Sunday 3 February 2013

Have a break...

...and grab a muffin? Or doughnut?  Or how about both rolled into one?

I came across a couple of recipes for exactly that recently: jam doughnut muffins!  And they are just the perfect treat on a Sunday afternoon or on a Monday in your lunchbox if you need to cheer yourself up at the beginning of the new working week.

We love these, especially since they are a lot lighter than your average greasy doughnut.  You can vary the jam filling according to what you have in the larder...ideal for scraping the last bits out of jam jars.  I used raspberry and strawberry jam for these.

I hope you'll have 5 minutes to yourself today and time for a little treat!

Jam Doughnut/Donut Muffins (makes 12)

Ingredients:
250ml milk
170ml vegetable oil
2 eggs, large
1 tsp vanilla extract
400g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
200g caster sugar
12 tsp jam (any flavour)

For the topping:
25 - 40g melted butter*
a couple of tbsp of granulated sugar on a plate

  1. Preheat the oven to 190C (conventional oven) / 170C (fan oven) and line a muffin tin with paper muffin cups.
  2. In a bowl, combine the flour and caster sugar.
  3. In a  separate bowl, whisk together the milk, oil, eggs and vanilla extract.
  4. Stir the liquid ingredients into the flour/sugar mix, taking care not to over-mix it.  Don't worry about any lumps - they will disappear when baking.
  5. Fill each muffin cup to about a third full and then add a tsp of jam in the middle and top with another layer of muffin mix, so that the cases are almost full.
  6. Place in the oven and bake for approx. 20 minutes.
  7. Whilst baking, melt some butter (25-40g should be enough) and have some granulated sugar ready on a plate..
  8. When the muffins are ready, brush each with some melted butter on top and dip upside-down onto a plate with granulated sugar.  Leave to cool slightly.
*The original recipes asked for - frankly - crazy amounts of melted butter to dip the muffins into after baking.  I like a bit of fat but that was just way too much, so I would suggest - as per above - to just brush the top with a little melted butter instead.  Healthier and very tasty nonetheless!

(as adapted from Nigella Lawson & BBC Good Food)


8 comments:

  1. Oh Kirsten these look delicious, I just wish I could take one off your plate to have with my cup of tea. I must try this recipe.

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    1. I wish I could send one over to you - they have become my new favourite treat :-) Kirsten x

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  2. I'm new to The Happy Larder and find your recipes truly inspirational - perfect for today's challenged society, bringing together happiness with a-back to-basics understanding of how to live properly. These doughnut muffins (who knew?) are fantastic. I can't wait to try them out! Kirsten, you've brought the World War II adage of 'waste not, want not' into the 21st century with more than just a dash of domestic goddess!
    Tim from Muswell Hill, London.

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    1. Hi Tim from Muswell Hill! Thank you so much for your lovely comments! I'm glad you love the recipes and can't wait to hear all about it once you have tried them out! Kirsten x

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  3. Doughnut Muffins what a lovely idea. You know Kirsten it's such a pleasure to read your easy to follow method and the tips you include are so helpful thank you :-)

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    1. Thank you so much! I am glad you like these - they are now one of my favourites as they can be thrown together so quickly. Thank you again for your lovely comments! Kirsten x

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  4. Hello Kirsten I just had to tell you I made these jam doughnut muffins this morning (Saturday 9th Feb) and they have turned out so nicely. My husband and I love the little zingy jammy middle and the lightness of the muffin. This recipe is definitely a 'keeper'.
    I do have a query though about number 3 in your method which states the following
    'In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, melted butter, eggs and vanilla extract'.
    I'm fairly sure the melted butter in that line should be vegetable oil? Quick to make :-)

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    1. Hello there! Oh, I am so pleased you liked these - they are so quick & easy, aren't they? Even easier when I don't muddle up the recipe - you are absolutely right, it should read vegetable oil (not melted butter). I had made the recipe with melted butter to see how it would come out but the result was a much more stodgy muffin, so I changed back to using oil - forgot to change the write-up of the recipe though, so thanks for pointing it out! I'll change it now! Kirsten x

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