Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! I hope that, however you spend today, you are get to spend the day with people you love and who love you in return.

In my family, we normally have a cooked breakfast. Think eggs on toast with smoked salmon and avocado. For those of you in the Eastern Hemisphere, this recipe is posted too late for you to make them on Christmas Day, but they’ll make a great breakfast for Boxing Day, and in the build up to New Year’s Eve.

But sometimes you need something to tie you over until the main meal. Something that doesn’t require too much time in the kitchen – especially if you are spending the morning alone and plan to meet friends/family later in the day for food. So, here are Christmas Morning muffins – filled with dried cranberries, orange juice, cinnamon and nutmeg.

They’re not very sweet at all, and will go great smeared with some jam or honey, if you feel so inclined.

Ingredients

200 grams plain flour
3 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
75 grams soft brown sugar + 2 teaspoons
1/2 tbsp ground nutmeg
1 orange, juiced
milk (approx 50 – 75 ml)
60 grams unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
150 grams dried cranberries
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a muffin tray with paper cups or grease well.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, bicarb of soda, 75 grams of sugar and ground nutmeg, in a large bowl.
3. Measure out the juice of the orange in a measuring jug. Use milk to top up to 150ml. Whisk the melted butter and the egg into the orange juice and milk mixture.
4. Add the liquid ingredients to the flour mixture, and mix until just incorporated. Stir the cranberries through.
5. Using a cookie scoop, fill the prepared muffin cups with the mixture.
6. In a small bowl, combine the 2 teaspoons of brown sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Sprinkle over the tops of the muffins.
7. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.
8. Serve warm, or cold.