Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins

I know a picture would make this post way more enticing, but unfortunately I didn't take any pictures. But I still think this recipe is worth posting.

I couldn't tell you the last time I ate a doughnut. I think it was early in my pregnancy with Evie when a package of powdered doughnuts jumped into my grocery cart. They were one of the few foods that tasted really good at the time.

When one of us is craving something like doughnuts I usually try to make it myself, but homemade doughnuts take too long and make too much mess. So when I saw this recipe for pumpkin doughnut muffins I knew they'd be in my kitchen before long. I love Martha Stewart's Everyday Food cookbooks, Great Food Fast and Fresh Flavor Fast, and my sister got me a subscription to Everyday Food magazine for my birthday. This recipe was in the November issue. I made them yesterday morning to start our Halloween weekend off right. They were yummy! They're like cake doughnuts covered in cinnamon, but in the shape of muffins. Here's the recipe:

for the batter:
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 1/4 cups pumpkin puree (15-oz can)
3/4 cup light-brown sugar
2 large eggs

for the sugar coating:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 12 standard muffin cups. Make batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and allspice. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk and pumpkin puree. In a large bowl, using an electic mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, scraping down bowl as needed. With mixer on low, add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with two additions pumpkin mixture, and beat to combine.

Spoon 1/3 cup batter into each muffin cup and bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine granulated sugar and cinnamon. Let muffins cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Working with one at a time, remove muffins from pan, brush all over with butter, then toss to coat in sugar mixture. Let muffins cool completely on a wire rack. (Store in an airtight container, up to 1 day.) Enjoy!