Reworked Crunchie Bar Muffins

Today i felt like making something a bit different to what I've made in the past , so i made a muffin incorporating all the parts of a Crunchie bar in different ways.I did this by making a plain vanilla muffin and then making a whole in the center and filling it with the melted chocolate of five mini Crunchie bars then made honeycomb butter cream icing by grinding the honeycomb of the Crunchie bars into a fine powder  and adding this to the icing.

Makes 12 Muffins

175g Caster Sugar

175g Softened Unsalted Butter

175g Self-raising Flour

3 Eggs

2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

For the Chocolate Filling

The chocolate from five mini crunchie bars

2 Tbsp milk (add more as needed)

1 tbsp cocoa powder

Honeycomb Butter-cream Icing

300g Icing Sugar

150g Softened Unsalted Butter

1-2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

1-2 Tsp Milk

Crushed honeycomb of five mini crunchie bars

Method

Line a Muffin tin with 12 paper cases and preheat oven to 180 C.

In a large mixing bowl beat the butter and sugar for a few minutes until the mixture becomes pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and beaten eggs to the mixture a little at a time mixing well after each addition. Then add the flour and  combine. 

Bake for around 18-20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean , pop them in a the oven for another five minutes if you feel you want them for golden. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack before putting the filling in or icing them.

Once the muffins are cooled make a well in the center . I did this by using a fruit corer to remove a cylinder shape piece of the muffin . I then made the Chocolate filling by using a vegetable peeler to remove the chocolate coating from the mini Crunchie bars and then put it into a saucepan along with the milk and cocoa powder and mixed it on a low heat until it melted and combined , i then set this aside to cool slightly and then spooned it into the wells within the muffins.

Muffin with well

Honeycomb

Chocolate peelings

Then i made the honeycomb butter-cream icing by putting the softened unsalted butter into a large bowl and sifting in the icing sugar mix until there are no lumps and the icing sugar and butter are fully combined. Then  i   ground the honeycomb of the crunchy bars into a fine flour and mixed this into the butter-cream icing and piped on with a piping bag. I lastly decorated each with a small piece of honeycomb  :) 

Marbled Malteser Muffins

Sorry for the lack of posts recently I've been in and out of hospitals and A&E's all week . But now that im feeling better i had a craving for some muffins ! So i came up with Marbled Malteser Muffins :) These are my personal favorite.

Makes 12 Muffins

175g Self-raising Flour

150g Caster Sugar

150g Softened Unsalted Butter

3 Eggs

1tsp Vanilla Extract

1 Packet of Maltesers

1-2 Tbsp Milk as needed

1 Tbsp Cocoa Powder

For The Butter-cream Frosting

300g Icing Sugar

150g Unsalted Softened Butter

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

1-2 Tsp Milk (as needed)

12 Maltesers for decoration

Method 

Line a Muffin tin with 12 paper cases ( I used two different colors because i made four with chopped walnuts) .Preheat oven to 180C.

Then sift the self-raising flour into a small mixing bowl and set aside. In a larger mixing bowl beat the butter and sugar for a few minutes until the mixture becomes pale and fluffy. Add the beaten eggs to the mixture a little at a time mixing well after each addition. Then add the flour and vanilla extract and combine. Lastly add one packet of crushed maltesers and mix them in.

Then remove about 1-2 Tbsp of the mixture into a small bowl and mix in the cocoa powder. Then divide the original vanilla mixture between the paper cases and add about half a teaspoon of the chocolate mix to each case and then mix with a knife or a toothpick and it should look like this :

Before...

After ! :)

Bake for between 18-20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.Leave to cool completely before covering with frosting. To make the frosting put the softened unsalted butter into a large bowl and sift in the icing sugar.Mix together by hand , be careful not to be too vigorous or you'll end up covered in icing sugar! Mix until there are no lumps and the icing sugar and butter are fully combined. Then spoon or pipe the frosting onto the cooled Muffins.

Then lastly decorate each with a malteser ! :)

Diam Bar Muffins

The inspiration from these Muffins came from my love of making weird and wonderful creations that haven't been done that much before. So as my brother and best friend both adore diam bars , i thought i'd surprise them both by making Diam Bar Muffins ! :)

I just love how you can see the caramel from the Diam Bar's oozing out of the freshly baked Muffins ! 

Makes 12 Muffins 

160g Butter

160g Caster Sugar

3 Eggs

160g Self-raising Flour

40g Cocoa Powder

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

3 or 4 tbsp Milk

1-2 Diam Bars

For the Butter-cream Frosting

300g Icing Sugar

150g Softened unsalted butter

1-2 tsp Milk (as needed)

2 Diam Bars (to decorate)

Method

Line a muffin tin with 12 paper cases and then preheat your oven to 180C or Gas Mark 4.

Then put the butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat together until it becomes pale and fluffy.Add the eggs one at a time , mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add the Self-raising flour, Cocoa Powder, Vanilla Extract and Milk and combine . Then chop up the diam bars and add the pieces to the mixture and then mix them in.

