twelve days of christmas baking: day four

We're muffin people in this house. For the longest time, we told Mya that cupcakes were muffins so that she couldn't request the actual thing. She now knows the difference but prefers muffins. I discovered this recipe two years ago when Tim gave me The Pioneer Woman cookbook for Christmas. We call these savory little treats: donut muffins.

Day Four: Donut Muffins

Muffins
3 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg (I add a little more than called for because I love nutmeg)
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 cup milk

Coating
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tsp. cinnamon

Cream sugar and shortening together. Add eggs. Mix again. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Alternate adding 1/3 of the dry mixture and 1/3 of the milk to the creamed mixture, beating well after each addition. Fill 12 greased muffin tins. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350. Remove muffins from pan and set aside. To make the coating, melt butter in one bowl. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Dip the warm muffins (**muffins must be warm**) into the butter, coating thoroughly. Then roll in the cinnamon mixture. I like to really coat them in the cinnamon sugar.

Miss Mya helped me make the muffins. These are her favorite things to make. She likes every part of combining the dry mixture to cracking the eggs to licking the finished batter after they're all complete. Mya has been more than insistent on helping me in the kitchen lately. She wants to do EVERYTHING! Rather than fight her, I encourage her. I have been teaching her proper cooking tips like washing your hands before starting (and many times in the middle if she licks somthing), pulling your hair back so no stray strands wiggle their way into the treat and licking the final product to make sure nothing is missing. She's a pro.

(As a little plug for "The Pioneer Woman," I love her cooking. She makes amazing food. The only thing I would recommend is cutting back on at least half of the butter. Check her out. I know you won't be disappointed: The Pioneer Woman.