Playful yummy bakes for modern home bakers
Reindeer Christmas chocolates Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. Reindeer Christmas chocolates ARE Christmas to me. Little bites of festive joy. Really, it seems a little meanspirited to eat them but goodness, …
Jungle Culture offers a range of unique eco-friendly alternatives to common household products to support sustainable living. Learn more about their philosophy on sustainable homeware and ethical sourcing as a zero waste brand, their relationships with local makers in Vietnam and their tips for thoughtful …
Sometimes only chocolate will do and when you’re in that mood, more is definitely more, so what you really want is chocolate…on chocolate on more chocolate. Bring on my chocolate nutella muffins.
This recipe is a chocolate lover’s dream and something kiddies and adults will go crazy for. Gorgeous soft chocolate muffins, covered in a crunchy cinnamon sugar and topped with a gooey layer of nutella and your favourite sweets, in this case crunchies for me. I just love the honeycomb here, and that with the chocolate and cinnamon is brilliant. Something to make and enjoy with friends and family. Simple to make too. Invite a crowd and they’ll be gone in seconds.
225g self-rising flour
50g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp instant coffee powder
100g melted butter
¼ tsp salt
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
60g caster sugar
225ml milk
For the topping – granulated sugar, 80g melted butter, ground cinnamon and 1 nutella and crushed Crunchie bars on each muffin.
Makes 12 muffins
Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C/Gas Mark 6.
Either line a muffin pan with cake cases or using additional butter than listed in the recipe, brush melted butter and dust with flour to ensure that your muffins come out easily.
Weigh out all the ingredients.
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until just combined. The lovely thing about making muffins is that a lumpy batter makes the lightest muffins, so mix until the mix comes together.
Using a medium ice cream scoop, portion out the muffin batter and bake in the middle of the oven for 20-25 minutes. The muffins will be lightly browned, springy to the touch and coming away from the edges when they are done.
Leave to cool for 5 minutes in the tin before taking the muffins out.
Dip each of the muffins into the melted butter and roll them in a mixture of granulated sugar and cinnamon and leave them to cool completely on a wire rack.
Once cooled, top each muffin with approx. teaspoon of nutella and crushed crunchies or your chocolate sweet of choice.
Do not over mix your muffin batter, once the ingredients are combined, you’re done. Don’t worry about lumps either, a lumpy batter often makes the lightest muffins, what a baking paradox.
Make sure to dip your muffins into the butter and sugar when they are still warm, the sugar will stick better that way.
Using an ice cream scoop ensures that the muffins are an even size but of course you can scoop out the batter with spoons.
The muffins are best eaten on the day that they are made, but if you are going to make them the day before, bake and cover the muffins with the cinnamon sugar. Then just before you want to eat them, spoon on the nutella and crushed sweets. If you add the Crunchie too soon, the honeycomb will start to melt and become soggy on the muffin, not what you want.
Love chocolate? Why not check out my Chocolate gift ideas – EmmaBakes selection box for some ideas.
Want more chocolate recipes? Try my Quality Street chocolate cupcakes or have a go with my Double Chocolate Baked Doughnuts. They’re both a chocoholics dream.
Do you sometimes feel a little stumped about what to get people for Christmas? I am someone that loves buying presents for people but I can still find myself stumped for new inspiration sometimes, particularly for friends or family that seem to have everything or …
Looking for a unique, thoughtful and most importantly tasty gift for friends of family? We’ve got some chocolate gift ideas that’ll be just the thing for you. This EmmaBakes selection box is full of yummy crowd pleasers; Chocolate Orange, Chocolate Coconut and Chilli and Cinnamon. …
Mince pie muffins. Tradition is such a comforting thing around this time of year; the nostalgia and memories of our holiday routines but sometimes it’s fun to mix things up and this is where this festive mashup comes into its own.
Our family always made a fresh batch of mince pies on Christmas Eve, ready to leave out for Father Christmas which is something I wouldn’t want to change, but there are 12 days of Christmas after all and so plenty of opportunity for creativity. These mince pie muffins are definitely the classics’ sassier cousin who’s come to stay for the holidays. Love it.
These festive treats are filled with spice and mincemeat, covered in cinnamon sugar and topped with a vibrant clementine icing. Perfect eaten any time.
For the muffins:
275g self-rising flour
8 tbsp mincemeat
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp mixed spice
½ tsp ground cinnamon
100g melted butter
¼ tsp salt
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
50g caster sugar
225ml milk
For the topping – granulated sugar, ground cinnamon, 80g melted butter and clementine icing
Clementine icing:
200g sifted icing sugar
zest of 2 clementines and juice of 1-2 (depending on the consistency of the final icing)
Makes 12 muffins
Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C/Gas Mark 6.
Either line a muffin pan with cake cases or using additional butter than listed in the recipe, brush melted butter and dust with flour to ensure that your muffins come out easily.
