Cinnamon Roll Muffins - Gemma’s Bigger Bolder Baking (2024)

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Hi Bold Bakers!

NOTE FROM GEMMA:Welcome back Vedika! She’s here again with another one of her fabulous recipes for us — Cinnamon Roll Brownies. Make sure to check out her Salted Caramel Fudge & Dirty Chai Brownies, too.

I love cinnamon rolls. Warm dough, oozing with buttery cinnamon sugar, finished with a sticky, sweet glaze. But I make them so rarely- the process requires time and patience, two things I usually don’t have. As a full-time student, I rarely get a chance to bake and do so sparingly.

So this recipe for cinnamon roll muffins has the best qualities of a cinnamon roll. The muffin batter is light, fluffy, and not overly sweet. Then there are two layers of cinnamon sugar. One that goes in the middle, and one on top. I add pecans or walnuts to the mixture because it adds a nice crunch. You can also throw in some chocolate chips (not classic for a cinnamon roll but still tasty), or even diced apples.

And finally, these muffins are drizzled with a simple glaze- the cherry on top, so to speak.

Cinnamon Roll Muffins vs. Cinnamon Rolls

Like a cinnamon roll, these muffins are layered with cinnamon sugar and drizzled with a sugar glaze. But unlike a cinnamon roll, there is no yeast or waiting time for these muffins, so you can have them ready in under an hour from start to finish.

You will notice most ingredients that go into this recipe are virtually the same as the ones that go into a cinnamon roll. However, muffins are what we call “quick bread” and leaven with the help of baking powder. A lower protein content yields more of a cake-like texture than bread: this is the main difference.

Now I’ve made this recipe several times to perfect it. My first few attempts resulted in muffins that were nice but had a layer of butter that pooled beneath the liners, as I tried to make the filling as close to a cinnamon roll as possible. To remedy this, I reduced the butter in the cinnamon mixture and added flour so that it would blend nicely into the muffins. I ended up with a tender muffin, with a surprise layer of cinnamon sugar inside, topped off with a crunchy streusel-like cinnamon topping. A hybrid between a coffee cake and a cinnamon roll.

This is a delicious muffin recipe, that has the best qualities of a cinnamon roll, and the best qualities of a coffee cake.

What You Need To Make Cinnamon Roll Muffins

Nothing too extravagant here! The muffin batter contains basic ingredients you most likely already have on hand: flour, sugar, milk, eggs, baking powder, and oil. As a side note, this muffin batter is a great staple recipe I use for any muffin base and can be customized however you like.

The cinnamon mixture comprises cinnamon, butter, sugar, flour, and nuts. It’s essentially a streusel.

If you’re feeling extra fancy and wish to stray slightly from this recipe, you can throw some coconut into the cinnamon-sugar mixture, or fold in some apples or blueberries in the muffin batter.

Here are the tools you’ll need:

• Measuring cupsandspoons
• Muffin Tin
• Muffin Liners
• Mixing Bowls

How To Make Cinnamon Roll Muffins

You don’t need any fancy equipment to make this recipe: a bowl, whisk and cupcake tray suffices. Once the batter and cinnamon mixture are prepared, you’ll layer them up, and when they come out of the oven, you’ll drizzle them with the glaze.

These are delicious warm, with a cup of morning coffee or tea.

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And make sure you get her cookbook,52 Weeks, 52 Sweets right here!

Make Some Of Gemma’s Cinnamon Rolls!

• Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls
• 1-Hour No-Yeast Cinnamon Rolls
• Best-Ever Cinnamon Rolls (No-Knead, No-Machine)

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Ingredients

Instructions