hot cross muffins – allergy free/vegan. aka “safe”

 I have been thinking about re working my hot cross muffin recipe for a while and I finally got round to it today. I made a big batch for Ollie to take to school and share with his little pals tomorrow being that it is Good Friday aka “Hot Cross Bun Day”.  Little bro happily tested and approved the muffins, he got the one with the dodgiest icing!

 I like using apple puree as a replacement for egg in muffins as it makes them so moist, mix it with the baking powder before adding to the bowl (apparently this gives the best results, but don’t ask me why I have no idea, I just know it works!).

  I now realise that my crosses were not as perfect as usual because I just used lemon juice and icing sugar, try it as the recipe for better crosses. 

 Here is the recipe; (for origional non allergy free recipe go here).

Hot Cross Muffins 

 In one bowl sieve and combine; 

• 12 oz plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking of soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tsp mixed spice 

 In another bowl combine; 

• 6 oz sugar
• 8 tbsp sunflower oil
• ½ pint rice/soya milk
• 1/2 teacup of apple puree mixed with 1 tsp of baking powder 
• zest of 1 lemon
• zest of 1 orange
• 2 tbsp orange juice
• 6 oz of mixed fruit or raisins plus extra to sprinkle on top before baking

 Preheat oven to 200°c 

Make a dent in the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients and stir until just combined (no dry floury bits).Fill muffin cases till just over halfway then sprinkle a few extra raisin on top. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until golden brown. 

 Glaze (to make the muffins shine!) 

• 4 tbsp rice/soya milk
• 3 tbsp caster sugar

Heat in a pan until sugar has dissolved. Boil for a minute until syrupy. Brush onto the warm muffins then leave to cool completely before making the crosses on top. 

The Crosses 

• 6 oz icing sugar, sifted
• pinch of cinnamon
• 1 tbsp melted vegan butter/marge
• 1 to 2 tbsp rice/soya milk 

Sieve icing sugar into a bowl. Melt the butter in a small pan, or in the microwave. Add to the icing sugar and stir adding a little of the milk at a time until it runs off the spoon but is still thick. 

 To make the crosses I placed the muffins on a tray in a line and drizzled a long line one way across the top of the muffins then turned the tray to drizzle the other line. Don’t worry too much about perfection. Serve once the icing has set.