Gluten-Free Cinnamon Sugar Brown Butter Breakfast Puffs! They taste like mini donuts and are so easy to make!
If you eat gluten-free and miss donuts, these delectable little breakfast puffs are for you! They might just be my favorite new breakfast thing ever. They taste like little donuts (but much easier to make than donuts!) rolled in brown butter and cinnamon sugar. Brown butter makes everything exponentially more delicious. I like making these breakfast puffs in a mini muffin pan so you get more coating and brown butter in every bite.
I use brown butter for rolling these breakfast puffs after they’re done baking, but use coconut oil in the puff batter. Coconut oil works well with gluten-free cake-like baked goods because it makes a nice light texture. Butter solids can sometimes make the crumb of gluten-free cakes get gummy. The good news if you have to eat dairy-free, just swap out the browned butter for vegan butter and these are totally dairy-free!
My 4-year-old loves helping me roll these in the butter and cinnamon sugar. These are best right out the oven and make the perfect special breakfast treat!
You also might like these gluten-free ebelskivers!
Maple Glazed Donut Muffins from Allergylicious
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Gluten-Free French Breakfast Puffs
Ingredients
For the Coating:
- 8 tablespoons butter
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
For the Puffs:
- 1 cup gluten-free 1:1 baking flour
- ½ cup almond flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup buttermilk (or almond milk + 1 teaspoon cider vinegar), room temperature
Instructions
Prepare the Coating
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat and continue to cook it, stirring frequently, until brown bits form on the bottom and it smells nutty, about 5-7 minutes. Immediately remove from heat and set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine ⅔ cup sugar and the cinnamon. Set aside as well.
Make the Puffs
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 24-count mini muffin pan (preferred) or a 12-count standard size muffin pan with cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the gluten-free flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the eggs and granulated sugar. Mix on medium speedy until light and foamy, about 2 minutes.
- With the mixer running on low, slowly pour in the vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Slowly pour in the flour mixture and mix to combine, followed by the buttermilk (or almond milk/cider vinegar mixture). Mix to fully combine, scraping down the bottom/sides of the bowl in between mixing.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling only ⅔ of the way.
- Bake mini puffs for 15-17 minutes, or standard-sized puffs for 22-25 minutes. When finished, the puffs will feel springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center will come out clean. Let cool for 2-3 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire cooling rack.
- After the puffs cool for 5-10 minutes, roll them in the brown butter (or dip the top) followed by the cinnamon sugar. Serve immediately. These are best hot, right out of the oven. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Jessie O says
Hi,
Do you think that you could make the dough up ahead of time (like the night before) to make breakfast prep a bit faster, but still taste fresh out of the oven?
Erin Collins says
Yes that would work great! I would scoop the dough into the muffin tin, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate the pan. Then you can bake the puffs straight from the fridge!
Laura says
These were FANTASTIC. And they froze surprisingly well too. Wow, I will have to resist making these every weekend with how good they are
Erin Collins says
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! Great to know they freeze well.
Leslie says
These are outstanding! I make these when we have weekend guests, because they don’t taste GF at all! The texture is amazing There are never any left!
Sheila Edwards says
My daughter loves these! They’re so tasty.
Erin Collins says
I’m so glad she likes them! My kids love them too 😉
Janet says
These look delicious! Since I need to avoid dairy, can I substitute Earth Balance for the butter? I’m not sure whether a butter subsitute would form the brown bits and develop the nutty smell after cooking it awhile.
monica turner says
Was wondering if you could make this in a 9×5 bread tin instead of muffins?
Mady says
100 x YES! I have been missing donuts and these basically are the perfect little donut bites.
Maria says
Can you use regular 2% milk? These look delicious and would like to make today. I have all the ingredients, just don’t have the almond milk. I look forward to your response.
Erin Collins says
Yes that will work great! I hope you enjoy them.
Heather Hadfield says
Hi cute cousin! Your website is my new favorite thing as I’m trying out a gluten free diet! Can I use coconut milk instead of almond milk in these breakfast puffs or will that mess them up?
Erin Collins says
Hi Heather! So glad you’re here! When it comes to coconut milk boxed coconut milk (like the refrigerated kind similar to almond milk) and canned coconut milk are very different. You can use the boxed coconut milk that is similar to almond milk here just fine. I wouldn’t use canned coconut milk because it has a much higher fat content and is not as liquidy. Let me know if you have any more questions!
Lauren says
These look SO good!! Can’t wait to try them out!! I’m starting that elimination diet that you gave me ages ago so I’ll have to wait a bit but they will definitely be on the list of things to add back in once I can. 🙂 I miss you!
Anna says
Hi Erin! these look great as always but I’m wondering what happened to some of your recipes on the blog? The breadsticks and chia dinner rolls are not here for one… 🙁 Will they be back??
Anna says
I cannot find the coconut milk yogurt recipe either…I’d like to make it soon hope it’s not gone forever 🙁
Bethany @ Athletic Avocado says
Holy yumminess! These littles guys would go perfect with coffee in the morning!!