Choc- Chip & Orange Christmas Buns

For those of you looking to get ahead this holiday season, here’s a twist on my muffin recipe, perfect for the Christmas season ahead.

I plan on making these and bringing them to friends and neighbours houses I’ll be visiting over the Christmas holidays. Its all grand to bring a tin of Caburys Roses or a box of Lemons Season Greetings as a house gift…..but I think a home baked gift is a much more thoughtful present.

These are perfect Christmas treats for kids as they look like traditional Christmas puddings, however they don’t taste as heavy as a pudding and of course do not have any alcohol. Well, they are hardly innocent….but I can guarantee they are light & fluffy and chocolate-y!!! Perfect for little ones, and also for the kid inside all of us when it comes to Christmas.

To ensure I get them muffins perfect, I wanted to practice them now so come Christmas; I’ll be making batches in my sleep!!!! Plus if you are anything like me, you will have something on every weekend in the month of December and pulling your hair out trying to find the time to get all prepared.

If you have small little kids at home, this is a great recipe to get them involved in the kitchen, and they will love to be Chief Decorator!!!

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

·         150g Caster Sugar

·         400g Plain Flour

·         1 tbsp Baking powder

·         260ml Buttermilk

·         2 Eggs

·         Salt, pinch

·         85g Butter

·         Zest of 1 orange

·         100g of chocolate chips

Decoration

·         100g White Chocolate

·         12 Raspberries

Method

1.       Preheat the oven to 180 degrees, and grease a muffin tray.

2.       In a food mixer sieve in the flour, sugar and baking powder.

3.       Add in the orange zest

4.       And mix on a low setting for 30 seconds to incorporate everything.

5.       In a jug, crack the eggs and add the buttermilk and melted butter.

6.       Whisk to combine.

7.       With the food mixer on the lowest setting, slowly add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients.

8.       With a metal spoon, stir in the chocolate chips, and your bun mixture is complete.

9.       Spoon the mixture in even quantities into the muffin tins. 

10.   Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

11.   Allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing the buns to a wire rack.

12.   Melt the white chocolate in the microwave. Break up the chocolate into square and microwave on a low heat in 40 second blasts, stirring each time until you have a smooth consistency.

13.   To decorate the buns, using a teaspoon to spoon a the melted chocolate over each bun. We are not looking for neatness, in fact the more the chocolate drips down the sides the better, as this will give the appearance of icing on a Christmas pudding.

15.   Before the chocolate sets, place a raspberry in the centre of each bun.