Sultana, Chocolate & Orange Muffins
Sultana, Chocolate & Orange Muffins feature a deliciously light and fluffy sponge scented with orange, studded with plump dried fruit and chocolate chunks. A simple sweet treat, the muffins can be ready in just 40 minutes. Lovely served hot with custard for dessert too!
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MUFFINS: THE QUICK SWEET TREAT
When I want cake in double-quick time, it’s muffins I almost always turn to. Firstly, they’re so easy to put together. Unlike most regular large cakes, there’s no softening of the butter then creaming it with sugar before gradually adding the eggs. With muffins, all you do is beat together the wet ingredients and sugar, then fold in the dry ingredients plus your chosen add-ins and flavourings. Secondly, muffins take a maximum of 20 minutes to cook.
Great for beginner bakers, once you know the basic ingredients and method you can come up with almost any flavour muffin you like. And my current favourites are these easy but delicious Sultana, Chocolate & Orange Muffins.
My deliciously light and fluffy muffin sponge is scented with orange zest and studded with a generous amount of plumped dried fruit plus chocolate chunks. You don’t like dried fruit or eat chocolate? Simply leave out one or the other to make chocolate-orange muffins or sultana-orange muffins.
TIPS FOR MAKING ANY FLAVOUR MUFFIN
Whatever flavour you’re making, for the very best, light and fluffy muffins, there’s a few easy tips to follow.
- Don’t over-mix. To get a light muffin, fold the mixture just enough to combine the ingredients. Don’t worry if there are a few lumps!
- Raising agents work quickly once mixed with the wet ingredients so work as swiftly as you reasonably can.
- Use a skewer or cocktail stick to check if fully cooked: it should come out clean when they’re done. If not, cook for two more minutes and check again. Don’t overcook though, or they won’t be as light.
SULTANA, CHOCOLATE & ORANGE MUFFINS
You’ll find ingredient amounts and full instructions for making 12 Sultana, Chocolate & Orange Muffins in the recipe card at the end. But I recommend you read on for extra tips and step-by-step images to guide you.
EQUIPMENT & INGREDIENTS
For the best results, use digital scales and metric measurements as these were used to test the recipe. You’ll also need a deep, 12-hole muffin tin lined with paper cases.
All my muffins have the same base ingredients.
- Self-raising flour. Make sure yours is well within its best before date and hasn’t been left open for months. If preferred, you can use plain/all-purpose flour + 3 additional level teaspoons of baking powder.
- Baking powder. While self-raising flour already contains raising agents (the clue is in the name), I like to give it an extra boost when it comes to muffins.
- Salt. Enhances and balances all the flavours.
- Plain yogurt. Traditionally, muffin recipes call for buttermilk. But I find yogurt gives a wonderful light and fluffy texture. It’s also more widely available.
- Caster sugar.
- Eggs. For binding and lightness.
- Butter (melted). For binding and the best flavour.
For this recipe you’ll also need:
- Sultanas. I recommend pouring over boiling water and leaving to soak for 10 – 15 minutes to make them nice and plump. Drain well and pat dry before using in the recipe.
- Chocolate. Here I’ve chosen slightly bitter dark chocolate, a lovely contrast against the sweet sultanas. But use milk chocolate if you like.
- Orange zest. I’ve used 2 large fruit for plenty of citrussy zing.
HOW TO MAKE SULTANA, CHOCOLATE & ORANGE MUFFINS
As mentioned in my tips above, you’ll want to get the muffins in the oven as soon as you’ve mixed up the batter. So, get any prep done first including preheating your oven to the temperature in the recipe card and putting the muffin cases in the tray.
You start by sifting together the self-raising flour, baking powder, and salt. Then set that aside. Now take a large mixing bowl and put in the yogurt, sugar, crack in the eggs, and pour in the melted butter. Whisk these together, preferably using electric beaters, until the sugar is dissolved.
Next, you tip the sifted flour mixture into the whisked wet ingredients and start gently folding it in with a silicone spatula or similar. When most of the flour has been incorporated, tip in the sultanas, chocolate and orange zest.
Continue folding until just evenly distributed. A few lumpy bits are fine, and better than overmixing. Now divide the mixture between the 12 muffin cases, as evenly as you can. The eagle-eyed among you will notice I slightly underfilled the muffin case top left, which is reflected in its final size.
Pop straight into your oven and cook for approximately 17 – 20 minutes or until risen, golden brown, and a cocktail stick or similar comes out clean. The batch you see here took 19 minutes.
Note that ovens do vary though, so keep an eye on them and adjust the timing up or down if necessary. As my oven cooks unevenly, I also turn the tray around after the first 10 – 12 minutes.
SERVING & STORING SULTANA, CHOCOLATE & ORANGE MUFFINS
There’s real pleasure to be had in eating a muffin fresh from the oven. And with my Sultana, Chocolate & Orange Muffins the citrus aroma is certainly at its peak when the light and fluffy little cakes are warm. The chocolate is lovely slightly melted and squidgy too.
But if they’re not all being eaten straight away, muffins reheat beautifully in a microwave. Just a few seconds and they’ll be wonderfully fluffy again, even several days after you baked them. As a household of two, most of our muffins go in the freezer anyway. It takes just a few seconds more to defrost before heating.
A quick sweet treat at any time, a few muffins tucked away can also be transformed into a wonderful hot dessert. Just reheat and serve with plenty of my Homemade Custard poured over.
If you’ve made this recipe, I’d love to know what you thought. Please do leave a comment and rating.
Sultana, Chocolate & Orange Muffins
Little cakes of deliciously light and fluffy sponge scented with orange, studded with plump dried fruit and chocolate chunks. A simple sweet treat that can be ready in just 40 minutes. Lovely served hot with custard for dessert too.
For the best results, read the accompanying blog post before starting, use digital scales and metric measurements.
Ingredients
- 325 g self-raising flour (or plain/all-purpose + 3 additional tsp baking powder)
- 1 level tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 240 ml plain yogurt
- 200 g caster sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 120 g butter (melted)
- 125 g sultanas (Optional but recommended: plump up by soaking in boiling water for 10 - 15 minutes. Drain well and pat dry before using)
- 125 g milk or dark chocolate (roughly chopped)
- 2 large oranges, zest only (finely grated)
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 200° C /180° Fan /Gas 6 /400° F with a shelf in the middle.
Put a paper case into each hole of a 12-hole deep muffin tin.
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Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt then set aside.
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Put the yogurt, sugar, eggs, and melted butter in a large mixing bowl.
Whisk together, preferably using electric beaters, until combined and the sugar is dissolved.
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Fold in the sifted flour and when it's almost all been incorporated fold in the sultanas, chocolate and orange zest.
Tip: for light muffins, try not overmix: it doesn't matter if the batter looks a little lumpy.
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Divide the mixture equally between the 12 muffin cases.
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Bake until the muffins are risen, golden, and a cocktail stick or skewer comes out clean (approx. 17 - 20 minutes).
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Cool on a wire rack until just warm if serving straight away, or leave until completely cold before storing in an airtight container for 3 - 4 days or freezing.
Reheating: ping in a microwave for a few seconds to warm and bring back the fluffy texture. Add a few extra seconds if frozen.
Lovely served as a hot pudding with Homemade Custard poured over.
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