As much as I adore Hot Cross Buns, they do take a bit longer to make than other Easter treats. So these tasty Hot Cross Muffins are a quicker way to get your Hot Cross Bun fix! They are packed with dried fruit and juicy apple, flavoured with spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, and topped with a sweet almond icing. If you’re a fruit cake fan you’ll also love these yummy treats to snack on. They’re perfect for Easter time, or you could drizzle the icing on in a different way for another time of the year!
Step by step…
I started by creaming together the sugar and butter. Then I added eggs and almond extract and whisked well.
I gently mixed in a chopped apple, I used a gala apple as I think they are the sweetest. And the self raising flour along with mixed spice, cinnamon and nutmeg. Then I folded in the dried fruit.
I spooned the mixture info 12 muffin cases. I baked the muffins on 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 for 25 minutes until golden brown.
To decorate I made an almond flavoured icing and piped it onto the Hot Cross Muffins in the classic cross shape.
These Hot Cross Muffins went down a treat with my colleagues and despite being less sweet than my usual offerings they disappeared just as fast as anything else I’ve made because they were so tasty!
Recommended equipment & ingredients*
| Cupcake tin | Electric hand mixer | Piping bags |
| Brown cupcake cases | Almond extract | Kitchen scales |
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Hot Cross Muffins
Tasty muffins with all the fruit and flavour of Hot Cross Buns, topped with an icing cross
Ingredients
For the muffins
- 185 g Light brown sugar
- 185 g Butter
- 3 Eggs large
- 1 tsp Almond extract
- 1 Apple peeled, cored and grated or chopped
- 250 g Mixed dried fruit
- 250 g Self raising flour
- 1 tsp Mixed spice
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp Nutmeg
For decoration
- 100 g Icing sugar
- 1/2 tsp Almond extract
- 1 tbsp Water
Instructions
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Pre-heat your oven to 180C/160C Fan/350F/Gas Mark 4, line a cupcake tin with paper cases
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Cream together the light brown sugar and the butter. Add the eggs and almond extract and whisk well
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Gently mix in the apple, then whisk in the self raising flour, mixed spice, cinnamon and nutmeg
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Fold in the mixed dried fruit
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Divide the mixture between the cases
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Bake the muffins for 25 minutes until golden brown, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean, place on a cooling rack to cool completely
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To make the icing mix the ingredients together, add the water slowly as you may not need it all. You need a thick, pipable paste
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Put the icing into a piping bag and pipe crosses onto each muffin
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Store any leftovers in an airtight container in a cool place and eat within 3 days
Recipe Notes
Mixed spice is a British spice blend containing Cinnamon, Coriander Seed, Nutmeg, Clove, Pimento, Ginger. If you can't get hold of it, use a Pumpkin Spice mix instead
If you like this, check out more of my Muffin recipes!
Or you might like my Easter recipes!
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These are so tasty! Loved by my 2 year old and my hubby! We like them so much we’ve baked them several times.
Yay I’m so pleased to hear this!