Divide the mixture between the Muffin Cases and bake for around 18-20 minutes.Leave to cool completely before covering with frosting.

To make the frosting put the softened unsalted butter into a large bowl and sift in the icing sugar.Mix together by hand , be careful not to be too vigorous or you'll end up covered in icing sugar! Mix until there are no lumps and the icing sugar and butter are fully combined. Then spoon or pipe the frosting onto the cooled Muffins. 

Lastly add a piece or two of diam bar to the top of your Muffin to decorate ,and then enjoy ! :)

 

Gluten Free Peanut Butter And Banana Muffins

I personally am not a fan of banana's ! But i baked these as a thank-you to my friend who is Gluten-Free and also loves the banana and peanut butter combo . So i'll have to rely on what other people have said about them ; my mum said she loved them ,they weren't too sweet so are great as a breakfast muffin ,and they gave the kitchen a lovely smell for hours.

As these muffins are made from fresh fruit i'd say they are probably best if you eat them within 2-3 days .

(Apologies for some of the odd weights , i converted from cups)

Makes 12 Muffins.

250g Crunchy Peanut Butter
3 eggs
2 ripe banana's mashed
43g Coconut Flour
50g Caster Sugar
60ml Almond Milk
3/4 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Method

Line a Muffin tin with 12 paper cases and set your oven to 180 or gas mark four and set aside.

In a large bowl mix the crunchy peanut butter , eggs and mashed bananas. Mix these together thoroughly either using a wire whisk or an electric mixer. Then add the rest of the ingredients and combine.

Divide the mixture between the muffin cases equally and then bake for between 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven set on a wire rack to cool and then enjoy your hard work ! :)

Butter Vs. Margarine

So today i was out restocking on ingredients for my baking and while i was looking at all the butters and margarine , i started to wonder what is the big difference between the two and what would be the effect of using margarine in place of butter in a recipe and vice versa. So i decided i would make a post comparing the use of the two .

The main difference between butter and margarine is that butter is derived from animal fats , whereas margarine is derived from hydrogenated vegetable oils . So this would make margarine the best choice for vegetarians. Butter also contains higher levels of  cholesterol and saturated fats then margarine , however margarine contains high levels polyunsaturated and trans fatty acids.

Another way in which Butter and Margarine differ is in shelf-life. Butter must be kept refrigerated in order to remain fresh for several days and like other dairy-products can become spoiled or rancid without proper storage. Margarine should be refrigerated to remain its solid form , but can remain stable for much longer than butter.

So what does all this mean ? They both have their disadvantages and advantages health and storage wise and can mostly be interchanged in recipes so I think which you use is just down to  your personal preference as some people say both give their baking a different final taste . I personally prefer the taste of recipes that I've used butter for , but i do use both in my recipes dependent on what i have available.

Hope this helps , if this is something you've also wondered about ! :)

Smarties Muffins

On the weekend it was my Nan's 80th birthday, the whole family was there and so we went ten-pin bowling ! I honestly can't remember the last time I've done something like that and it made me start reminiscing for being a little kid and licking the batter of the spoon , playing in ball pits and the indoor play area's at restaurants, getting party bags and having ten-pin bowling parties . So this inspired me to make something colorful and childlike and VERY tasty ...

And voila Smarties Muffins ! :)

This is my go to vanilla cupcake recipe as I've never had a complaint , and there my favorite out of all the different types I've made , i altered the recipe slightly for this Muffin ,with the addition of Smarties.

Makes 12 Muffins 

175g Self-raising flour
150g Caster sugar
150g Softened unsalted butter
3 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1 Tube of Smarties

For the Vanilla Butter-cream Frosting with Crushed Smarties

300g Icing sugar
150g Softened unsalted butter
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1-2 tsp Milk (add as needed)
1 Tube of Smarties for decoration

Method
Line a Muffin tin with 12 paper cases and then preheat your oven to 180 or gas mark four.
Then sift the self-raising flour into a small mixing bowl and set aside . In a larger mixing bowl beat the butter and sugar for a few minutes until the mixture becomes pale and fluffy. Add the beaten eggs to the mixture a little at a time . Don't worry if it begins to look similar to scrambled eggs, just add a little of the flour and voila the disaster should be adverted ! :) Now add the rest of the flour and the Vanilla extract and mix it well . And then lastly add about 1 tube of smarties.

Divide the mixture between the Muffin cases and bake for between 18-20 minutes , or until a skewer comes out clean . While the Muffin's are baking i like to make the topping , to make the Vanilla Butter-cream Frosting beat together the butter and icing sugar , but be careful to not be too vigorous at first or you will  end up covered in icing sugar ! When it becomes smooth and pale add the vanilla , if its a little thick slowly add some milk until you get the consistency you like . Now crush about 8 smarties and mix this into the  frosting .

I piped my icing on with a piping bag and nozzle i got from the Supermarket but unfortunately it burst half way through , so excuse the messy icing ! - It really is childlike :) And i then finished them off with a whole Smartie.

(And if your lucky you like me someone will offer to wash up for a muffin !  )

Enjoy !