Stuffin’ muffins
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 30 mins to 1 hour
- Serve
- Serves 6–8
- Dietary
- Dairy-free
Everyone loves Christmas stuffing, but have you ever tried it in muffin form? If you love stuffing these make a great addition to Christmas dinner with lots of crispy bits as well as a surprise cranberry sauce filling.
Each serving provides 337 kcal, 13.3g protein, 27.3g carbohydrate (of which 9.6g sugars), 18.5g fat (of which 5.7g saturates), 4.1g fibre and 2.87g salt.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 5 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked and finely chopped
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves picked and finely chopped
- 10g/⅓oz sage, thinly sliced
- 180g/6oz chestnuts, roughly chopped
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 20g/¾oz panko breadcrumbs
- 400g/14oz sausage meat
- 100g/3½oz bacon lardons
- 1 orange, zest and juice
- 1 free-range egg
- grating fresh nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp salt
- 100g/3½oz cranberry sauce
Method
Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7.
Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan on a medium-high heat and add the onion and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onion starts to colour and caramelise.
Add the thyme, rosemary and sage and mix well. Stir in the chestnuts and Worcestershire sauce. Cook for another few minutes then set aside.
Add the panko breadcrumbs, sausage meat, lardons, orange zest and juice, egg, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and the onion mixture to a large mixing bowl. Use your hands to mix until well combined.
Place 6–8 muffin cases into a muffin tray. Fill them to the ridge with the stuffing mixture.
Use an ice cream scoop or your hands to form a dome (hemisphere) with more of the mixture. Make a small hole in the flat part of the dome using the handle of a wooden spoon and fill with cranberry sauce (alternatively make a hole in the mixture in the paper cases and fill that). Top a muffin case with this dome, then repeat until the mixture is finished.
Drizzle with a touch of olive oil and roast for 35 minutes. Serve warm.
Recipe tips
Wet the ice cream scoop or spoon with water before scooping out the mix, so it doesn’t stick. Same goes for your hands!
The muffins can be constructed in advance and stored in the fridge overnight ready to roast.
