What’s your favourite winter food? I have recently added these muffins to my favourite food list. Why? Because – Number 1 – they are extraordinary delicious, number 2- they are easy to prepare and packed with wintery ingredients but without booze, so fit for the kids to consume.
The mesmerising aroma of cinnamon, clove and ginger filled my home when these muffins came out of the oven. The winter and the Christmas feel made me want to bite into them, even when they were hot. Which was not a great idea … it’s important to give them at least 10 minutes of cooling time.
See, how gorgeous winter muffins look in all white.
To be honest, this a new recipe and I have baked it first time with an idea of keeping winter/Christmas ingredients and aromas in mind. I was not sure, how they will turn out when baked. There was also a risk of using a bad SEO keyword for the title which will probably not snow in google search engine easily. But this is a recipe too good to be missed.
1. I have used these spice drops in this recipe, which are readily available. Cinnamon, clove and ginger are the flavours of my choice for these muffins. I find it quite a convenient idea. It made me skip out the work of grinding the spices and saved some time. The number of spice drops used in the muffin batter was just a few drops and the taste and aroma were simply awesome. You can check them out here in the link
Spice Drop Kitchen combo ( Cumin,Cinnamon & Clove), 5ml
Spice Drop Ginger, 5ml
2. In regards to the assortment of dried (apricots, figs, prunes, raisins, currants, cranberries, cherries, etc.) and candied fruit (mixed peel), mentioned in the ingredients below, you can pick up any or all of them. Stick to the ones you like or the ones which are easy and are present in your kitchen cabinet. No need to sweat and be fussy about this, remember we are talking easy homemade baking here.
California Pitted Prunes 300g
Kenny Delights Dried Sliced Cranberries, 250g
3. If you want to make these muffins healthy, you can substitute sugar with date paste. And can also make half all-purpose flour and half almond meal. Which is what, I will be trying out tomorrow.
A complete cooking ingredient substitute list
Oh it’s cold, and I would love to remain cosy with a nice cup of coffee and one Christmas Morning Muffin beside it, and of course a new episode of “Crown” on Netflix.
Here are stepwise images of the recipe. Also, I have made a one minute video of the recipe, which is posted on my Instagram page, you can check it out here – 2blissofbaking
Christmas Morning Winter Muffins steps to the recipe
Ingredients
100 gm unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4th cup of cup sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup (almonds, walnuts, or hazelnuts) coarsely chopped
1/2 cup assortment of dried (apricots, figs, prunes, raisins, currants, cranberries, cherries, etc.) and candied fruit (mixed peel), all chopped
Happilo Premium International Trial Mix, 200g
Ambrosia Delicatessen Candied Orange Peel 250 gms
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 to 3 three drops of cinnamon (spice drop)
2 to 3 drops of ginger (spice drop)
2 drops of clove (spice drop)
Method
Preheat your oven to 325*F (160*C). Keep the ready to use muffin cups ready.
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add the dried and candied fruits, along with the chopped nuts, tossing well to coat all the fruits and nuts, and set aside.
In the bowl beat the butter and sugar until creamy, light and fluffy with a hand mixer or a simple whisk would work just fine. Add the eggs, and beat well together. Add the spice drops. Then beat or fold in the chopped nuts and all the dried and candied fruits. Then beat or fold in the flour mixture.
New 100pcs Disposable Cake Baking Paper Cup Cupcake Muffin Cases fit Home Party (Pink)
Scrape the batter into the muffin cases and, if desired, decorate the top with chopped almonds. Bake in your preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely, before you serve them.
Enjoy! winter with winter muffins.
