How to Make Cruffins from Scratch

When a croissant meets a muffin amazing things happen!

Tell me, can you think of something better than starting your day with one of these soft and flaky, buttery and perfectly sweet CRUFFINS, next to a steamy-hot cup of coffee?!?!
If you haven't heard of cruffins before (seriously?!?) they are a mix between croissants and muffins. They have the same laminated, airy and light dough of croissants, served up in a beautiful muffin shape. What more can I say, they are simply magical ... like any hybrid after all. Cause when you pair up the best of two things that are clearly meant for each other, BOOM! You can only end up with something amazing. 
Take a look, isn't this simply lick-your-sugary-fingers delicious?!?

You know I love (and I mean LOOOOVE) everything about homemade bread, especially when it comes in a muffin shape and it's covered in sugar. I love the soothing pleasure of mixing the dough and watching it rise. I love the comforting taste of the freshly crafted goodness.  And I love showing you how to create the perfect cruffins in your own kitchen without too much effort and few simple steps. 
So here it is, my recipe for you.

And if you are wondering, they do taste as good as they look :)

Make sure to check out my FIRST COOKBOOK: The Complete Italian Cookbook: Essential Regional Cooking of Italy. 

Available here:

INGREDIENTS:

YIELD: 12 cruffins

1. • 2 eggs
   • 1 cup (235 ml) warm milk
   • 1/2 cup (100 gr) sugar
   • 5 oz (150 gr) unsalted butter, melted 
   • 1 orange, finely grated zest
   • 1/4 teaspoon salt
   • 1 packet (7.5 gr) active dry yeast
   • 4 cups (520 gr)  all-purpose flour
   • sugar for rolling

PREPARATION:

TIME: 30 minutes to prepare, 5 hours inactive

In a large bowl, add the eggs, milk, sugar and 2 oz (60 gr) of melted butter (save the rest for later).
Beat well.
Add the orange zest, flour, and yeast and mix well with a spoon or your fingers.

Knead for several minutes, make into a ball. Place the dough into a large bowl, sprinkle with flour, cover with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let rise in a draft free area (inside the off oven) for about 4 hours or until doubled in size

Move the dough to the counter lightly sprinkled with flour. Knead for a minute, and divide into 6 equal parts.
Working with one ball of dough at a time: roll into an extra thin rectangles.

Brush it with melted butter,  tightly roll on itself starting from the shortest side.

Cut the long log of dough in two long half.

And roll each on themselves as shown (with cut layers on top, visible).

Place each rolled up dough into a muffin mold sprayed or greased.

Finish up with all the dough, making 12 pastries. Let them sit and rise for another 30 to 60 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Bake  in the middle part of the oven for 15 to 18 minutes, or until deep golden on top.
Remove from the oven and let cool down for two minutes.
As soon as you can manage, remove the cruffins from the mold and roll in sugar. If you do this when they are still warm, the sugar will easily stick.

Enjoy!