Fancy Choc Mint Christmas Muffins

Recipe

These gluten free muffins are all dressed up for Christmas. Soft, moist chocolatey muffins stuffed with peppermint chocolates and topped with a dollop of choc mint ganache, they'll take pride of place amongst your Christmas treats!

These muffins are anadaptation of my Chocolate Easter Egg Muffins, which hide a caramel filled Easter egg inside. In this more festive version I've used Cadbury Peppermint Baubles; little chocolate spheres filled with peppermint. The baubles make a perfect pairing with the choc mint ganache on top of the muffins, but you can of course use any chocolate you fancy in the centre. If you use a different flavoured chocolate, skip the peppermint extract in the ganache.

There are just a couple of sticking points to be aware of with these muffins. Firstly, make sure you use muffin cases that are around 5cm tall. When I first started testing this recipe I used cute little Christmas themed cases, which just happen to be a bit shorter than my normal ones, and the results were... not pretty.

Secondly, it's important to leave a little mound of batter on top of the chocolate bauble in the centre. If you spread the batter out you can end up with the bauble exposed and a bit of a cave in situation. It'll still taste amazing, but it looks a bit weird.

The almond meal in the muffin batter helps to keep the muffins extra moist, so they should keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for 4 or 5 days. You can make the ganache a day or two in advance to be extra organised; keep it covered at room temperature, if it hardens too much microwave on 50% power for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between until you reach a spreadable consistency.

These lovely little muffins are the perfect addition to any festive occasion, and will please the pickiest of eaters, gluten free or not!