Muffin Day and Breakfast Puffs

Do you know the Muffin Man? Today is National Muffin Day. I cannot believe, as much as I love muffins, that we’ve never celebrated this day together. Shocking, isn’t it?

There’s a lovely restaurant chain here, Mimi’s Bistro, that makes the best muffins ever. The restaurant itself has an interesting story. It’s founder, American airman Arthur Simms, was stationed in France during World War II. He named his restaurant after a French woman he met at a party after the liberation of France. Mr. Simms and his sons opened their first restaurant, then called Mimi’s Café, in Anaheim, California in 1978. So either he married Mimi (no proof of that) or she made one heck of an impression. My favorite part of dining at Mimi’s is that every breakfast comes with a muffin. Their Buttermilk Spice is amazing. It’s my favorite.

Today I thought for our fist official Muffin Day share, we’d whip up another favorite – Cinnamon Breakfast Puffs. These simple muffins are elevated when dipped in melted butter, then rolled in a sweet sugar and cinnamon blend. Yum!

French Cinnamon Breakfast Puffs
Breakfast Puffs
3 cups Flour
3 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
1 cup Sugar
2/3 cup Shortening (Crisco)
2 whole Eggs
1 cup Milk

Heat oven to 350-degrees. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin. Set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Be sure to distribute the baking powder throughout the dry mix for a nice rise. Set dry mixture aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer cream together the sugar and shortening. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing with each addition.

Add flour mixture and milk, alternating, to the creamed mixture, beating well after each addition. Fill prepared muffing cups nearly full with the finished batter. Bake in the heated oven for about 20 minutes or until golden and beautiful.

Cinnamon Topping
1 cup Butter
1-1/2 cups Sugar
3 teaspoons Cinnamon

Dice butter, place in a micro-wave safe bowl. Melt butter and set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk sugar with cinnamon. Set aside.

Once the muffins have baked, let cool for about 5 minutes. The muffins need to remain warm, while able to handle. Dip baked muffins in the melted butter, coating thoroughly, then coat with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Arrange on a serving platter, serve warm with remaining melted butter and cinnamon sugar to use as desired.

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Glorify the Lord with me,
let us together extol His name.
I sought the Lord, and He answered me
and delivered me from all my fears
Psalms 34:4-5