Mrs Cook's Kitchen - "Muff-nuts"

I'd like to start with a disclaimer. I can't take credit for this recipe. It started life in Nigella's Domestic Goddess tome although I've tweaked a teeny bit. Nor can I take credit for the muff-nuts you see in the picture. They were created by Abigail. And I can't take credit for the name "Muff-nut". But this Franken-food* is currently taking one of the cake groups I belong to on Facebook by storm. Never one to miss a trend - although often late to the party(!), I decided these would be the perfect way for Abigail to entertain herself one Saturday morning.

They are a doddle to make and hopefully the ingredients are pretty easy to get hold of on your weekly shop now the panic-buying has calmed down a bit. They're a great treat for the family during these difficult times and give you the opportunity to indulge in a home-baked treat.

The recipe creates a batch of around eight to ten which is perfect for a couple of days (or a day if you've no willpower like me!). You can fill them with jam, curd, nutella or maybe even a little apple sauce or peanut butter.

So without further ado, here is the recipe. Let me know how you got on in the comments below!

Ingredients

• 125ml milk

• 85ml sunflower or vegetable oil

• 1 large egg

• 2 tsp vanilla essence (you could replace with another flavour of essence based on your filling)

• 100g caster sugar

• 200g self raising flour

• 75g unsalted butter, melted

• 100g granulated sugar, spread on a plate

• Approx 8-10 tsps of jam, Nutella, lemon curd etc

Equipment - 12-hole muffin tin, paper cup cases, measuring jug, wooden spoon, dessert spoon, fork, teaspoon, mixing bowl, small pan, plate

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 170c fan.

Beat the milk, oil, egg and vanilla essence in the jug with the fork. Put the flour and caster sugar into a bowl then pour in the milk mix and stir to just combine. Don't worry about lumps - over-mixing will make the muff-nuts heavy. Fill the cases 1/3 full with the batter, add a tsp of jam or Nutella on the top and in the centre. Cover with more batter until the cups are full.

Bake for 20-25 mins until the tops are springy. Dip the muff-nuts in the melted butter and then roll in sugar. Cool slightly then enjoy!

*Apparently, a Franken-food is the combination of two other food-types to create a new food. Hence the combination of doughnut and muffin is a Muff-nut.