Christmas muffins recipe

These Christmas muffins are halfway between muffins and scones, deliciously orangey and perfect for a breakfast or tea over Christmas. Christmas muffins are easy to make, so get the children involved. Serve with a tart raspberry jam or redcurrant jelly.

for 10 Christmas muffins

• 75g caster sugar
• 250g self-raising flour
• 25g ground almonds
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 50g dried apricots (ideally undyed), stoned, soaked and chopped
• Zest of 1 orange
• 75g unsalted butter
• 4 cloves
• 100ml freshly squeezed orange juice (2 oranges)
• 100ml milk
• 1 egg, beaten

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4.

Now combine the wet and dry ingredients. The mixture will look quite doughy at this stage. Divide it into 10 and put the portions into paper cases in a muffin tray. Put all the dry ingredients and the zest into a bowl. Melt the butter over a gentle heat, then add the cloves. Remove from the heat and let them infuse and cool a bit. Remove the cloves and mix the melted butter, orange juice, milk and egg in another bowl.

Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Take the muffins out and let them cool slightly. These are best eaten while they’re still warm, but they can be frozen.

This recipe features on p.146 of Sarah's Complete Christmas food and flowers book