To Try Tuesday - Jam Filled Buttermilk Donut Muffins

Checking through my extensive list of recipes I would like to try one day I wondered which would be the lucky one today?  I was in the mood for muffins and I found something that I thought sounded really good - cinnamon coated donut muffins.

I remember when I saved this recipe it seemed like everyone was making them.  I guess I am a little behind the trend, which quite honestly is nothing new.  I have to face the fact that I am not a trendy person, and for the most part I am OK with that.  I realized that I actually saved two recipes - one from Food Gal, and another from King Arthur Flour.  I honestly can't remember why these recipes stood out more than the abundance of others around at that time. It is hard to figure out who came up with the original idea because there were so many recipes and adaptations floating around.

In my refrigerator sat a lonely carton of buttermilk so I decided that I would make buttermilk donut muffins.  Then I spotted some Fruits of the Forrest jam that I had brought back from Australia, and I decided that I should fill the muffins too.

It was tough to decide which recipe to go with but I chose the King Arthur one, replacing the milk with buttermilk and sandwiching the jam between two layers of batter. The nutmeg in the batter really gives it that donut-like smell. This is quite a thick batter so I found it easier to spread the top layer of batter with my finger to smooth it out and cover all of the jam




I had mixed emotions about the end result.  Some of the jam over-flowed so I think that next time I will just fill them after they have been covered in the cinnamon sugar. Also, I used cupcake liners and I think that the muffins would be better without them.  Even though I greased them they were still hard to remove, and presentation-wise I didn't like the groove marks they created. As Randy Jackson might say, they were just OK for me.  In hindsight I probably should have gone with the other recipe as it was by Beth Hensberger.

Jam Filled Buttermilk Donut Muffins

(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients

• ¼ cup butter
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ⅓ cup brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoons ground nutmeg
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup buttermilk 
• ½ cup jam
• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• 3 tablespoons cinnamon sugar

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly grease a standard muffin tin, or line with 12 paper or silicone muffin cups, and grease the cups with non-stick vegetable oil spray.
2. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together the butter, vegetable oil, and sugars till smooth. 
3. Add the eggs, beating to combine. 
4. Stir in the baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, salt, and vanilla. 
5. Stir the flour into the butter mixture alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour and making sure everything is thoroughly combined. 
6. Spoon the batter about ½ way into the prepared pan, add about 1 teaspoon jam, and then fill muffin cups almost full with the remaining batter.
7. Bake the muffins for 15 to 17 minutes, or until they're a pale golden brown.
8. Remove them from the oven, and let them cool for a couple of minutes.
9. While they're cooling, melt the butter for the topping.
10. Brush the top of each muffin with the butter, then sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar. Or simply dip the tops of muffins into the melted butter, then roll in the cinnamon-sugar.
11. Serve warm, or cool on a rack and wrap airtight. Store for a day or so at room temperature.

Yield: 16 muffins. 
Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour.