Cinnamon roll muffins

If you like cinnamon rolls this recipe is for you. This is no knead, mess free yeast dough with beautiful cinnamon taste and vet sweet icing. The recipe comes from this website.

Ingredneits for 12 muffins:

• 210g flour
• 60g sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 12g fresh yeast
• 175 ml warm milk
• 3 tbsp canola oil
• 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
• 1 egg

Prepare baking tin, grease muffin tin holes. Set aside.

Sift the flour, sugar, salt into big bowl and whisk them together. Warm up the milk, dissolve the yeast in it. Pour this mixture into dry ingredients. Add the oil, vanilla and egg. Combine all ingredients together. Pour the liquid mixture into prepared earlier muffin tin. Set aside, let the batter rest for 15 minutes.

In a meantime prepare cinnamon filling.

Ingredienst for filling:

• 2 tbsp soft butter
• 100g brown sugar
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• pinch ground cardamon

Mix together the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and cardamom in a small bowl using fork until all the butter has been incorporated into the sugar and mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle this mixture evenly between top of each 12 muffin tin holes filled with batter and swirl in with  toothpick. 

Place into a cold oven, then set temperature for 180C. Bake for 20 minutes, until muffins are browned on the top and springy in touch. Some of the sugar on top may still be bubbling.

Cool for at least 30 minutes. In a meantime prepare icing.

Ingredienst for icing:

• 60g powdered/icing sugar
• 1-2 tbsp milk

Sift the icing sugar into a bowl, add 1 tbsp of milk and with a fork combine them. If the mixture is too thick you may add additional tbsp of milk, be careful it can not be too runny. Drizzle the icing over each muffin top. Serve warm. Enjoy !

 

Ham, cheese and leek muffins

Those savoury muffins dissapeared almost immediately after being baked. In my family opinion they were very tasty, although children did not like them. They were fluffy, salty. I would recommend them for a quick brunch. 

Ingredients for 6 muffins:

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 leek
• 140g flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate soda
• 1 egg
• 150 ml Greek - style natural yogurt
• 25g melted butter
• 15g grated Cheddar cheese + some to sprinkle
• 75g chopped, cooked ham or susage or frankfurters.

Wash the leek and finely chop it. Heat the oil on frying pan over a low heat. Add the leek and cook until leek is soft. Remove form the heat and set aside to cool.

Chop the ham, and grate the cheese, set aside. Melt the butter and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 200C. Line muffin tin with paper cases.

Sift the flour, baking powder, soda into a big bowl and whisk together. 

In a measuring jug whisk together the yogurt and egg. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients. Pour melted and cooled down butter. Add the leek, cheese and ham. Leave some  ham to add on the top of each muffin.

Spoon this batter into paper cases, sprinkle with cheese and ham. Bake for 20 min until well risen. Cool them down on wire rack. Enjoy !!

Orange muffins with dates and walnuts

This recipe comes from joy of baking website. They were very easy to make and their taste was delicious. Those muffins were soft, spongy, with beautiful orange scent, sweet with dates and crunchy with walnuts. I think they are worth trying.

Ingredients for 12 muffins:

• 130g flour
• 130g whole wheat flour
• 140g brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bircarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp orange zest
• 80 ml orange juice ( I used freshly squized orange juice from 2 oranges)
• 160 ml buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 57 g melted butter
• 90g chopped dates
• 60g chopped walnuts

Wash the orange and grate the zest. Set aside. Squizze orange juice, set aside. Melt the butter and set aside.
Chopp the walnuts and dates and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 200C. Line muffin tin with paper cases.

In a big bowl sift the flours, sugar, baking powder, soda, cinnamon, salt, orange zest and whisk them together. Set aside.

In a measuring jug whisk together the buttermilk, orange juice, egg, vanilla and melted butter.

Pour this mixture into dry ingredients, add the walnuts and dates. Mix all ingredients together just to combine them all. Do not over stir the batter.
Spoon the batter into baking cases. Bake for 20 min. Transfer to the wire rack to cool them down. Enjoy !

Orange and almond cupcakes

This time gluten free cupcakes. It is another cake recipe I used to make lovely cupcakes. The recipe comes from this website. Those cupcakes were very nice, a little bit chewy with strong orange flavour. I found them very tasty. I decorated them with small amount of buttercream, which I used to stick piece of Terry's orange chocolate. 

Ingredients for 24 cupcakes:

• 2 big oranges
• 5 eggs
• 250g sugar
• 200g ground almonds
• 1 tsp gluten free baking powder

Place the oranges in a saucepan and cover them with water. Bring to the boil and simmer, covered for 1 hour. The oranges have to be covered with water all the time. Drain the oranges and cool. THEY ARE VERY HOT. Cut them into smaller pieces, remove stones. Put the oranges into a blender and puree until smooth.  

Preheat the oven to 170C. Line muffin tin with paper cases. 

Put the eggs and sugar into electric mixer bowl and beat them until pale and thick. Add the almonds, baking powder and orange pure and mix well. 

Spoon the batter into paper cases 2/3 full. Bake for 30 minutes, check after 20 minutes. They are ready when toothpick stick in the centre comes out clean. 

Leave them for 20 min in a baking tin to cool down then transfer them to a wire rack. 

While they cooling down you may prepare buttercream.

Ingredients for butter cream:

• 135g unsalted butter
• 100g icing sugar

In an electric mixer bowl put butter and beat until place and fluffy. Then gradually add icing sugar. 

When cupcakes are cooled down place small amount of butter cream on the top of each and stick piece of Terry's orange chocolate.

Enjoy !

 

Strong lemon cupcakes

I was inspired by Simmon Rimmer lemon drizzle cake recipe and decided to change it into cupcakes. I was only partly happy with my decision, as I had plenty leftovers. No... not cupcakes them self, they were lovely, although very sour, but the amounts of cream and lemon juice were too big, calculated to big cake not small cupcakes. Coming back to cupcakes they were really nice, cake was spongy and delicate, cream lemony. They were very tasty.

Ingredients for lemon drizzle:

• 4 lemons, juice only*
• 75g caster sugar

* next time I will squeeze only two lemons, first of all I got too much liquid, second of all the mixture was to sour

 

Squeeze lemons over a sieve. Get rid of stones. Pour the juice into a jug add sugar and stir together. Set aside.   

Ingredients for sponge (12 cupcakes):

• 200g caster sugar
• 200g butter
• 2 lemons, zest only
• 3 eggs
• 200g flour
• 1 tsp baking powder

Grease muffin tin holes and sprinkle with some flour, set aside. Preheat the oven to 180C.

Put the sugar, lemon zest and butter into electric mixer bowl and beat until pale and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs one at a time, let the egg to be completely incorporated into the mixture before adding the next one. With a metal spoon carefully fold in the flour and the baking powder.
Spoon the batter evenly between muffin tin holes. Bake for 20-25 min until toothpick stick in the middle comes out clean.
Let them cool for a 5 min in baking thin, then transfer to a plate. Prick the top of each cupcake with toothpick and pour over the lemon drizzle mixture to soak the sponge. Set aside. I haven't used all of the lemon juice as the cupcakes became to sour for me. I kept this mixture in the fridge as I think is great to add to the tea.

Ingredients for lemon cream:

• 2 egg yolks
• 75g caster sugar
• 50g butter
• 2 lemons juice and zest
• 300g mascarpone

Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a pan over a low heat until the sugar is melted. Add the butter, lemon and lemon zest and continue to cook, whisking continuously until the mixture has thickened and is smooth and well combined.  Set aside to cool down completely. 

With a spoon stir in mascarpone. I added more than recommended 100g as lemon cream was to sour for me that's way I received too much of a cream.

When the cream is ready. Slice each cupcake into half and place some cream in the middle, cover with remaining cake. You can add some cream on the top as a decoration and dust with icing sugar. Enjoy !
 

Chocolate and hazelnut muffins

Recipe for these muffins comes from 'New Italian cuisine. Chocolate' cookbook. To bake them, and make them look slightly different than traditional muffins, I used my new square muffin tin. Those muffins were very chocolaty, chewy with ground hazelnuts and a little bit dry but good with coffee or tea. I think I do not have to remind that they were very easy to make.

