant sticking on an explosion of stars coming out of a book in exactly the right order. I’m pretty sure the original idea came from Mrs. Lopinto’s Life on Pinterest, and I loved loved loved being the Head Sticker Placer for this project.
At any rate, it felt like time to share this delectable recipe again, so away we go!
How to make middle of the cinnamon roll muffins!
Line a muffin tin with 12 standard sized paper liners and preheat your oven to 350.
Mix together a cup and a quarter of flour, a teaspoon and a quarter of baking powder and a teaspoon of salt.
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.
Put a third of a cup of softened butter in a third mixing bowl and beat on high speed until it is nice and fluffy, about 30 seconds. 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.
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.
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.
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.
While the muffins are cooling, make the glaze! Mix a cup of confectioner’s sugar with a half teaspoon of vanilla and 3 tablespoons milk in a small bowl until smooth – I find a fork or a small whisk works great for this..
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.
More tips for making middle of the cinnamon roll muffins!
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.
And with that I will step aside and let you make these babies, because now that you know they exist in the world you need to have a middle of the cinnamon roll muffin as soon as you possibly can!
Looking out for ya,
Kate xoxo
OTHER CINNAMON-Y RECIPES WE LOVE!
 This recipe for Grandma’s cinnamon buns gives you everything you hope for in this classic breakfast pastry, down to the sweet sugar glaze! |
 This recipe for cinnamon oat pancakes will take your breakfast to a whole new level. Don’t forget the Vermont maple syrup! |
 This easy recipe for cinnamon roll bread pudding takes leftover cinnamon rolls and bakes them up into a decadent pan of soft and sweet dessert. |
Middle Of The 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
- Cooling Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 45 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 teaspoon salt
- 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
- 3 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Line a muffin tin with 12 standard sized paper liners and preheat oven to 350.
- Mix together flour, baking powder and salt.
- 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. 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.
- 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
Need to add something to your kitchen equipment to make this recipe? Below are some of the items we used in the Framed Cooks kitchen to help cook this up. These are affiliate links to things we use and love, which helps to pay for all that bacon I keep buying (without any extra cost to you)! Thanks for using them to keep our kitchen cooking…xoxo!
Keywords: vegetarian cinnamon roll muffins, kid friendly middle of the cinnamon roll muffin recipe
Updated (and made even more delicious!) from a previously published Framed Cooks post!
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. :)