Lapis Cake Spice-Sugar Doughnut Muffins

I made these doughnut muffins last week for the Bake Along event. When I was planning to bake it, coincidentally, my mum passed me some lapis cake spice that she had just prepared. That gave me an idea.... why don't I replace the cinnamon with lapis cake spice for the muffins...?

My sister thought it was strange for muffins to taste like lapis cake... I think so too,  because I'm not used to tasting anything that has lapis spice except the spice lapis cake itself. That aside, I think these muffins tasted wonderful, even without the sugar coating. 

The texture is soft and similar to the cake-like fried doughnuts. Maybe that's what the book meant when it said these taste just like old fashioned doughnuts.

Lapis Cake Spice-Sugar Doughnut Muffins
Adapted from recipe by Cheryl and Griffith Day from Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook.
Source: Tasty Kitchen.

For the muffins:
3 cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoons baking soda
2-½ teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg*
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom or ground cinnamon*
* I replaced with ½ tsp lapis cake spice.
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons buttermilk
½ cup butter, room temperature
¾ cup sugar
2 eggs
½  vanilla paste (I added.)

For the coating:
½ cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon (I replaced it with lapis spice.)

For the muffins:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Lightly spray 12 large muffin cups.

2. Mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cardamom (or cinnamon). In a medium bowl, combine milk and buttermilk.

3. In a large bowl, using a handheld mixer on medium speed, cream the butter. Turn the speed to low and gradually add the sugar. Mix until mixture lightens in color. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until just combined. Add the dry ingredients in thirds, alternating with the milk mixture, mixing just until smooth; do not overmix.

4. With a large ice cream scoop or spoon, scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them approximately 2/3 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are firm to the touch and lightly golden.

For the coating:

1. While the muffins bake, set up 2 bowls to dunk them in. In one bowl you will have the melted butter, and in the other bowl you will have the cinnamon sugar.

2. Let the muffins cool completely on a wire rack. Dunk them in the melted butter, then coat them with the cinnamon sugar (lapis spice sugar).

I'm linking this post to Bake Along hosted by Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids,  Joyce from My Cooking Gallery and Lena from Her Frozen Wings.