Pumpkin Spice Donut Muffins

I found this amazing recipe over at Strawberry Cake. I believe she said in her post that she created these with an adaptation to Pioneer Woman's French Breakfast Puffs. I have been dreaming about the wonderfulness waiting for me ever since. Today was the day!!
The Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup sugar
2/3 cups Crisco shortening
2 large eggs
1/2 cup +1 tablespoon buttermilk
1 cup canned pumpkin (no sugar or spices added)

Cream together sugar, shortening and eggs in a stand mixer, if you have one. Look at mine...it's older than I am but it is the only one I've got so I love it. But if you feel bad for me and want to send me a new one, that'll be just fine *bats eyelashes*

Once that mix is well blended, add the pumpkin. While that blends, mix together all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and measure out the buttermilk. Begin alternating adding the dry mix...

...and the buttermilk...

...until all ingredients have made a lovely batter, like so:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare your muffin pan(s). I had to resist using my new jumbo pan today. It was calling to me...

In the end I decided I would use my new mini muffin pan. NO! The fact that I can put an entire mini muffin in my mouth most certainly DID NOT color my decision! HMPH!

Spray with no-stick cooking spray (or grease in whatever way you prefer) and fill cups 2/3 full. I used a cookie scoop.

When the pan is ready

cook at 350 for about 15 minutes. While they were cooking I put the rest of the batter in regular sized pans.

When the mini muffins came out...

I dumped them out onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Oh Dear!! One of them is horribly misshapen and deformed! Do you see it? There on the left? I shall have to put it out of it's misery...

But first, I had another job to do!
The Ingredients:

2 sticks butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tsp cinnamon

Mix together sugar and cinnamon.

Set up an assembly line with your melted butter, cinnamon sugar and cooked muffins.

Take each muffin and dunk it in the melted butter...

...then roll it around in the cinna-sugar until coated on all surfaces.

Oh, there it is again, the sad little misshapen one...there on the right by itself.

Come here little one...it'll be okay.

MMMMMMMMMM! There, now...isn't that better? The regular sized muffins cooked for about 22 minutes and then were treated to the butter bath and cinna-sugar coating. Now try to fight off the rest of your family long enough to snap one last picture and then ENJOY!!