Ingredients for 20 mini-muffins:

• 100g flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 100g ground hazelnuts
• 175g dark chocolate
• 1 egg
• 150 ml milk
• 75g sugar
• 45 ml canola oil

Preheat the oven to 180C.  Grease muffin tin, mine was silicone so there was no need for geasing.

Sift the flour, baking powder, hazelnuts into a big bowl and whisk them together. Melt the chocolate in microwave. Whisk the chocolate with the sugar, oil, milk and egg as they turn into smooth mixture. Sift into the dry ingredients and combine them with the wet mixture. Spoon the batter into muffin tin. Bake for 15-20 minutes until toothpick inserted in the middle of muffin come out clean. Leave them for a 5 min in baking tin then cool them down on a plate. Enjoy !

Easy sticky buns

When I saw them for a first time in Ina Garten "Barefoot Contessa" show I immediately put them on my things  to bake list. I was not sure if I should present them on my blog, as they are not real muffins or cupcakes. But, you see,  they are baked in muffin tin and they are so good .. :) They were very easy to make and tasty to eat, too tasty to eat actually.  The recipe comes from this website.

Ingredients for 12 buns:

• 170g soft unstalted butter
• 60g light brown sugar
• 75g chopped pecans
• 1 package frozen puff pastry

For the filling:

• 2 tbsp  unsalted butter melted
• 100g light brown sugar
• 3 tsp cinnamon
• 90g raisins

Preheat the oven to 200C. Place the muffin tin on a cupboard.

Melt the butter in microwave or in a sauce pan and leave to cool down. Combine 100g sugar and cinnamon set aside.  Chop the pecans.

In an electric mixer bowl combine 170g butter and 60g sugar. Divide this mixture evenly among muffin tin cups. Sprinkle sugar and butter tops with chopped pecans. Set aside.

Lightly flour wooden board. Unfold 1 sheet of pastry. Brush the whole sheet with half of melted butter. Sprinkle with half of the sugar and cinnamon mixture and raisins.

Roll the pastry like a jelly roll. Slice the roll in six equal pieces. Mine were a little bit to tall, so cut them no more then 2 inches wide. 

Place each piece, spiral side up, in 6 of the muffin cups. Repeat with remaining pastry to make 12 buns.

before baking

after baking

Bake for 30 minutes until brown. Remove from oven. Be careful - they are very hot.

Let them cool down for a while in a tin. In a meantime prepare parchment and invert the buns to the paper. Scrub remaining pecans whit a spoon and place on the top of buns. Let them cool down completly.

Do not worry about baking tin. It looks messy but caramel - the butter and sugar changed into, easily comes off.

 

Rasberry mufffins with amaretto cookies

This time I have baked raspberry muffins with amaretto cookies. Although they were very easy to make their baking time was extremely long, it took me 45 minutes to bake those small muffins. The recipe comes form this blog it is cake recipe but I turn it into batch of muffins. Those muffins were very tasty, moisture, soft with lovely raspberry and almond scent.

Ingredients for 12 muffins:

• 175g butter
• 175g icing/ powder sugar + some for dusting
• 3 eggs
• 140g flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 85g grated almonds
• 24 amaretto cookies (2 for each muffin)
• 200g raspberries (I had frozen)

Preheat the oven to 160C. Line muffin tin with paper cases.

Put the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder and almond in electric mixer bowl and beat them together until they create smooth, thick batter. 

Spoon the batter into earlier prepared paper cases. First put about 1 tbsp batter, then add cookies and raspberries.

batter with cookies

and raspberries

Cover them with additional layer of batter, add more raspberries and sprinkle with crushed cookies. Be careful not to overload the paper cases, leave small gap from the edge. On the other hand don't be worry those muffins do not rise much, the only risk is that they might leak on sides a little bit. 

Bake them for 45 minutes. Check with toothpick if baked inside. If you like you may dust them with icing sugar.

before baking