Cruffins are a great way to optimize your muffin tin (aka cupcake tin or upside down sticky dessert).
They are great for beginners learning to bake, simple bake taste lovers, and lazy bakers 🙋🏻♀️
As a cruffin, they are in between a croissant-muffin and are easy pastry made with an enriched dough that you can make from scratch in a few minutes. (And you need no eggs in case you have none!)
In this bake recipe, you can enjoy the abundant and variety flavors of fall like apple and cinnamon available year-round that also fall right in your mouth.
There are over 7,000 apple varieties and you can choose which you like… or choose another flavor that will be as good.
You can enjoy other favorite flavors like chocolate reminiscent of a chocolate croissant, or chocolate fall pairing with a twist like a chocolate pumpkin mousse.
Whatever flavor or flavor variety you choose, you can make these cruffins from scratch homemade with little effort — and without crescent rolls or similar that have hydrogenated trans fats that do the body no favors. ☺️
The fat in this healthier recipe are a small amount of butter paired with a sticky soft crumb delicious tops that can be healthy fat nuts, with a melt-in-your-mouth texture. 😋
Oh, yess!
You would use your easy rolling pastry skills… and how these cruffins stand out is by flipping the top of a muffin to the bottom when pulling them out of the muffin tin that are ready to serve on a plate.
Then you get a sleek smaller top to bottom look and glistening shiny sticky top for crumbles without any extra effort… that looks inviting on a plate, yes?
These cruffins can be also thought of as a cousin variety to a donut box but without all the fat OR sugar.
Donuts are one food I won’t touch because one donut goes straight to arm fat the next day. 🍩 And if you have similar challenges, you’ll like that about this light butter recipe.
And if you can bake enjoyable pastry that’s less unhealthy and STILL buttery delicious like those behind self-serve pastry window-doors that sends waffs of croissant perfume in a grocery store, why not? 🥐
You’ll get to enjoy these baking scents in your home to get you in the mood. 🍁
And you’ll be happier you made easy cruffins from scratch with a few prep steps like bringing out cold butter, milk, and pantry flour, compared to opening packaged goods that pop out with a dough belly boy when you’re ready to make.
…Until I knew better that I could make anything I saw in a store with ingredients from the store, I did similar moves.
But little tweaks make a huge difference in anti-inflammatory good health and to made-to-order tastes that I’m over the moon for. 🌕
You in? If so, you won’t be disappointed as these are easy baking proofed.
Easy Upside Down Cruffins From Scratch
Equipment
- muffin tin
- pastry roller
- pizza cutter (optional)
- silicone muffin holders (optional)
- pastry dough cutter (optional)
- pastry roller
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup flour (all purpose flour works best)
- 2 tbsp butter, cold (straight from fridge or freezer)
- 1/4 cup milk
- honey
- 1 apple of choice, minced
- Cassia cinnamon (common baking cinnamon)
- cookie or nut crumbles or a mixed combination
- For variety, substitute apple for other flavors like chocolate or blueberries.
Instructions
- Combine flour, butter, and milk with hands or pastry dough cutter. Then form into a cohesive ball, flatten and roll flat into a rectangular shape.
- Fold the four sides in and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes. Roll out cold and fold inward into thirds like an envelope. Roll out again and then fold inward into thirds from a perpendicular side. Refrigerate for another 15 minutes.
- Prepare apple removing peel and core. Mince apple into small bits.
- Roll dough to about 1/4" thick. Generously sprinkle cinnamon to the pastry. Then add apple bits covering entire pastry. Cut out strips with a knife or pizza dough roller/cutter. Roll up strips like a sleeping bag 🙂 and add to muffin tin using silicone holders (or spray muffin tin so they don't stick).
- Add honey to muffin tops that will glide to the bottom that upside down become your tops instead of shiny egg washing your muffin top. Alternatively you can use molasses, maple syrup, agave, or any other syrup.
- Bake on 350°F/180°C until golden brown. You can bake low and slow at 325°F and will take closer to an hour or longer.
- Remove the cruffins and dip or add ontop chopped nuts or cookie crumbles of your choice. Chopped walnuts work well in taste and size. Then plate and enjoy!
