Name: Easy Hot Cross Muffins
Yield: 12 jumbo muffins (tulip cups) or 24 regular muffins
Ingredients: 2½ cups (375 g) all-purpose flour; 2 tsp. baking powder; 1¼ tsp. ground cinnamon; ½ tsp. baking soda; ½ tsp. ground allspice; ½ tsp. ground nutmeg; ½ tsp. ground cloves; ¼ tsp. fine salt; 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar; 1 cup (250 ml) 2% milk; ⅔ cup (160 ml) vegetable oil; 2 large eggs; 2 Tbsp. (37 g) honey; Zest of 1 lemon; 1 Tbsp. (15 ml) fresh lemon juice; 1½ cups (225 g) raisins or 1½ cups (240 g) currants; ½ cup (70 g) dried cranberries; ¼ cup (37 g) diced candied orange peel; 1½ cups (200 g) icing sugar; 1½ Tbsp. (22 ml) water; ½ tsp. meringue powder (optional)

Photo by Janis Nicolay

These fruit-laden muffins smell exactly like hot cross buns as they bake and taste just as satisfying, but with a fraction of the effort.

This recipe was excerpted from 'Anna Olson's Baking Wisdom' by Anna Olson. Buy the full book on Amazon.

Cook's note:

The meringue powder helps the glaze set. If you make the glaze without it, let the muffins air-dry for an extra hour before storing them. And to make the muffins less seasonally specific, you can leave the crosses off or simply drizzle the glaze on top.

Recipe notes

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