The Pioneer Woman’s French breakfast puffs

frenchdonutpuffsI keep calling these donut puffs but they are anything but. Despite their donut hole-like appearance, they are slightly larger, and these are more like a super-dense muffin, heavy and loaded with sugar and butter. Not surprising, since they come to me by way of The Pioneer Woman.

I know she first learned how to make them in her French class, but I don’t see what is French about them at all. That’s fine, however, because these are delicious and positively celebratory.

I made a batch of these for my son’s first breakfast brunch. Brunch is my favourite meal and the best meal to showcase my baking and entertaining abilities I would say.

While I didn’t make these at the last minute, I made sure to warm them just a touch before serving them. You really need to love cinnamon to enjoy this recipe, and if you are one of those people who prefer savoury over sweet or reach for the fruit platter first at a wedding, then this is going to feel sickly sweet to you even though it’s just the coating that’s so sugary. BUT – I just love it!

So, here’s the recipe.

Substitutions: None. I happen to love nutmeg in both savoury and sweet, but if you don’t happen to have any on hand, make sure you buy some. It adds just the right flavour dimension to keep these from tasting like something you’ve eaten 1,000 times before.

Same with shortening – make sure to use it in this recipe. The consistency requires shortening, in my opinion. Besides, you can keep shortening for a long time in your pantry, so you can always use it for something else.

Would I make this again? Yes, it’s the perfect brunch addition.

Grade: Four stars out of five. Appearance – delectable. Taste – delicious. Easy enough to make. But – these are so dense, almost even more dense than a scone and I do prefer a lighter touch.


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