Bakery Style Snickerdoodle Muffins

Oh I had so much planned to post for the past few weeks. And none of it got done. But such is life. I got a horrible virus that spread from my sinuses to my throat and I was stuck in bed for what felt like an eternity. Going back to work and resuming with regular life always seems so jarring after being that sick. I don't recall feeling that ill since I have been a small child. But I digress -- the internet will be here for a while yet-- so what's the rush, ya?


For the first...maybe 22 years of my life I had never ever heard of a snickerdoodle. Never. What on earth is a snickerdoodle? Is that a cartoon? A brand of liqueur? WHAT IS IT?!

And then I found out. Cinnamon and anything is a winner for me. Cinnamon and vanilla? YEP. 

Cinnamon and caramel? DUH. Cinnamon and chocolate? DIDN'T THINK SO BUT YEAH IT IS. 

Cinnamon on ice cream, on oatmeal, in yogurt, in coffee. CINNAMON ON ALL THE THINGS.

So the idea of a snickerdoodle intrigued me. Muffins are something I have been making for a while now and they usually get eaten before I can photograph them. It also took a while to get the proportions of the recipe and technique right, too. 

But alas...here they are. Not only do these have the soft cinnamon-y taste of a snickerdoodle cookie but they are baked up in a gorgeous muffin with a muffin top that makes Zeus himself tear up a little. 

For years the perfectly domed muffin tops of bakeries worldwide has eluded me. How do they do it? How is it so high? I was only used to the muffin mixes we would buy from the shop and make in our muffin tins - WHAT UP DR.OETKER!

But those had soft squishy tops and were really small. Like so small! How is one of those a serving size? I cannot seem to eat anything less than two. But I digress. 

So after many failed attempts I now have the perfect healthy bakery style muffin with a crunchy beautiful muffin top and cakey delicious center. Oh my goodness. Oh. My. MY MY!

These are absolute PERFECTION. Domed cinnamony perfection.

I think if you have a jumbo muffin pan you will get better results but ain't nobody got time for that! I just used a regular pan and filled each muffin cup passed the rim so it domed over slightly. I also didn't use muffin liners because sometimes they irk me and pools of oil collect at the bottom in a super creepy way that I don't appreciate. NOPE!

So read carefully -- make muffins and umm...yep that's it!

Bakery Style Snickerdoodle Muffins

Yields 8 large bakery style muffins or 12- 14 normal sized muffins 

Gluten Free, Sugar Free, Butter Free

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups gluten free all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon 
• 1 cup greek yogurt or mild tasting fruit puree (like apple), room temperature 
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 1/4 liquid sweetener (such as maple syrup or honey for the non-vegan version)
• 1/3 cup warm almond milk 
• Egg Replacer equivalent for two eggs (2 teaspoons mixed with 4 tablespoons water)*  or 2 large eggs, room temperature (for non-vegan version)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Optional: 1 teaspoon cinnamon mixed with 1 tablespoon sugar to sprinkle on top 

*Instead of egg replacer you can also use chia/flax eggs. Take two tablespoons ground flax or chia seeds and mix with 6 tablespoons of water. Mix and allow to gel together -- then they are ready!*

*Melted coconut oil will seize and harden when it comes into contact with cold -- to ensure better blending make sure all ingredients are at room temperature  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F and prepare muffin pans 
2. In a medium sized bowl sift all dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt) 
3. In a large mixing bowl combine all wet ingredients one at a time until it forms a cohesive mixture -- then slowly add coconut sugar 
4. Add dry mixture to wet until combined -- if you cannot mix the batter at a splash more of almond milk -- keep in mind the batter is thick!
5. Scoop mixture into greased muffin pan(amount will depend on the size of muffin you desire) and top (if desired) with cinnamon sugar 
6. Bake for 5 minutes at 400 F* and then decrease the heat to 365 and bake for an additional 20 - 25  minutes or until top becomes slightly browned and crisp and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean 

*This is to get the large bakery style muffins! A quick shot of high heat at the start activates your leaveners and causes a dome in the center while still keeping the center uncooked -- then you reduce the heat and cook all the way through. If you are making normal sized muffins feel free to just bake at 365 from the beginning for 25 - 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean!* 

Oh hello there precious little muffin. Don't let people make you feel bad for having a muffin top because we all love those the best. 


There's a Seinfeld joke in this post somewhere but to be real ...I am really tired. So let's just not and say we did, okay???

These make the house smell like a warm fall day. Which doesn't at all suit the SNOW OUTSIDE MY WINDOW. Good grief.

These huge muffins bring me so much joy. So much. Worth every second! I have also made this recipe with white chocolate chips. I won't lie to you that's pretty unreal, too. But for some reason they melted weird (brand maybe...) and left pockets in the muffins so I was all like nah not this time chocolate chips.

You can even but buttah on there, too. Or Earth Balance or nothing at all. OR PEANUT BUTTER OH MY GOSH THAT WOULD BE SO DOPE.

But seriously nothing is okay too because -- LOOK AT THAT THING! JUST LOOK AT IT!!!!



I hope this solves some mysteries around how to get domed bakery style muffins! Baking powder, baking soda, quick burst of heat at the beginning and of course filling the cups high enough.


All good things.


Happy Snickerdoodling!


XO