Weigh out all of the muffin ingredients (apart from the additional sugar, butter and cinnamon for the coating once they are cooked).
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.
Using a medium ice cream scoop, portion out the muffin batter and bake in the middle of the oven for 15 minutes. The muffins will be lightly browned, springy to the touch and coming away from the edges when they are done.
Leave to cool for 5 minutes in the tin before taking the muffins out.
Dip each of the muffins into the melted butter and roll them in the granulated sugar and cinnamon and leave them to cool completely on a wire rack.
To make the icing, mix the sifted icing sugar with the zest and juice of the clementines. You are looking for a consistency of double cream. Add more icing sugar if you think it is too thin and add more clementine juice if you need to thin the icing down a bit.
Once cooled, top each muffin with the clementine icing and top with a little extra mincemeat. Enjoy.
Do not over mix your muffin batter, once the ingredients are combined, you’re done. Don’t worry about lumps either, a lumpy batter often makes the lightest muffins; what a baking paradox.
Make sure to dip your muffins into the butter and sugar when they are still warm, the sugar will stick better that way.
An ice cream scoop ensures that the muffins are an even size but of course you can scoop out the batter with spoons.
Want more simple recipe ideas like this one? Try my Apple pie muffins, I think you’ll really love them.
Looking for more festive baking suggestions? Have a go at Quality Street chocolate cupcakes or my Chocolate brazil nut cookies, they’re both real crowd pleasers.
On the look out for Christmas crafting ideas? There are some amazing sellers on Etsy that offer a range of craft kits this time of year. Something fun for everyone to do in the holidays.
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Fireworks white chocolate bark is far more of a creative assembly job than a recipe which in my mind makes it all the more fun to put together. It’s a process more than anything else, get familiar with how to make it and you can …
Sometimes you just want something a little bit different for breakfast or a relaxingly laid back brunch, something that just says treat. These banana and cinnamon baked breakfast doughnuts with orange sugar do all this and more. Light and immensely satisfying, these pillowy vanilla and cinnamon scented doughnuts tick all the boxes, plus baking these make them a much healthier alternative to frying and a heck of a lot simpler to make, so all perfect bonus’ for breakfast. The banana, not only adding to your 5 a day, helps keep these goodies beautifully soft and the orange sugar helps brighten up all the flavours. Great served with fruit, a nice cuppa tea or coffee. Relax and enjoy.
I got the idea for flavoured sugar from Jamie Oliver. Visit his site for more of his recipe inspiration.
250g self rising flour
80g caster sugar
2 large eggs
¼ tsp salt
1tsp ground cinnamon
2 very ripe bananas (mashed)
2tsp baking powder
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
150ml milk
Zest of 2 oranges
Approx 100g granulated sugar (for the topping)
Makes 12 baked doughnuts
Preheat the oven to 220°C (200°C in fan oven) Gas Mark 7.
Line the 2 doughnut tins with baking spray and leave to one side.
Weigh out the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon) and sift into a large mixing bowl. Then add the caster sugar. Stir to combine then leave to one side.
Mash the bananas with a fork.
Measure the milk into a jug. Crack in the eggs and add the vanilla extract, oil and mashed banana into the liquids. Stir to combine.
Add the wet ingredients into the dry, gradually to avoid lumps. (Don’t worry too much if there are a few lumps, it’s a bit like making muffins, better not to overmix and have a light batter than to have a super smooth consistency and have heavy doughnuts.)
With a teaspoon, fill each mould ½ full (the mixture rises quite a bit).
Bake in the middle shelf of the oven for 7-8 minutes. (It honestly doesn’t take long at all – you just want the mixture to be springy to the touch and just coming away from the sides).
Leave to cool for 5/10 minutes and then using a knife gently go around the outside of each doughnut to loosen and take out of the tin. They should come out easily. Leave on a wire rack to cool.
While they are cooling you can make the orange sugar. Zest the oranges into a bowl and pour in the granulated sugar a little at a time. The consistency you are after is a dry sandy texture. You are essentially dehydrating the orange zest by combining it to the sugar, so add the sugar gradually so you can add more if needed until you get to the right consistency.
Serve the breakfast doughnuts with the orange sugar and some fresh fruit. Enjoy.
Best eaten on the day of baking but will keep in an airtight container for a few days after. You can freeze the doughnuts which will keep for a few months in the freezer. The orange sugar can be stored in an airtight container too and will keep for about a month.
Looking for more breakfast inspiration to start the day off right? Why not try my Cardamom and vanilla baked fruit or my Pumpkin spiced pancakes with orange maple syrup and toasted pecans. Love porridge I’ve got a lovely Mango, coconut and lime porridge – a touch of sunshine to start the day – full of sunshine flavours.
Jatinder Creates is a small business that offers a range of art prints, greetings cards and stickers often influenced by her South Asian heritage. Learn more about her thoughts on gift giving and how lockdown and family support gave her the confidence to turn her …