Hot Cross Muffins
Serves: 12
 
Ingredients
  • ¼ cup butter
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon allspice
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup white whole wheat flour (or more all-purpose flour)
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 egg
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • ¼ cup currants (see note)
  • ¾ cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon milk
Instructions
  1. Grease 12 cups of a muffin pan, or line the cups with paper liners. Preheat oven to 400 F.
  2. In a small pot, melt the butter over medium heat. When it starts to bubble slightly, add the cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. Cook the spices for 30 seconds, then remove from heat.
  3. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.
  4. In a smaller bowl, whisk the milk, egg, and brown sugar, then stir in the currants.
  5. Pour the milk mixture and the butter mixture into the dry ingredients. Mix gently, just until all the flour is moistened. Don’t over mix, or you’ll get tough muffins, and that would be sad.
  6. Spoon dough into prepared muffin tins, filling them three quarters of the way full. Bake at 400 F for 13-15 minutes, or until top feels firm when lightly touched. Allow to cool completely before icing.
  7. To make the icing, stir powdered sugar and milk together in a small bowl. Add more milk or powdered sugar if required to achieve the right consistency. I like my icing so thick that it’s a little hard to stir. If it’s too thin, it will dribble off the muffins.
  8. Spoon icing into a Ziploc bag and cut a bit of the corner off the bag. Pipe crosses onto the cooled muffins.
Notes
You can replace all or part of the currants with other dried fruit, such as raisins, golden raisins, or dried cranberries. If you love dried fruit in your muffins, use ½ cup instead of ¼ cup.

Go easy with the milk when making your icing—a little bit can make a big difference in the icing’s consistency.
Recipe by I Wish I Was a Muffin at https://iwishiwasamuffin.com/hot-cross-muffins/