Chocolate Doughnut Muffins

By Yossy Arefi

Published March 21, 2024

Chocolate Doughnut Muffins
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
50 minutes
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
40 minutes
Rating
4(1,318)
Comments
Read comments

These supersoft, pillowy chocolate muffins are reminiscent of your favorite chocolate doughnut, but with no fussy frying necessary. Packed with sour cream and just a drop of oil, they stay moist and delicious for days. They come together quickly in one bowl, so you can mix them up for a morning treat or afternoon snack without much effort. The cinnamon-sugar coating gives them a crunchy and lightly spiced exterior, which is a pleasing contrast to their soft centers, but they are just as tasty with a heavy dusting of confectioners’ sugar instead.

  • or to save this recipe.

  • Subscriber benefit: give recipes to anyone
    As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.
    Subscribe

  • Print Options

Advertisement

Ingredients

Yield:12 muffins
  • ½cup plus 4 tablespoons/170 grams unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing
  • 2large eggs
  • 1cup/200 grams granulated sugar
  • 1cup/220 grams sour cream
  • 1tablespoon vegetable or canola oil
  • 1½teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal), plus a pinch
  • ½cup/45 grams Dutch-process cocoa powder
  • 1½teaspoons baking powder
  • ¼teaspoon baking soda
  • 1cup/128 grams all-purpose flour
  • 1tablespoon ground cinnamon
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)

343 calories; 25 grams fat; 15 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 8 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 29 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 17 grams sugars; 4 grams protein; 196 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Powered by
Cooking Newsletter illustration

Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.

Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 375 degrees with a rack set in the center. Generously butter a 12-cup muffin tin.

  2. Step 2

    In a large bowl, combine the eggs and ¾ cup/150 grams granulated sugar and whisk until well combined.

  3. Step 3

    Add the sour cream, ½ cup/113 grams butter, the oil, nutmeg and 1 teaspoon salt; whisk until well combined.

  4. Step 4

    Whisk in the cocoa powder, followed by the baking powder and the baking soda. Then use a flexible spatula to fold in the flour by gently scooping up some batter from the bottom and folding it over the flour on the top. Rotate the bowl and repeat until just incorporated.

  5. Step 5

    Divide the mixture among the 12 wells and bake until the muffins are puffed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 18 to 23 minutes.

  6. Step 6

    In a shallow bowl, combine the remaining ¼ cup/50 grams granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon cinnamon and a pinch of salt.

  7. Step 7

    Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes then transfer them to a rack. Working with one warm muffin at a time, brush it with some remaining melted butter then toss in the cinnamon sugar; repeat with remaining muffins.

  8. Step 8

    Serve immediately. Store any extras in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. (The sugar will gradually melt into the muffins as they sit, but you can reroll the muffins in cinnamon sugar, if desired.)

Ratings

4 out of 5
1,318 user ratings
Your rating

or to rate this recipe.

Have you cooked this?

or to mark this recipe as cooked.

Private Notes

Leave a Private Comment on this recipe and see it here.

Comments

SQ

I’m gonna ditch the nutmeg and add in a bit of instant coffee to deepen the chocolate flavor. Maybe douse with a glaze!

McKenzie

Tasty and definitely donut-like in flavor. I was carrying a baby and entertaining a toddler so didn’t mix everything in the right order. They still turned out light and fluffy. Made them mini-cupcake size for more of a donut hole effect. Can’t go wrong with a Yossi recipe!

ShariM

I didn’t have enough sour cream and I really wanted to make them, so I used a scant 1/2 cup sour cream plus approximately 1/4 cup each Greek yogurt and ricotta. They came out perfectly. Next time I’ll try with all Greek yogurt.

Holly

Wish I’d read the comments before baking. I made as directed (except 1/2 cup sour cream and 1/2 cup Greek yogurt because that’s heat I had). Love the texture and the coating. Not enough chocolate flavor, too much nutmeg. Next time I’ll reduce nutmeg and add vanilla and espresso powder as others have noted. I’m convinced this can be great!

Rose

I surprised my family with these this morning and they were fairly quick to put together. These were tender and moist with good chocolate flavor. I used 2% Greek plain yogurt since I didn’t have sour cream and reduced nutmeg (freshly grated) to 1/4 tsp and added 1 tsp of vanilla paste due to other people commenting that the nutmeg amount seemed too high. Since I have donut tins I decided to use those instead of a muffin tin and it was the perfect amount of batter to fill my 2 6-well Wilton donut tins. Baked at 375F for 18 min. The only criticism I have is that the 4 Tbsp of melted butter called for in the last step was way too much (you only need to brush a very light coating in order to get the cinnamon sugar to stick.) I probably only used 1 Tablespoon.

Alessandra A

This recipe added way too much nutmeg. You should only add a small sprinkle if you’re going to include it. The donuts came out super moist though and were spectacular otherwise!

Private comments are only visible to you.

Recipe Tags

Advertisement

or to save this recipe.