Cinnamon Butter Muffins

Or are they dirt bombs?

Welcome to issue #4 of Susanality. If you’re not yet subscribed, click the little box — I appreciate your support!

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First of all, thank you for being here. I considered skipping my newsletter this week because of all the awful things that are happening in the world. But then I decided that everybody could use a little soothing, and we still gotta eat, right? I tend to avoid current events and politics in my Instagram feed, not because I don’t care about all of the injustices and hate that, unfortunately, happen every day. I do care, and deeply. We do still have to eat, so here is my attempt to comfort you.

Last week in my newsletter I was exploring memory, and how our experiences help form who we are — not only in the world but in the kitchen too. I wanted to share a recipe with you that I did not create myself, but that created me. These tender and delicious Cinnamon Butter Muffins were always on the menu at The Commissary in Philadelphia where I worked as a teenage art student. Little did I know that my experiences there would lead me to a life in food. I wasn’t a cook there — except for the days when I stood in a little open kitchen at the rear of the restaurant making omelets to order — but I did get to handle a lot of food. The rest of the restaurant was cafeteria-style. Style was the operative word; this was no ordinary cafeteria. Some days I was slicing smoked salmon so thin that I could see right through it to the blade of the knife. Other days I was cutting the most fragile and beautiful cakes and lining them up like they were in a Wayne Thiebaud painting. A particular challenge was the chocolate mousse cake whose ethereal filling was encased by the thinnest genoise.  And some days, as I mentioned, I was whipping up omelets in a traditional omelet pan that was NOT nonstick, which could be nerve-wracking even with all the butter I used as the customers watched and waited.

I believe my lifelong coffee habit began while working this job. One of my favorite things to have with my coffee was one of these muffins. I never forgot them. They are one of the many recipe gems in the Frog Commissary Cookbook, which was published way back in 1985, about 7 years after I first worked there. (The Commissary and Frog were sister restaurants.) Once I started thinking about reviving this recipe, I wondered if a similar sounding recipe I had heard a lot about was one and the same. I had heard people wax poetic about the Dirt Bombs from the Cottage Street Bakery in Orleans, MA on Cape Cod, and also about the Dirt Bombs from another bakery, Bantam Bread in Bantam CT. 

Once again, I fell down an internet rabbit hole, trying to find out how this recipe has traveled. I found that the Cottage St. Bakery was started circa 1985, so I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the recipe came from the very-popular-at-the-time Frog Commissary Cookbook because it is so similar save for a few tweaks. I’m guessing that once folks started lining up for those muffins, the recipe became “theirs”. I read in a few places that it is the “home of the original Dirt Bomb”. Bantam Bread came along about ten years later, and they too are now famous for their Dirt Bombs.

I should tell you what makes this muffin so special. First of all, it has a very tender crumb which is scented with nutmeg. They are really more cake than muffin, and as if they weren’t buttery enough, you dip the whole thing in MORE melted butter and roll it in cinnamon sugar. It sounds kind of insane but makes so much sense as you dip and roll. Heaven, especially when eaten warm. The cinnamon-y aroma and the sensation of nibbling on the crunchy edges took me right back to The Commissary, to coffee from those thick blue and white mugs, and to my art school dreams.

I tried tracking down Anne Clark, head baker at the Commissary and coauthor of the Frog Commissary Cookbook.  She was someone I really looked up to back then. I wanted to ask her where she got the recipe, or the inspiration. But no dice; I will get back to you if I end up finding her. 

So, call them Dirt Bombs or call them Cinnamon Butter Muffins. But call them; I think you will like them. I’ve made a few tweaks of my own. I tried buttermilk because I had some in my fridge that I needed to use, but in the end, milk was better. Either works though. In the batter I used all butter instead of half shortening. I did away with the need for a machine, and just softened the butter well so I could cream it by hand. The published recipes all made twelve muffins; I halved the batch; who needs 12 muffins? Feel free to double it if you want more, and you might. I think these would freeze just fine. That’s what we do with all of my baking projects around here. That way the freezer is studded with sweet surprises whenever cravings strike.

What is the moral of this story? That it’s heartening to see a recipe live on and make so many people happy. And no one really owns it.

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Cinnamon Butter Muffins aka Dirt Bombs

Adapted from The Frog Commissary Cookbook

click here for a printable version

MAKES 6

These decadent muffins taste something like a sugared donut, but so much easier to make, and you most likely have everything you need in the house to make them. I’ve made a few small changes to the original recipe like using all butter instead of half shortening. I tried a batch with buttermilk, which works too, but I think they brown better with milk. Speaking of browning, I found that they brown better both on the bottom and the top if they are spaced out in a 12-cup muffin tin (or two 6-cup tins). Use the corners where the muffins will get the most heat, and then alternate the rest as best you can. This also solves the problem of the dramatically domed muffin tops conjoining as they bake. A heavy-duty muffin pan will brown faster than a thin grocery store pan, so keep an eye on how they look and don’t worry if they take a little longer to bake. In the end color isn’t that important since they will be fully crusted with cinnamon sugar.

FOR THE MUFFINS:

6 tablespoons/85 g very soft unsalted butter
½ cup/100 g granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1½ cups/192 g all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
½ cup whole milk

FOR THE TOPPING:

½ cup/113 g unsalted butter, melted
½ cup/100 g granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon 

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 6 cups of a standard 12-cup muffin tin. In a medium mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar using a sturdy spoon. Beat in the egg (I like to switch to a whisk here) until well combined. 

2. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg in a small bowl and stir to combine. Add to the butter mixture, alternating with the milk, starting and ending with the flour. Stir well to combine thoroughly.

3. Divide the batter among the six cups (it will come nearly to the top) and bake on the center rack for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden on the top.

4. Have ready the melted butter and combine the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Let the muffins cool for a minute or two in the pan, then tip them out into a cooling rack. Immerse each muffin briefly in the melted butter, making sure to coat it completely, and let any excess drip off. Immediately roll in the cinnamon sugar, and serve warm if possible.

TIP: Use the butter wrapper to grease the pan, and don’t forget to grease the top of the pan too so the muffin tops don’t stick.