Doughnut Muffins

'Mmmmmmm' Miss 8 breathed as I pulled these muffins out of the oven, 'Mum, they smell just like doughnuts!' and then a few minutes later......'Ohhhh Yum! They taste like doughnuts too!'

As you can tell Doughnut Muffins are a huge hit with my children. They are easy to make and taste fabulous. You should end up with a light, fluffy, fragrant morsel...as long as you follow the golden rule of muffin-making...no over mixing!

Doughnut Muffins

175 grams of butter
200 grams caster sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups of plain flour
3/4 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 tsp bicarb soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
250 mls milk


Topping

100 grams caster sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsps butter, melted


Preheat the oven to 180C
Line a 12 cup muffin pan with patty cases.

In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time and beat well between each addition. Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarb and cinnamon into a separate bowl. Add half to the creamed mixture with half the milk. Gently fold together before adding the rest of the flour mix and milk. Mix very gently until just incorporated.
Spoon into the prepared muffin pan and bake for 15-20 minutes until risen and golden.

For the topping, mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. While the muffins are still warm, brush with the melted butter and sprinkle with the cinnamon & sugar.....Delicious!

Raspberry & White Chocolate Muffins.

I adore raspberries, their intensely sweet flavour bring back evocative memories of my childhood; carefree days spent on (one of the many) properties my gypsy parents owned. We would pick the wild raspberries and blackberries that bordered the creek where my sisters and I played. The juices would run down our faces as we gorged ourselves on these beautiful and exquisite fruits.
This is one of my favourite recipes involving raspberries, as with all muffin recipes it is essential that you do not over mix the batter, a lazy stir is all that is needed.
3 cups of plain flour                                                   
3/4 cup of caster sugar                                               
3/4 cup of brown sugar                                               
1 1/2 tsps baking powder                                           
4 eggs    
1 1/2 cups of milk                                                                            
120grams melted butter
1 tsp vanilla essence                                             
1 cup raspberries 
3/4 cup chopped white chocolate
Raw sugar for topping                                                                                                   

Line a muffin tin with patty cases and preheat the oven to 180c.
Sift flour, caster sugar, brown sugar and baking powder into a large bowl. In a separate bowl combine eggs, melted butter, vanilla & milk, whisk until combined. Add wet ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients and stir until just incorporated. Very gently fold in the raspberries (use frozen if you like)and white chocolate. Scoop batter into the patty cases until each one is 3/4 full. Sprinkle a little bit of raw sugar over the top of each. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes.

Just the perfect thing to sit, relax and have with a cup of tea.....I think I'll do that right now.