Morning buns in muffin form! These fluffy, moist, yogurt-based muffins are flavored with cinnamon and orange, then coated in melted butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar for that classic morning bun taste.
Line a 12-cavity muffin tin with paper liners and place on a baking sheet, or spray the heck out of your muffin tin cavities with baking spray. Set aside.
Melt butter in microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.
Zest, then juice your orange.
BAKING INSTRUCTIONS
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, orange zest, baking soda, salt, and 2 tsp ground cinnamon until combined.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the 6 tbsp melted butter, yogurt, 1 tbsp orange juice, egg, and vanilla extract.
Pour wet ingredients into dry, then mix with a spatula until just combined. Batter will be relatively thick and sticky, almost like biscuit dough.
Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin; you should have exactly enough batter to fill each cavity to the top.
Bake Morning Bun Muffins at 400F for 13-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Remove muffin tin to a wire rack and let cool 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile, make the Morning Bun Muffin topping.
TOPPING INSTRUCTIONS
In a small bowl (that’s big enough to fit a muffin), melt 2 tbsp butter and stir in 1 ½ tsp orange juice.
In another similarly sized bowl, stir together the brown sugar and the 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon.
While Morning Bun Muffins are still warm, dip the tops in the melted butter and orange mixture, then press into the cinnamon sugar mixture. Since the muffins are still warm, you can press some extra cinnamon sugar onto the sides and bottoms of the muffins, too, and it will stick.
Serve Morning Bun Muffins while still warm or after they have cooled completely.