Bread Machine Caramel Cruffins

Another cruffin recipe to feed my addiction - Caramel Cruffins!

I was so in love with these Chocolate Cruffins that I wanted to think of other flavours to make them in.

And- you may be able to tell from the photo that they are really humungous as muffins go. So.... I decided to make them a more manageable size calorie-wise.

In the original recipe you take two strips of the rolled out dough and twist them together to make a large croissant/muffin cross. So, why not just twist one strip?

Turns out you get a more 'normal' size cruffin and you get twice as many! Twelve instead of six!

And because they cook faster and are not so dense I was able to reduce the butter by half and they are still rich and addictive..oops I mean delicious!

That is just winning any way you look at it!

Like the originals, I make the dough in my bread machine. You roll out 2 rectangles, spread your filling over them and roll them up the long way to make 2 dough logs. Then you split the log length-wise so you can see the layers of dough and filling. Then you cut each 'half log' into 3 equal pieces so you end up with 12 equal strips. But, instead of tacking 2 strips together before twisting - you just twist each of the 12 strips individually.

You don't need an over-size muffin tin either. I used a regular size muffin tin and I also made them using regular size tart shells. The bottom of the tart shell holds the shape and then the dough rises up above the tart shell shape.

I was making a double batch so I was also happy when I remembered you can either proof them for 4 hours our overnight. I opted for overnight and baked them fresh the next day.

Update 10 April 2022 - after making these a few times I decided to reduce the butter in the filling by half. I also decided to start the cruffins in a hot oven at 375 degrees but reduce the heat for baking time to 350 degrees. I was finding the butter was prone to smoking and overflowing the pan with the previous instructions.