Glazed Donut Muffins

I've respected your New Year's resolutions long enough. Now I'm serving up muffins. Donut muffins. Oh, so help me.

With a double-dip of glaze and subtle spice from cinnamon and nutmeg, you get all the joy of a donut without the danger of deep frying. I certainly can't be expected to fry anything before I'm fully caffeinated.

So enjoy a little treat this weekend. Get back to smoothies and salads on Monday.

Glazed Donut Muffins
Adapted from Sweet Pea's Kitchen

Muffins:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups flour
1 cup milk

Glaze:
5 tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 tablespoons hot water

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or grease with cooking spray.

Beat together butter, oil, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until smooth using the paddle attachment of your mixer. Add in eggs one at a time. On low speed, beat in baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla extract. Still using the lowest setting, add in a third of the flour, then half of the milk, another third of the flour, the second half of the milk, and finally the remaining flour. Mix until just combined, being careful not to overmix.

Divide batter between 12 muffin cups. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing to cool on a wire rack. Let muffins cool for 10 minutes before glazing

While the muffins cool, make the glaze. In a small-ish bowl, whisk together butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and hot water until smooth. (It will look a light brown color because of the vanilla extract, but you can't tell once it's dried.)

Dip the tops of the muffins into the glaze. Allow glaze to dry before dipping the muffins a second time. (The second dip is really essential to making them look like glazed donuts. If the glaze hardens before you're ready for the second dip, just heat the glaze in the microwave for a few seconds and whisk again.)