Secret Recipe Club: Cinnamon Roll Muffins

There's nothing like homemade cinnamon rolls--but they take about 4 hours, start to finish, and unless you want to wake up at three in the morning to start breakfast, there's no easy way to get them done before lunchtime.  Not that there's anything wrong with cinnamon rolls for lunch, or any time of the day, but sometimes you want them for breakfast.

That's why I had to try the Cinnamon Roll Muffin recipe that I found at The Baker Chick's blog.   Audra has collected a big bunch of appetizing recipes for everything from breads to cakes to cookies, but these muffins definitely caught my eye.  I was assigned this blog as part of the Secret Recipe Club, which is a wonderful way to visit new-to-you blogs and try new-to-you recipes!

Here's the recipe as I made it:

MUFFINS
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
3 cups flour plus more for dusting

FILLING
2 tbsp. butter, room temperature
2/3 cups brown sugar
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

ICING
1 cup powdered sugar
2 to 3 TBL milk or cream

Preheat oven to 375° F. Measure the brown sugar, baking soda, salt, vanilla and egg into a mixing bowl. Add the buttermilk. Mix together with a fork. Add the flour. Stir until thoroughly combined with a large spoon - do not overmix! Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a minute or two. Roll the dough into a 12-inch by 24-inch rectangle.

Mix filling ingredients in a small bowl.  Using an offset spatula, spread filling over the dough.  Roll the dough into a log and stretch slightly. Cut into two-inch pieces and put the pieces into muffin tins lined with cupcake papers. Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes, and then remove from the muffin tins.

Mix icing, adding milk a little at a time to the powdered sugar until it reaches drizzling consistency.  Drizzle with icing (if using) when cool.

Makes 12 to 18 muffins.

Changes I Made:  The only change was that I mixed the filling instead of buttering the dough and sprinkling cinnamon-sugar separately.

My Bad:  I'm pretty sure I overworked this dough, as the results were a little tough.  Next time I'll go with a bit of a lighter touch.  Pay attention to the part that says "Do not overmix!"

Survey SAYS:  I couldn't resist tasting these when they were still hot...oh my, they were good!  You could add some finely chopped nuts to the filling if you like, and they really don't even need the icing.  These are a nice sweet breakfast treat.  Save this recipe for the next snow day and you'll be your family's hero!