Easy Cruffin Recipe
This cruffin recipe has been way simplified! No butter square. Bake croissant dough rolled with cinnamon sugar in a muffin tin. Such a treat!
I’m so excited to be sharing this simplified cruffin recipe with you today!
It’s based off of my easy croissant recipe, which offers all the flaky, buttery goodness of the croissants you already know and love, and makes them way simpler to make. There’s no fussing around with a butter square or a ruler, but they come out every bit as perfect as if you had!
Cruffins are made from the same type of croissant dough, but they’re baked in a muffin tin and coated with cinnamon sugar, creating a tasty treat that’s not quite like anything else.
Because the dough is laminated (or folded) you end up with countless flaky layers of pastry and a buttery flavor that’s completely irresistible!
Laminated pastries are so special! You might think you can only treat yourself to one from a bakery. But guess what? With this method, you can make them yourself, at home! And there’s nothing to it!
Be sure to check out my cheese Danish, homemade pie crust, and pain au chocolat for other examples of impossibly flaky treats!
Table of Contents
- What is a cruffin?
- Why this is the best cruffin recipe
- What do cruffins taste like?
- Ingredients
- Special equipment
- How to make this cruffin recipe
- How to serve cruffins
- Expert tips
- Frequently asked questions
- A few more of my best breakfast recipes
What is a cruffin?
A cruffin is a hybrid between a croissant, a muffin, and a cinnamon roll.
It’s made from croissant dough, which is a yeast dough that’s folded together with butter, creating lots of flaky layers.
But it’s baked in a muffin tin!
And it’s swirled with cinnamon sugar, similar to a cinnamon roll.
Why this is the best cruffin recipe
- Tastes amazing: It’s made with wholesome, real ingredients like fresh butter, milk, and yeast. And it’s just sweet enough, with a hint of warm cinnamon.
- Few ingredients: You’ll only need a handful of pantry staples to make it.
- Easy to make: The method I recommend using is so much more approachable than the fancy French way. There’s only around 25 minutes of active time.
- Versatile: You can get creative and make blueberry cruffins, apple butter cruffins, you name it! The sky’s the limit.
What do cruffins taste like?
These delightful little pastries have the loveliest crunchy cinnamon sugar coating! And the pastry itself is so buttery, yeasty, and delicious!
Ingredients
Flour: Regular all-purpose flour is fine, or any substitute that can swap 1:1.
Sugar: Granulated white sugar, or a sweetener that can sub 1:1. A little bit goes into the dough, and it is also used in combination with the cinnamon to fill and coat the cruffins.
Yeast: I prefer dry active yeast, but instant yeast can also be used. You may just have to decrease the rise times a bit.
Salt: Kosher salt is my go-to because it doesn’t have any bitter-tasting additives like iodine.
Butter: Unsalted butter allows you to season these cruffins perfectly! Make sure it’s very cold. If it gets too warm and soft the dough will be really hard to work with.
Milk: Whatever kind you keep on hand. Even a plant-based product will work! Just make sure it’s cold.
Cinnamon: Ground cinnamon adds a little extra flavor to these scrumptious pastries.
Special equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons: Follow my guide on how to measure ingredients.
- Bowl: A large mixing bowl, for mixing up the dough and for coating the cruffins in cinnamon sugar.
- Silicone spatula: Helps combine the dough ingredients.
- Plastic wrap: Prevents things from drying out as the dough chills.
- Extra flour: Aka: bench flour. Prevents the dough from sticking as it’s being rolled out.
- Rolling pin: This dough gets rolled out and folded.
- Muffin pan: In which to bake the cruffins.
How to make this cruffin recipe
I know laminated pastries sound like a lot of work, but I’ve distilled the process down to just 5 simple steps.
Step 1: Make the dough
Place the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in a bowl.
Give them a quick stir to get them combined, then add in the butter.
The butter should be cut into slices around 1/8th-inch thick.
Toss them around in the dry ingredients, making sure the slices are all separate and that each one gets coated well.
Then, start stirring in the milk.
You may need to get in there with your clean hands at the very end, and knead the dry ingredients into the dough. It will be very stiff!
Flatten the dough into a disc shape, wrap it in plastic, and allow it to chill in the fridge for 1 hour. It will hydrate a ton as it sits, so don’t worry if it seems a little dry.
Step 2: Laminate
Once the dough has chilled, dust your work surface, hands, and rolling pin with flour.
Roll the dough out to a long, rectangular shape.
Then, fold it into thirds, like a letter.
Turn it 90 degrees, then repeat 2 more times.
