Duffins. If you don’t know what a Duffin is, allow me to change your life: a Duffin is a hybrid muffin-doughnut. This is like the old-school Cronut before Cronuts were a thing. The OG hybrid, complete with a hybrid name. It’s basically a muffin doused in melted butter and rolled in cinnamon sugar. Does any of that NOT sound appealing??? Exactly. They’re wonderful.

 

Duffins emerged as “the new Cronut” about 6 months ago in the media at a few bakeries and at Starbucks. This confused me greatly, because these are totally old school. My mom used to make Duffins from a recipe in a Wisconsin Magazine from like the 1950s.  According to Pita (my mom) it’s an old Amish thing. And in high school my friend Josh and I would use his a cookbook his mom (Gretchen, who is a culinary/general icon of my world) got on her wedding day. We’d crack open the yellowing pages and hit up the Duffin recipe and/or the Blueberry Boy Bait. Yum.

I’m not sure the exact origin of the Duffin, but I know it’s older than both the Cronut and I, and I also am certain that it is a wondrous joy that you should make and eat. I have a lot of apples on hand from attending apple fest this weekend, so I decided to incorporate some into the Duffins, because who doesn’t love soft cooked apple chunks in muffins with cinnamon and nutmeg. 🙂

MmmMmM. Nutmeg is certainly a key player for these babies; don’t skip it.  I also made them a bit healthier and vegan to make them more breakfast appropriate for my personal taste buds. But if you want more dessert-y Duffins, add 1/4 cup more sugar, and use all-purpose flour instead of whole-wheat. It’s all up to you. Recipes are just guidelines, after all, and as I’ve said before my main goal in blogging is simply to inspire.

Eat a Duffin. Watch Duff Goldman on Ace of Cakes. Or pretend you’re eating a Cronut. Sing the lyrics to Lady Gaga “Poker Face” replacing “bluffin’ with my muffin” with “bluffin’ with my Duffin.” Or just simply eat it with some tea and let its cinnamon sugar coating coat you with spice and sweetness for your day ahead. Duff on, friends!

Apple Cinnamon Duffins

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15-20 minutes

Level: Easy

Yield: 8-12 Duffins

Ingredients – Duffins:

• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil, vegetable oil, Earth Balance nondairy spread, or butter
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup apple sauce
• 3/4 cup almond or soy milk
• 1 teaspoon vinegar (any kind will do)
• 1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour (or all purpose)
• 1 cup oat flour (or all-purpose)
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 large apple, chopped
• dash more cinnamon + 1 tablespoon sugar to coat apples

Ingredients – Cinnamon Sugar Coating:

• 2-3 tablespoons coconut oil or butter, melted
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tray with disposable muffin cups or grease well.

2. In a small bowl, combine almond or soy milk and vinegar and allow to curdle.  Set aside for at least 10 minutes. This will form a pseduo-buttermilk. Meanwhile…

3. In a microwave safe bowl, melt coconut oil or butter in the microwave. Whisk in sugar and brown sugar. Add vanilla and applesauce and stir.

4. In a large bowl, combine flours, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk well to combine.

5. Pour oil/sugar/applesauce mix into the dry ingredients and mix gently with a spatula. When fully combined, add the pseudo 1/4 cup at a time, mixing gently until a loose batter forms.

6. Peel and chop apple into small cubes and place in a bowl. Sprinkle a tablespoon or two of granulated sugar and a generous dash of cinnamon to the apples. Toss well with a spoon until all the apple chunks are coated. You can add the apples to the batter in two ways: either stir them directly in, or scoop enough batter into a muffin tin to cover the bottom, spoon a little apple mixture (to form middle apple center) and cover apples with more batter. If you just stirred them straight in, fill each muffin tin about 3/4 way full with batter. If you layered, nice work. Still aim to have each cup 3/4 full.

7. Pop muffin tray full of Duffins into the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes until browned, hollow to a finger tap, and/or a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean upon removal.

8. Allow muffins to cool. Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with a fork.

9. Using the microwave in 30 second increments, melt butter or coconut oil in a small microwave-friendly bowl. Take each muffin and roll it gently into the melted butter. Use you fingers to spread a light coat gently all over the muffin.

10. Take the butter-kissed muffin and roll it in the cinnamon sugar mixture until it gets a lovely coat of delicious goodness.

11.Place on a cooling wrack until cooled. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days (longer might get soggy) or put them straight to the face. Enjoy! #apples