French Breakfast Puffs...A Christmas Tradition!

For as long as I can remember my mom has made these delightful little muffins to enjoy after unwrapping presents on Christmas morning. It was even a tradition when she was a kid to have these on very special occasions. Her sister (my Aunt Trisa) has the same tradition. There are stories of people from our family taking them and hiding them to save for later. I used to make them for Gonzo to take to his coaching retreat and he always hid a container of them for himself.

Let me just tell you, these are amazing and oh sooooo dirty! A good dirty though! They are worth every single calorie! Which, I do not even attempt to calculate the calories! It just doesn't matter!  I mean really it just doesn't!  They are labor intensive if you make them alone but I like to say they are a "labor of love!"  Usually Gonzo is in charge of rolling them in butter (even though he has major issues with greasy things) but I made them today while the girls were napping and he was working! The very best part about them is they can be frozen! All you have to do is take them out a few hours before you eat them and they taste perfect! Anything that can be done ahead of time and frozen is a win for me! Okay here's the recipe!!!!

French Breakfast Puffs

(We three times the recipe because the original recipe only makes about 30 mini muffins.  Who wants to put that kind of work into it and only get 30?!!  No way not me!  Go big or go home!)

1 Cup Butter softened

1 1/2  Cup Sugar

3 Eggs

4 1/2 Cup Flour

4 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder

1 1/2 tsp. Salt

3/4 tsp. Ground Nutmeg

1 1/2 Cup Milk

Preheat the oven to 350.  Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and ground nutmeg in a bowl.  In an electric mixer cream butter and sugar together until fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time and mix well after each.  Stir in alternately the flour mixture and milk starting with flour and ending with milk.  Mix each addition just until combined.  Be careful not to over mix.  It will cause the muffins be tough.  Fill a muffin tin 2/3 full and bake until golden brown.  Approximately 18 - 25 minutes.  Take out of the oven and immediately roll in melted butter and then in a mixture of 1/2 cup of sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon.  The original recipe calls for 6 Tbsp. of melted butter and that is just a big fat joke!  Just plan on using a few sticks.  You will also need more of the cinnamon sugar mixture as well.  I usually end up using at 2 - 3 cups worth.

Sifted dry ingredients

Creamed butter and sugar

Add eggs one at a time and beat well after each

Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix just until combined.  Add 1/3 of the milk and mix just until combined.  Continue adding the flour mixture and milk alternately ending with the last 1/3 of the milk.

While the first pan is baking fill the second pan and have it ready to bake.  Get the cinnamon/sugar mixture ready in one bowl and melt the butter in another.  I set up an assembly line where I can turn out the muffins on the counter, dunk in butter, roll in sugar, and then set aside to cool. 

They will not brown much on top.  You can tell by the sides when they are ready to come out.  The recipe calls to bake them for 20-25 minutes (which I am sure is for a regular size muffin) but It only takes about 18 minutes for the mini muffins.  Although my last two pans didn't take 18 minutes.  Just watch the first batch and look for the brown edges around the sides of each muffin. 

Turn them out on the counter and immediately rolls one at a time in the butter and then into the cinnamon/sugar mixture.  This is when it's fantastic to have a helping set of hands. 

First batch is coated and cooling.  It took me about 8 minutes to do each two dozen muffin pan.  After I finished coating them all I wash my hands, and start to fill the next pan.  You might need to melt more butter and make more sugar mixture at this point too.

Here is the whole batch.  It makes 88 or 89 mini muffins depending on how well you scrape the beater and bowl.  I try to get every drop because I don't want to waste any!  They are too good to wash away in the sink!  Yes, we will eat them all!  Don't judge!  We won't eat them all Christmas morning!

This is how much butter and sugar mixture I had left.  Not very much of either!  It takes lots of melted butter.  This ended up taking 3 sticks.  I used about 3 cups of the cinnamon/sugar mixture total. 

 

If you do make these be prepared for your family to think they are the best things they have ever put in their mouths!  Also, be prepared to make these each year for the rest of your life.  Do like my mom and train your kids to do it or at least help.  I have made them for the family for Christmas the last two years!  She is lucky she gets out of it!  Well she deserves to get out of it for making them each year when we were kids!  Make them!  You won't regret it!  Well you might, but oh well just do it anyway!  They are delicious and even better the days after Christmas morning.  I even like them cold!