A delicious twist on a classic Christmas bake, these Stollen Muffins are packed with festive flavours and all the traditional stollen bread ingredients: mixed peel, mixed dried fruit, marzipan chunks and warm spices. They are ready from scratch in way under 30 minutes, and they fill your kitchen with a whiff of Christmas cheer.
A sweet yeasted bread of German origins, stollen is a very popular Christmas bake, not only in Europe, but also all around the world. It's packed with festive ingredients that are incredibly rich and indulgent, and heart-warmingly delicious.
But while the classic Christmas stollen can take a few hours to bake from scratch, these stollen-inspired muffins are ready on the table in just 30 minutes. Sure, it's not quite the same, but it's a great alternative when time is short and you have lots of other Christmas bakes to get on with.
Plus, these muffins are incredibly moist and fluffy, and very easy to make, it will be quite a fun festive activity to get your kids involved in, or you can quickly whip them up when you want your kitchen to be filled with wonderful aromas.
So, make yourself a lovely cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows and cream and a rich white hot chocolate, and enjoy a beautifully sliced warm muffin, you are in for a treat!
Ingredients used
- self-raising flour - helps with a light texture and a good rise
- baking powder - even if I use self-raising flour, I still add extra baking powder to ensure a good even rise
- light brown sugar - adds a touch of indulgence to the muffins, while still keeping them light
- mixed dried fruit - easily available at this time of the year in most shops, alternatively, you can use your own mix of dried raisins, sultanas, chopped apricots, dates and so on
- candied mixed peel - another regular ingredient during the festive season, it should be easy enough to find
- marpizan - although you can totally make it at home from scratch, sometimes shortcuts are just fine, and ready -made marpizan is actually really delicious
- melted butter - used for the muffins, but I also like to reserve a bit for brushing the muffins after they come out of the oven
- flaked almonds - you can toast them beforehand if you wish, but using them as it is is also ok
- almond extract - optional, but if you do have some around, it adds so much more flavour
- spices - ground cinnamon & mixed spice, you can also add nutmeg, cloves and all spice if you don't have mixed spice
- eggs - at room temperature
- buttermilk - makes the muffins incredibly moist and fluffy, alternatively, you can use full-fat milk instead
- icing sugar - confectioners' sugar, for dusting over the muffins when they are ready
Step-by-step photos and instructions
- in a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, add the light brown sugar and spices, and use a spatula to mix everything well
- to the mix add the dried mixed fruit, mixed peel, flaked almonds and the marzipan cut into cubes
- mix again
- in a jug, beat the eggs well, add the melted butter, buttermilk and almond extract
- pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients
- use the spatula to mix well to combine
- grease and flour a 12-hole muffin tin, and divide the muffin mixture evenly between each cavity
- bake in the preheated oven at 190 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit) for 20 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean
- brush the muffins with melted butter as soon as they come out of the oven
- leave them to cool slightly, then dust with icing sugar
Expert tips
The list of ingredients might look overwhelming at first, but most of them are very easily available at this time of the year, and you probably already have them around for other christmassy bakes.
If you buy larger packets of dried fruit and mixed peel, you can also use them to make mini Christmas cakes or a traditional Christmas fruit cake, which are full of festive flavours too.
Make sure to store the muffins in an air tight container once they cool down completely, so they can keep moist and light for longer - we had ours around for 4 days, and they were still delicious!
Preheating the oven is crucial, as the muffins go in, so they can that dome-shaped top we need. I prefer greasing the muffin tin with butter and dusting with flour rather than using muffin cases which tend to stick to the muffins.
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Stollen Muffins
Ingredients
- 285 g self-raising flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon mixed spice ( or pumpkin spice for the US audience)
- 100 g light brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 90 ml melted butter + one tablespoon of melted butter for brushing the muffins
- 250 ml buttermilk
- ½ cup mixed dried fruit
- ½ cup mixed peel
- ½ cup marzipan, cut into cubes
- 2 tablespoon icing sugar ( confectioners' sugar)
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- ½ cup flaked almonds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius ( 375 Fahrenheit, 170 fan oven).
- In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, add the sugar, baking powder and spices and mix well to combine.
- Add the dried fruit, mixed peel, marpizan and flaked almonds, and mix again.
- In a jug, beat the eggs well, add the melted butter, almond extract and buttermilk and mix well.
- Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and use a spatula to combine them into a batter.
- Grease and flour a muffin tin, divide the batter evenly, and bake for 20 minutes until golden and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Brush the baked muffins with the reserved melted butter, and allow them to cool down.
- Dust them with icing sugar.
Video
Notes
- Make sure to store the muffins in an air tight container once they cool down completely, so they can keep moist and light for longer - we had ours around for 4 days, and they were still delicious!
- Preheating the oven is crucial, as the muffins go in, so they can that dome-shaped top we need. I prefer greasing the muffin tin with butter and dusting with flour rather than using muffin cases which tend to stick to the muffins.
Nutrition
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