This rolling and folding process is creating all those flaky layers!
Wrap it back up and give it another hour in the fridge.
Step 3: Divide, roll, and shape
Cut the dough in half.
Roll each half out to a rectangle about 1/8th of an inch thick. The exact dimensions don’t really matter!
Sprinkle a few tablespoons of cinnamon sugar all over the surface, then roll it up into a tight log, cinnamon roll style.
Then flatten the log out (with your fingers or with the rolling pin) and slice it lengthwise, just like if you were making babka.
Divide each half log into 3 equal portions and spiral them before popping them into the muffin pan, cut side up.
Give the unbaked cruffins an hour to rise (lightly covered) in a warm place.
Step 4: Bake
These will bake in a hot oven until they’re deeply golden brown.
Step 5: Coat
As soon as they’re cool enough to handle drop them in a bowl of cinnamon sugar, rolling them around and coating them in the sweetly spiced mixture.
How to serve cruffins
Enjoy these delightful pastries warm or at room temperature.
They’re great for breakfast, brunch, dessert, or as an afternoon snack. I especially love them with my morning coffee!
Expert tips
Keep it cold: Make sure your butter and milk are very cold. If at any point the butter becomes soft, it will mess with the lamination process. It will also make the dough a lot harder to work with! So don’t be afraid to stop if needed and give things some time to firm up and chill.
Get creative: Think about using an unusual spice like vanilla beans, cardamom or ground ginger in place of the cinnamon. You could also spread melted chocolate, jam, marmalade, or fruit curd over the dough before rolling it into a log.
Bake well: Be sure to bake your cruffins until deeply golden. If they are underbaked, they could collapse. You want to really allow the structure to set!
Frequently asked questions
Crescent rolls are softer, a little sweeter, and less flaky than croissants.
If this is your preference I have a recipe here: Homemade Crescent Rolls.
It’s not a bad idea to break up the prep over a day or so to make things easier.
Once the rolls are formed, pop them into the fridge and cover them lightly with plastic wrap. They’ll last there for up to 48 hours before the yeast starts to die off.
They can also be frozen for up to 2 weeks. Thaw in the fridge or at room temperature before baking.
These can be left out at room temperature (covered) for a few days.
They’ll last in the fridge for about a week.
And in the freezer, they should keep for 2 months. Thaw at room temperature and reheat in the microwave for around 15 seconds, or (wrapped in foil) in a 170-degree F oven until warmed through.
This recipe makes 12 cruffins, and each cruffin is 1 serving.
The nutritional info below is for 1 cruffin, or 1/12th of the whole batch.
A few more of my best breakfast recipes
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Easy Cruffin Recipe
Ingredients
For the croissant dough
- 4 cups (500 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup (66.67 g) granulated sugar
- 4 teaspoons (12.44 g) active dry yeast, (2 packets or .5 ounce)
- 2 teaspoons (12 g) kosher salt
- 1 1/4 cups (283.75 g) unsalted butter, cold (2 1/2 sticks)
- 1 cup (244 g) milk, cold (any kind)
For the filling and coating
- 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons (4 g) ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Place the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.
- Cut the butter into 1/8-inch thick slices, then toss in the flour mixture to coat, making sure each slice is separate.
- Stir in the milk, a little at a time, until a stiff dough forms (you may have to knead the dough with your hands to get all the dry ingredients incorporated).
- Flatten the dough into a disc, wrap tightly, and chill for one hour.
- Sprinkle the work surface, dough, and rolling pin with flour and roll the dough out into a long rectangle.
- Fold into thirds, like a letter.
- Turn 90 degrees, then repeat the rolling, folding, and turning process 2 more times, dusting with flour as needed to prevent sticking.
- Wrap and chill the laminated dough for another hour.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Divide the dough in half and roll each half into a rectangle shape about 1/8-inch thick.
- Sprinkle with about 2 tablespoons of the filling mixture.
- Roll into a long log, then flatten the log.
- Split the log in half lengthwise.
- Divide each half into 3 portions.
- Roll each portion into a spiral, then place in the wells of a muffin tin, cut side up.
- Cover lightly with plastic wrap and allow the pastries to rise for 1 hour, or refrigerate overnight.
- Bake until deeply golden brown (approx. 20 to 30 minutes).
- Cool for 5 minutes, then coat the cruffins in the remaining cinnamon sugar.
If I make them and store in the fridge to bake the next morning, do I bake directly out of the fridge or does it need to come up to room temperature and rise for a hour?
I like to let them come to room temperature first 😉 Good luck!
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