I love this time of year!
Christmas baking is one of my favourite things to do. I love making my own gifts at Christmas and so spend a lot of my time in the kitchen making all sorts of goodies like fudge, truffles and biscuits!
I always bring lots of baked goods home for my family too and these festive muffins are a huge hit.
They are ridiculously easy to make and definitely satisfy your stollen cravings! Full of raisins, cranberries, glacé cherries and that all important marzipan, these muffins are sure to make an appearance every Christmas time!
This recipe makes 12 muffins and takes approximately 1 hour to make. For best results, make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature before you start.
Ingredients
- 180 g unsalted butter
- 180 g caster sugar
- 3 eggs
- 140 g gluten-free self-raising flour
- 40 g ground almonds
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1 tsp baking powder (make sure this is gluten-free)
- 2 tsp apple sauce
- pinch of salt
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 25 ml amaretto
- 30 g cranberries
- 30 g raisins
- 30 g glacé cherries, chopped
- 80 g marzipan, chopped into 12 pieces
- 30 g flaked almonds
- icing sugar for dusting
Useful Equipment: 12 hole muffin pan, 12 muffin cases, two mixing bowls, spatula, hand mixer, chopping board, knife, sieve
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 180 °C/350 °F and line a 12 hole muffin tray with 12 muffin cases.
- In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
- Add the eggs one at a time, whisking after each addition.
- Add the almond extract and amaretto and fold to combine.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients with the dried fruit and cherries.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and fold to combine.
- Fill each muffin case about a third full and place a piece of marzipan in the centre. Top with cake batter until the case is half full (or all the batter has been used up). Scatter the flaked almonds on top of the cakes.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 mins or until the top of the sponge bounces back when gently pushed.
- Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely before dusting with icing sugar. Enjoy!
These cakes will keep up to 5 days in an airtight container. They can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
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