Want to eat cookies for breakfast? These snickerdoodle muffins make a fine replacement.
With just the two of us at home, I don’t make cookies all that often. If I do, it typically isn’t a batch of snickerdoodles. However, I do enjoy eating one every now and then. And these muffins, well, they are nearly addictive between the sweet, cinnamon-y, and buttery flavors. Maybe I need to make a batch of these in an upcoming weekend.
The original post from August 2018
When I think about homemade cookies from my childhood, one of the recipes that comes to mind is a snickerdoodle. At the time, I remember some of my friends laughing at the name and wondering what sort of cookie it was. The name may be funny, but the cookies are delicious. Sweet, tender, and cinnamon-y, I’ve always loved them. In fact, they may have been one of the first types of cookies I made from scratch.
All cookies don’t translate well into quick bread and muffins. However, these snickerdoodles certainly do. Although it’s a totally different shape and texture, the flavors will remind you of what you’re mimicking. Except unlike cookies, no one is going to ask why you’re eating one of these for breakfast.
So, why did I ever decide to transform a cookie into a muffin? I guess I wanted to mix things up in my breakfast baked goods routine. Most often if I ask my family what they’d like for breakfast, they request scones. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s fun to try new things. So, I thought about muffins that might interest everyone. Having made many different types of muffins over the years, I needed a totally different focal point.
That brought me to snickerdoodles. Just like me, my kids enjoy snickerdoodles. Honestly, I think my husband is less excited by them, but I also know he won’t walk by freshly baked muffins that are coated in cinnamon and sugar. With one kid home for a final weekend before college began, it was time to create this muffin recipe.
I knew I wanted to keep true to the cookie recipe, and as such I added no cinnamon to the batter. In the cookie dough it’s basically a soft sugar cookie recipe with the addition of cream of tartar. So, I used my basic Sweeter Muffin recipe and added cream of tartar. Since I couldn’t roll the muffin dough in cinnamon-sugar mixture, I brushed the tops with butter and generously sprinkled the mixture over them. All good choices- these muffins truly mimicked their cookie cousins.
For even more butter, cinnamon, and sugar goodness, I highly recommend cutting the muffin in half while warm, spreading butter on the cut sides, and sprinkling cinnamon-sugar mixture over it. YUM!
- 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Spray a muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray or use muffin liners.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cream of tartar, salt and sugar.
- In a large measuring cup whisk the milk, vanilla, and egg together.
- Add the milk mixture and the ⅓ cup melted butter to the flour mixture.
- Stir just until flour mixture is fully moistened. (It may be lumpy.)
- Fill each muffin cup 3/4 full. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes.
- Test with a toothpick to verify doneness.
- Cool muffins in pan for 5 minutes.
- In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon.
- Remove the muffins from the pan.
- Brush the tops of the muffins with the melted butter.
- Generously sprinkle the tops with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
- They are best eaten warm, cut in half, and topped with more butter and cinnamon-sugar mix.
