Got a brand new muffin tin tray? Excited about what you can bake beyond the cutesy cupcakes and breakfast muffins? Then we have some little but exciting recipes for you to try, some baked, some frozen, and some cooked. All the recipes are for a standard 12-cup muffin tray, but in case you have the 6-cup one, halve or adjust slightly to get the right amount for a 6-cup muffin tray. Or you can prep the dough or batter and refrigerate the extra to bake later too. Try these classic American desserts with a little twist and miniaturized recipes.
1. Mini Cinnamon Rolls
(Makes 20 rolls)
Ingredients
Dough:
- 2 ¼ tsp active yeast
- 60 ml warm water
- 235 ml milk
- 50 gm sugar
- 60 ml vegetable oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 450 gm flour
Cinnamon and Sugar Mixture:
- 115 gm butter, melted
- 250 gm sugar
- 3 tsp cinnamon
Buttercream Frosting:
- 115 gm butter, softened
- 360 gm powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4-5 tbsp cream
Instructions
- Grease 18-20 cups of two 12-cup muffin tin pans with cooking spray.
- Take a small bowl, and soften yeast in 60 ml warm water. Set aside.
- Take a small saucepan, and heat milk until it is scalding hot, not boiling. Pour into a mixing bowl, then add sugar, oil, and salt to the hot milk. Keep aside for it to cool until lukewarm.
- Add the egg, flour, and softened yeast to the milk mixture and mix well. Gradually add the remaining flour, a little at a time until a dough forms and it starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl but remains slightly sticky.
- Mix for a few more minutes, then transfer to a big greased bowl, cover it with a porous cloth, and set aside in a warm place for it to proof, for about an hour.
- While the dough is rising, make the cinnamon-sugar mixture by mixing sugar with the ground cinnamon in a bowl.
- After an hour transfer the dough on a lightly floured surface, and roll it into a roughly 50x30 cm rectangle. Spread the melted butter over the dough, then generously sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
- Starting with the long edge, roll the dough jelly-roll style, pinching edges to seal. Cut into 4 cm slices and place into greased muffin tins.
- Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1.5 hours.
- Preheat oven to 180°C and bake for 15-18 minutes in the oven, until light brown.
- While the rolls are baking, prepare the frosting: Beat softened butter until smooth, then add powdered sugar, vanilla, and cream. Mix until smooth.
- Take out the rolls from the oven and spread frosting on warm cinnamon rolls.
2. Chocolate Fruit Cups
(Yields 12 fruit cups)
Ingredients
- 170 gm Cadbury Bournville Dark Chocolate
- 45 ml vegetable oil, divided
- Pick of assorted fruits, diced or sliced
- For garnish: Berry coulis, chocolate sauce or whipped cream
Instructions
- Place a 12-mold silicone muffin pan on a baking sheet. Set aside.
- Fill a small saucepan halfway with water and heat on medium-low bringing it to a simmer.
- Place a heat-resistant bowl over the pot, big enough to cover the top but doesn’t touch the hot water. To it add around 60 grams of dark chocolate and 15 ml of oil.
- Stir occasionally until the chocolate has completely melted. Be careful not to let it overheat.
- Use a spoon to divide the melted chocolate evenly among the 12 muffin molds, about 1 tablespoon mold.
- Use a pastry brush to spread chocolate on the sides of the molds.
- Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes or until chocolate has hardened.
- Take the rest of the chocolate and oil, repeating the same steps as before, and add the melted chocolate, 1 tablespoon each into each of the 12 molds with the hardened chocolate.
- Refrigerate again for 30 minutes to harden the second layer too. Once hard enough, carefully remove the chocolate cups from the molds.
- Place cups on a flat surface and fill them with the chopped-up fresh fruits. Top with your favorite sweet sauce or whipped cream and serve.
3. Mini Cheesecakes
(Yields 9 mini cheesecakes)
Ingredients
- 80 gm digestive biscuits or Oreos, crumbled
- 30 gm butter, melted
- 225 gm cream cheese, softened
- 70 gm sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 45 gm choice of jams, warmed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Take a small bowl, and mix the digestive biscuit crumbs or Oreo crumbs with the melted butter. Transfer the mixture onto the bottoms of 9 paper-lined muffin cups. Press down gently.
- Take another bowl, and beat the softened cream cheese, with sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Add the egg and beat at low speed until combined.
- Spoon this cream cheese mixture over the crusts in the muffin cups.
- Transfer to the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes or until centers are set.
- Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes, then demold and cool off on a wire rack.
- Once completely cool, refrigerate your mini cheesecakes for at least an hour.
- Once ready to serve, remove them from the paper liners, arrange them on a dish, and top each cheesecake with 1 teaspoon of warmed jam.