Serving Up {Muffins}: Cinnamon Ripple Muffins

I have mentioned before that Sunday mornings are our family Muffin Mornings so, as a result, we go through a lot of muffin recipes.  Not many recipes get made more than once.  And even fewer get posted to the blog. These muffins were a pleasant surprise (my daughter found the recipe on a kid's website so I didn't have high expectations) and an instant hit.  Everyone was in agreement that we needed to add this recipe to the weekly rotation and luckily I snapped a photo before all the muffins were eaten!

These muffins taste just like miniature coffee cakes, complete with the little cinnamon swirl (or ripple as per the name).  The key to making them is to add the cinnamon ripple to the batter and then only fold it in a couple of times - you DO NOT want to mix it into the batter completely.  The result is the ripple of cinnamon, buttery goodness that makes these muffins a hit!

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CINNAMON RIPPLE MUFFINS     

(recipe from Family Fun)

printable version

Cinnamon Ripple

1/2 cup brown sugar

4 Tbs. butter, cut into small pieces

1/4 cup flour

2 tsp. cinnamon

Muffin Batter

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 tsp. vanilla

Heat the oven to 400 degrees and prepare 12 muffin cups by greasing or lining with muffin papers.

Combine all the cinnamon ripple ingredients in medium bowl and use an electric mixer to blend them well.  Set the mixture aside.

In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy.  Continue to beat and add each egg, buttermilk and vanilla.  Stir in the dry ingredients by hand just until the batter is blended.  Sprinkle the cinnamon ripple over the batter and use a spatula to fold it in a couple of times.

Divide the batter between the muffin cups and bake for 12 minutes or until a toothpick tests clean.  Let the muffins cool for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.