"We're the boys in red and white..."

Red and white muffins, festive and apt considering the fact that we polished these off at the Arsenal game last week. I wish I could pretend I'd made them red and white to intentionally match the football strip, but alas that's not the case. The reason was because I had cranberries in the freezer, white chocolate in the cupboard and a hungry boyfriend clamouring for something sweet in his lunch to get him through the ever darkening afternoons.

He really likes the raspberry and white chocolate muffins I make, and I thought that the tartness of the cranberries would match well with the sweetness of the chocolate. Plus they had the added bonus of looking festive, and since N has said it keeps feeling like Christmas, this seemed like the perfect treat.

I took my basic muffin mix and added the berries and chocolate and I was really pleased with how these turned out. Next time I might leave larger chunks of white chocolate, because fresh cranberries are large and it would balance better. Other than that, I think these are a winner.



Cranberry and white chocolate festive muffins

Makes 12 large muffins

60g unsalted butter, melted
100g raspberries (frozen, not thawed)
300g plain flour
1tbsp baking powder
100g golden caster sugar
pinch mixed spice
2 eggs
250ml milk (i used unsweetened soy milk)
100g white chocolate
1tsp vanilla essence (if the chocolate doesn't have added vanilla)

Preheat the oven to 200C and line or grease however many pans of either size you plan to use.

Combine all the dry ingredients (except the cranberries and chocolate) in a large mixing bowl. Whisk the wet ingredients in a jug until well combined, then add to the dry ingredients, and fold together. DO NOT OVER MIX, lumps make for better muffins. once all the dry ingredients are worked in together, but the batter is still lumpy slowly fold in the berries and chocolate. Spoon the batter into the cases or pans and then bake until golden and risen. Aprox 20mins.