Gingerbread Muffins

It's that time of year again, and my days are full. So full, that I haven't had much time to cook, let alone blog recipes :-(

Starting to think about Christmas treats to give to visitors, I whipped up these muffins this morning. You'll most likely have all the ingredients on hand (except perhaps the optional gold leaf), so you can pop them in the oven just before guests arrive. There's nothing more festive than the sweet smell of gingerbread wafting through the house.



Recipe inspired by Nigella Lawson
Makes 6-8

You'll need:

250g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarb soda
1.5 tsp ground ginger
1tsp ground cinnamon
1 egg
100g raw organic sugar
150ml milk
1/4 tsp balsamic vinegar
6 tbs grapeseed oil
8 tbs treacle
edible gold leaf pictured below (optional & available from specialty food stores like The Essential Ingredient)



Pre heat oven to 200C. Line a 12 hole muffin tin with baking paper cut into squares.

Combine the flour, baking powder, bicarb, ginger and cinnamon in a large bowl.

Whisk the egg together with the sugar in a large jug. Add the milk, balsamic and grapeseed oil and treacle and mix well. Add this to the dry mixture and stir until just combined. The mixture will be quite wet and lumpy.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin. I filled them quite high, as the muffins don't puff up as much as normal muffins. Bake for 20 minutes or until just cooked through. Brush over a little gold leaf while they are still warm for an extra festive touch.

TIP: Use the same spoon used to measure out the oil for the treacle, it will just glide of the spoon rather than stick.