Friday 3 February 2012

Chocolate Chip, Marzipan and Cranberry Muffins

As you probably know, muffins aren't my favourite type of baked treat. There are times, though, when they are really useful - good portion control, quick to mix and quick to bake too. They are even good if you need to eat them while still warm - most cakes are not happy if you try to cut them while they are warm!

This recipe, from allrecipes.co.uk, proved to be a good basic recipe, although I didn't get 12 muffins from it. It was incredibly easy to mix - whisk the wet ingredients together, mix the dry ingredients in another bowl and stir the dry into the wet. The muffins were also light enough to pass muster with CT, who usually prefers shop bought muffins(!!).

I left off the sugar topping, and instead of 125g of chocolate chips I used 85g chopped plain chocolate, 85g marzipan cut into small cubes and 50g of dried cranberries. I also added a teaspoon of vanilla extract. The mixture made 10 muffins, with the cases filled about 3/4 with the muffin batter.

The basic muffin batter was not over-sweet, and I used 70% chocolate, so the sweetness of the marzipan and dried sweetened cranberries stood out well.

Unfortunately, they were eaten before I could get a picture of the inside of one of them! The only complaint, from FB, was not enough marzipan.
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7 comments:

  1. Chele4 February 2012 at 07:39

    Marzipan and I aren't great friends - but there are other members of my family who get along very well with it - will need to remember this recipe for the next time they visit. They look the perfect muffins.

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  2. Katie4 February 2012 at 08:02

    Love the sound of marzipan, chocolate and cranberries together. Divine. A real mix of sweet, bitter, chewy etc. Yum

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  3. Caroline4 February 2012 at 15:37

    They look great, and good to hear that CT enjoyed them too. It's always good to have a standby basic recipe that can be adapted.

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  4. Unknown4 February 2012 at 16:40

    I really like the idea of them containing marzipan... it's an ingredient I rarely use like this but it ha such an obvious place in a muffin... nice work my friend!

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  5. Kate@whatkatebaked5 February 2012 at 18:16

    Ohhh! Love the idea of the secret ace ingredient- marzipan. I can't frankly get enough of the stuff but always associate it with festivities.... But no longer!

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  6. Baking Addict5 February 2012 at 18:29

    Lovely looking muffins. I know a few people who will enjoy this. I myself don't like marzipan.

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  7. celia6 February 2012 at 01:58

    Suelle, you and I share a lack of love for muffins, so when you post one, I always take notice! It sounds like they were a big hit too, if they disappeared before you had a chance to photograph the crumb! :)

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