Apple, Cinnamon and Cranberry Muffins

I made this as a fun breakfast idea for the festive season, but they have also become very popular as an evening snack with a cup of tea. The cranberry hidden centre is a great way to bump up the festive and means that the muffin re-heats really well without drying out if you wanted to serve it warm.

Because this recipe relies on two types of fruit compote, it is really easy to customise the level of sweetness for your personal taste. You can either buy or make your own stewed apples and cranberry sauce, but I prefer to make them so that I can moderate the sugar. I like my cranberry sauce to be as tart as possible without being painful but I realise that this is some people's idea of hell. Similarly, the stewed apples can have as much or as little sugar added as you like, but be aware that it will affect the overall sweetness of the batter.

THINGS YOU WILL NEED

12 Muffin Cases

12 Hole Muffin Tray

Mixing Bowl

Electric Whisk

Spoons

INGREDIENTS

200g Stewed Apples

200g Bramley Apples

1 tbsp golden syrup

60g water

150g Butter, cubed and room temperature

125g Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

120g + 20g Plain Flour

120g Jumbo Oats

12g Ground Cinnamon

10g Baking Powder

Pinch of Salt

100(ish)g Cranberry Sauce

1) IF MAKING YOUR OWN STEWED APPLES: Peel and dice the apple. Heat it slowly in a saucepan with 50g water and 1 tbsp golden syrup (or to taste). Stir occasionally until the apples are soft but still have some texture. Allow it to cool.

IF MAKING YOUR OWN CRANBERRY SAUCE: See my recipe for Festive Spiced Cranberry Sauce or warm some cranberries in a saucepan with a splash of water and brown sugar to taste. Heat them until the berries burst and keep stirring until it forms a spoonable sauce. Leave to cool.

2) Preheat the oven to gas mark 5/ 190°C. In a bowl, weigh out the dry ingredients (oats, cinnamon, baking powder, salt) but only 120g of the flour. Keep back the remaining 20g for the next step. Combine everything really well so it is evenly distributed and there are no surprise pockets of baking powder or cinnamon, etc.

3) In a big mixing bowl, crush together the cubes of room temperature butter and the brown sugar with the back of a fork or wooden spoon until there are no stray sugar grains remaining. Now use an electric whisk to cream the butter and sugar until it is smooth and heading towards fluffy. At this point, your mixture runs the risk of splitting so I use strategic teaspoons of flour to stop this from happening. Have your remaining 20g flour on standby for this part, this roughly equates to a spoonful of flour for each fat (i.e. flour, butter, flour, egg, flour, egg).

1. Add a third of the flour and whisk a bit more until all of the sugar grains have completely dissolved.

2. Add half of the remaining flour and incorporate it well.

3. Add your first egg and carry on whisking. The mixture will get fluffier in texture.

4. Add the rest of the flour and whisk that in to the mixture.

5. Add your second egg. By the time this is properly whisked the mixture will be very light, soft and billowy. It should look almost creamy with no hint of splitting.

4) Fold the dry ingredients into the whisked ingredients a bit at a time until it is evenly mixed through with no hidden lumps. Stir through the stewed apples. The texture of the mixture should still be quite airy and spoonable so that it holds it's shape when put in the muffin case.

5) Arrange your muffin cases in a muffin tray and place a heaped tablespoon of batter in each case so that the bottom is completely covered. Then place a teaspoon of cranberry sauce neatly in the centre of each muffin. Finally, divide the remaining mixture between the muffins, about 1 heaped tablespoon each, making sure the cranberry sauce is completely concealed . You may have to tuck it in a bit and encourage the top dollop of muffin mix around the sides.

6) Bake in the centre of the oven for about 30 minutes until the muffins have risen slightly and the tops have gone lightly golden with a subtle crust. Allow them to cool for at least a few minutes before tucking in because that cranberry centre will be like lava. These are great served warm and will keep for around 3 - 4 days in an airtight container.