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Jul 16, 2021

Cruffins (Easy Croissant Muffins)

Cruffins, a cross between croissants and muffins, with a sweet buttery dough, are a great way to capture the flaky dough of croissants crossed with the convenience of muffins. 

Cruffins (Easy Croissant Muffins) in a basket.





You get the light and airy pull-apart flaky pastry in a muffin shape without having to roll out and laminate dough over two or three days. 

Of course you can use croissant dough and then bake them in a muffin or pop over tin, or make sugary Kouign Amann, but these are so much easier. 

How to assemble cruffins.




Instead of a cold butter block that you wrap in dough, fold, roll, and chill several times, you spread room temperature butter over the dough. 

How to Assemble Cruffins:

First, after the first rise, divide the dough into four equal pieces, and then, one by one, roll out each piece of the dough to a 24 by 8 inch rectangle. Your dough will be very thin. 

After that, spread room temperature butter over the surface of the dough. Cut the dough in half lengthwise, and then roll up one half of the dough lengthwise. Place the piece of rolled out dough on top of the other strip and continue rolling until you have one thick roll. 

Next, cut the thick roll in half with a sharp knife lengthwise. Roll the halves in a coil like a cinnamon roll and place them in a prepared muffin tin, popover pan, or custard cups. 

Finally, repeat with the rest of the dough and bake. 

Croissant Muffins with sugar topping.




While I kept these cruffins plain, with just a little bit of sparkling sugar on top, you can fill them with cinnamon sugar, a savory garlic and Parmesan sprinkle, or anything else that works for you. 

Once out of the oven, these cruffins were delicious with butter, jam, and even peanut butter. You could also drizzle the tops with chocolate syrup or chocolate fudge for an entirely decadent treat. 

If you have leftovers, you can individually wrap them in cling wrap and place them in a freezer bag to reheat later. 

Cruffins on a board.




This month the Bread Baking Babes are baking cruffins from a recipe put together by our host kitchen, Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen

The Babes who participated are:

Cathy of Bread Experience

Kelly of A Messy Kitchen

Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen

Elle of Feeding my Enthusiasms

Tana of My Kitchen in Half Cups

Judy of Judy's Gross Eats

Elizabeth of  Blog from Our Kitchen



Cruffins in a basket.





Cruffins

Cruffins
Yield: 8
Author: Karen's Kitchen Stories
Prep time: 40 MinCook time: 30 MinInactive time: 2 HourTotal time: 3 H & 10 M
Cruffins, a cross between croissants and muffins, with a sweet buttery dough, are a great way to capture the flaky dough of croissants crossed with the convenience of muffins.

Ingredients

  • 50 grams (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
  • 1 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
  • 290 grams (2 1/4 cups) all purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 50 grams (3 1/2 tablespoons) chilled butter, cut into small pieces
  • 1/4 cup lukewarm water
  • 1/2 cup lukewarm milk (about 90 to 100 degrees F)
  • 120 to 150 grams (1/2 to 2/3 cup) room temperature butter for laminating
  • Sparkling sugar for topping (optional)

Instructions

  1. Whisk together the sugar, yeast, flour, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir in the butter and pour in the water and milk.
  2. Knead with the dough hook (about 7 minutes) until you have a smooth dough that clears the sides of the bowl. It should not be sticky. Adjust the flour or liquid as needed. 
  3. Form the dough into a ball and place it in an oiled bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled, one to two hours. 
  4. Prepare a muffin pan, popover pan, or 8 custard cups with nonstick spray or butter. 
  5. Very lightly flour your work surface. Deflate the dough and divide it into 4 equal pieces. Working with one ball at a time (keep the others covered), roll the dough out to a 24 inch by 8 inch rectangle. It will be very thin.
  6. Spread 1/4 of the softened butter over the dough and cut the dough in half lengthwise. Beginning with one strip, roll the dough lenghwise (see photo) into a cylinder. Place the rolled up piece at the end of the other rolled out and buttered piece, and continue rolling until you have a fat cylinder. 
  7. With a sharp knife, cut the cyllinder in half lengthwise. Coil the halves like you might a cinnamon roll, with the cut side facing up. Place it in the prepared muffin tin. Repeat with the rest of the dough to make 8 cruffins. 
  8. Cover the pan loosely with cling wrap or a kitchen towel and let rise until puffy, about 45 to 60 minutes. 
  9. Heat your oven to 375 degrees F. Sprinkle the tops of the cruffins with sparkling sugar (optional) and bake the cruffins for about 30 minutes, until golden brown. 
  10. Turn them out onto a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. 

Nutrition Facts

Calories

333.82

Fat (grams)

19.45

Sat. Fat (grams)

12.12

Carbs (grams)

35.47

Fiber (grams)

1.15

Net carbs

34.32

Sugar (grams)

6.87

Protein (grams)

4.73

Sodium (milligrams)

224.15

Cholesterol (grams)

50.94
Cruffins
Bread
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Would you like to comment?

  1. I need to get my hands on some sparkling sugar, it makes such a pretty topping! (And my kiddo likes the crunch.)

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  2. Gorgeous! I like the sparkling sugar on top as well. I also like your idea of enjoying these with peanut butter. Yum!

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  3. Gorgeous! always. Sparkling sugar...now there's a no duh, I'll try hard not to miss that opportunity again.
    Now I see how I ended up with 17 instead of 8...but I guess the smaller 17 allowed me to eat more of them.

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  4. Going to make with Garlic chives and herbs from the garden, maybe some roasted garlic too.

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  5. Love the sparkling sugar on top. They really are good looking cruffins and I'm sure were delicious with all that butter!

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  6. I love that your cruffin layers look like tarte tatin apples. The sparkling sugar crystals are the perfect addition. (Do you think you used enough butter? ;-) )

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  7. Leftovers?!?!? I don't think that's possible.

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  8. Wow this sounds really doable. My idea of a yummy breakfast!

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  9. Picture perfect and delicious!

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  10. These are beautiful. What a fun recipe, I can't wait to try!

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  11. I cannot wait to make these babies, I made croissants when I was a teenager and vowed never to do that again! But this looks much easier!

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  12. cover with cinnamon and insert custard for a better taste

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