Hot Cross Muffins

I have made some hot cross buns this Easter, but I decided to blog about these Hot Cross Muffins instead. I found the recipe in Delicious magazine, and decided to make them for dessert today.

I was a bit short of dried fruit, so only used a tiny amount compared with the recipe - but I was quite happy with the amount I used, and would use this amount again.

First put dried fruit in a bowl with hot water and leave to stand for 10 minutes or so.

Put flour, bicarb, cinnamon, mixed spice and sugar in a large bowl. In another bowl or jug whisk together buttermilk, oil and eggs.

Add wet ingredients to dry, and stir in gently. Add (well-drained) soaked fruit and stir to combine.

Eeek! At this point I realized I had forgotten the sugar, so I stirred it in at the last minute. Whoops - luckily it didn't affect the muffins.

Put the mixture into muffin tins or cases. The recipe states that it makes 12 muffins - I made 6 large muffins and 12 small.

Cook at 200 C for 20 minutes or so, until golden on top.

Cool muffins on racks. The 'Delicious' recipe made the muffins look shiny like real hot cross buns, but I decided my children are sticky enough already, and I gave this step a miss.

For the crosses, add a drop of lemon juice to some icing sugar, then enough water to make a smooth paste. 'Draw' on icing crosses with a teaspoon.

I really liked these muffins - the cranberries give a nice tang, and they do taste a little like untoasted hot cross buns.

Ingredients:
30 g dried cranberries
60 g currants
375 g (2 1/2 cups) self raising flour
1/2 tsp bicarb
1 tsp mixed spice
165 ml (2/3 cup) oil (I used olive oil)
250 ml (1 cup) buttermilk
2 eggs

The original recipe is here

Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins (again!)

This time I used brown sugar instead of white sugar in this recipe and they are pretty good! Lovely crunchy top and fluffy interior.

So if you've got some blueberries and buttermilk hanging around, these (here and here) are good muffin recipes, and this blueberry buttermilk cake is worth making too.

Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins (another version)

This is a slightly different version of blueberry and buttermilk muffins. The other ones I made contained demarara sugar and butter, while these have white sugar and oil.

Put flour and sugar in a bowl, and in a large jug put oil, buttermilk, egg and vanilla.

Add the buttermilk mixture and blueberries to the flour and sugar, and stir until combined.

Because of the white sugar, the mixture is very pale - I normally use brown or demarara sugar, so I was surprised at how white it was.

Spoon into muffin trays and cook at 200 C for around 20 minutes. My little muffins took 15 mins.
The cooked muffins have a golden, crispy top and are very light and fluffy inside. I'm used to the more solid, substantial and sticky muffins, so to me these are a bit like the 'white bread' version - not as tasty - more like a light cupcake.

But very popular with everyone else, and they come out of the muffin papers very cleanly with no residue, which is unusual for a muffin!

Ingredients:
2½ cups (375g) self-raising flour
¾ cup (165g) caster sugar
1 egg, beaten lightly
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup (160ml) vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
¾ cup (180ml) buttermilk
100 g blueberries

Based on this recipe.

Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins

I love muffins made with buttermilk - it seems to give them a slightly sour tang (as in cheesecake rather than off milk!) which goes especially well with blueberries.

The recipe started as a loaf, but now I use it for muffins instead, as it's more practical for school lunches.

Put flour, baking powder, bicarb, nutmeg and sugar in a large bowl. In a jug put egg, buttermilk and have melted butter ready.

(I don't put the butter in with the other wet ingredients to keep it warm and fully melted.)

Add buttermilk/egg and melted butter to the flour mixture, and stir in gently. When almost combined, add blueberries and continue to stir until everything is just combined.

Spoon into muffin pans and cook at 190 C for 15-20 minutes (my smaller ones took 15 mins, and the bigger ones took 20 mins).

I had about 4 tablespoons of mixture left over and didn't have room for another muffin pan in the oven, so I oiled my mini quiche dish and made a little muffin cake instead. I sprinkled some extra demarara on the top and we shared a mini cake for dessert.


Ingredients:
2 cups (300 g ) plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarb of soda
small grating of nutmeg
1 cup (220 g) demarara sugar
1 punnet (175 g) blueberries
1 egg, lightly beaten
60 g butter, melted
1 cup (250 ml) buttermilk

Christmas Morning Muffins

I made these orange and cranberry muffins on Christmas morning - it's the fourth year in a row I've cooked them on Christmas Day, so I suppose it's becoming a sort of tradition! They are a Nigella recipe, from 'Feast', I think.

Of all the muffins I make, these are my favourite - they contain butter and are have a crunchy topping, so they are a little more luxurious than the others - but they also seem to have a better texture on the inside.

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Squeeze orange juice into a measuring jug, then add milk until it reaches 150 ml.

Add melted butter and egg, then beat to combine.

Add wet to dry ingredients and stir to combine.

Lightly fold in cranberries and fill muffin cases.

Top with cinnamon and sugar mixture then cook for 15 - 20 mins at 200 C. Nice spread with butter.


Ingredients:
200 g plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarb
75 g demarara sugar
grating of nutmeg
juice of 1 small orange (about 100 ml)
50 ml milk (approx)
60 g unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
75 g - 150 g dried cranberries (I use a handful)
Topping: 2 tsp demarara mixed with 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Cherry Ripe and Banana Muffins

I made these muffins the using the Nigella Express recipe Banana Butterscotch Muffins, replacing the butterscotch drops with chopped Cherry Ripe bars.

Stir flour, sugar, bicarb and baking powder in a large bowl, then fold in whisked together oil and eggs. Add mashed banana and chopped chocolate bits. Put in muffin cases and cook at 200 C for 15 - 20 mins depending on size (I usually make smaller, cup-cake size muffins).

These rose well, better than my usual banana muffins, and were nice and crispy on the top. I'll be using this recipe from now on, with or without the chocolate.

Some of the chocolate made it into the muffins, but lots didn't!

Ingredients:
3 very ripe bananas
125 ml veg oil (I used olive oil)
2 eggs
250 g flour
100 g caster sugar (I used 70 g)
1/2 tsp bicarb
1 tsp baking powder
150 g choc drops/chopped chocolate