With just a little preparation the day before, your family can enjoy freshly baked cranberry orange muffins on Christmas morning, with the bonus of filling your house with Christmasy baking aromas. What a joy to wake up to these!
The Christmas Day rule of my family growing up was that no presents could be opened before breakfast. I remember being happy with a bowl of cereal - and let’s get this show on the road! - but frustrated by the grownups who wanted eggs or pancakes or, most likely, freshly baked biscuits. Clearly they had their priorities askew! But don’t you know, when I became a mother, I kept the same rule. Turns out that it’s always a good plan to serve a decent breakfast when Christmas dinner won’t be on the table until three or four o’clock in the afternoon.
With just a little preparation, a hot, freshly baked breakfast is a cinch and you can get to the important part: Opening the gifts! This month our Bread Bakers host is Holly from A Baker’s House and she has challenged us to bake breads – quick or yeasty – which can be started one day and baked the next, giving you lots of lovely ideas for a perfectly easy holiday breakfast.
(And don’t forget my friend Donna’s great cookbook, Make Ahead Breads <Amazon affiliate link* which is also a wonderful source of recipes and inspiration for this theme and would make a fabulous Christmas gift for a baker in your life.)
This post is not technically part of Christmas Week but I would be remiss if I didn't tell you to check out my coconut praline post from yesterday, with details on how to enter to win one of three ($500, $250 and $50) Amazon gift cards up for grabs!
These muffins are adapted from this recipe by Nigella Lawson.
Ingredients
2 cups or 250g flour
1/2 cup or 100g sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup or 120ml whole milk
1/3 cup or 75ml canola or other oil
1 large egg
2 clementines (for zest and 1/3 cup or 80ml juice)
1 cup or 140g dried cranberries, plus 12 more for decoration, if desired.
Method
Prepare your muffin pan by greasing it with butter or nonstick spray or lining it with paper muffin cups. I usually line it with the paper cups and give the whole pan a quick spray. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
Add in the dried cranberries, mixing well, and cover the bowl with cling film and set it aside with the baking pan.
Measure your milk and oil into a large measuring jug. Add the egg and beat until well combined.
Zest the two clementines with a fine grater or microplane straight into the measuring jug.
Juice the clementines and add 1/3 cup or 80ml of the juice into the measuring jug as well. If you don’t get quite enough juice, top up with more milk to reach your required measurement. Cover the jug with cling film and pop it in the refrigerator.
The next morning, preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.
Give your liquid ingredients a good mix with a fork and pour them into the dry ingredient bowl.
Fold to combine, being careful not to over mix. If a little flour still shows here and there, that’s a good thing.
Divide the batter between the muffin cups. Add one more dried cranberry to each muffin, if desired. I like to see a little of what's inside on top of my muffins.
Bake in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until the muffins are golden and a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean. I cannot begin to tell you how wonderful these smell while baking! The aroma will get the laggards out of bed and running to the kitchen.
Leave the muffins to cool for a few minutes in the pan and then remove them to a wire rack. Serve them warm with a hot cup of coffee or a glass of Champagne, if you are so inclined, in front of the sparkling Christmas tree.
Enjoy!
Check out all the other great recipes for Overnight Bread! Which one will you make first this holiday season?
- Braided Holiday Stollen from A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Bran Muffins from Cali's Cuisine
- Christmas Morning Muffins from Food Lust People Love
- Christmas Morning Sticky Buns from Sara’s Tasty Buds
- English Muffins from Ruchik Ranhap
- Fruity Butter Bread from Magnolia Days
- Gingerbread Breakfast Loaf from Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
- Herbert’s Traditional Overnight Bread Loaf from G’Gina’s Kitchenette
- Old Fashioned Doughnuts from Cooking Club
- Onion Bagels from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Overnight Apple Fritters Monkey Bread from I Camp in My Kitchen
- Overnight Belgian-Style Yeast Waffles from A Baker’s House
- Overnight Brioche Cinnamon Rolls from Hostess at Heart
- Overnight Pecan Sticky Bread from Cook’s Hideout
- Stollen Muffins from Baking in Pyjamas
We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.
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