panettone muffins on kitchen towel

Say you just moved six hours away from your old roost to a new one (with so much light! off the lake! and a weird creature that swims in it that we have yet to identify!). Say you’d recently gone a few days without shaving your legs or painting your nails (this is real talk. Let’s go with it).

Say you’ve eaten way too many Thanksgiving leftovers and mini chocolates with almonds and toffee in them that your mom-in-law gifted you that you love but also curse while you run on the treadmill (read: Motivation) (also read: I ran. On a treadmill. #bignews). Say you feel like you just rolled yourself out of bed after a long winter’s vacation snooze and suddenly realized it’s Christmas in less than a month and you’ve got a looooooot of shopping to do. Say you’re kind of freaking out.

I know how you feel. And the remedy is muffins. And mayhaps a good ol’ nail-painting sesh.

placing panettone muffins on baking sheet

Besides Christmas music and twinkle lights and hot cocoa and the sound of sleigh bells, panettone reminds me of the holidays. The sweet smell of citrus and vanilla baking in the oven puts a spring in my step. And while I’ve made and adore the yeast-based version (the photos, ooph), this quick bread variation is not only easier, fluffier and more moist, it’s also cuter and very giftable — high priorities in my book. And for those of us in precarious oh-my-goodness-what-gifts-do-I-buy-everyone-this-year situations, it’s also a relief. Just one muffin wrapped up in a bag with a bow and a note on top and yada, yada, yada, Merry Christmas. May you and your tummy be filled with joy this holiday season. Or something like that.

baked panettone muffins on baking sheet

Among the many wonders that make up this recipe is the fact that it’s highly adaptable. You can put in just about any dried fruit that you fancy, from pineapple to peaches, and you can substitute apple juice or rum (!!) for the orange juice for a different flavor. You can also swap out the lemon zest for orange zest and top the muffins with coarse sanding sugar instead of regular for a more festive look. And while I love baking these muffins in these adorable paper mini panettone molds, you can also bake them in a regular muffin tin. And if that’s not enough incentive to get you in the gift-making mood, these take less than an hour to bake up and eat — which means you can easily make a double batch and save some for yourself. It’s a surefire way to get into the holiday spirit.

panettone muffin inside

Panettone Muffins
Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour

Yields: 12 muffins

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups diced dried fruit (I used raisins, cranberries, apples, plums, apricots and peaches)
1/4 cup orange juice
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2/3 cup granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2/3 cup milk

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine dried fruit and orange juice. Cover and let sit in refrigerator overnight. The next morning, remove from fridge and let come to room temperature before proceeding with the recipe.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin (or 12 paper mini panettone molds set on a baking sheet) and set aside.

In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter, oil and sugar until smooth. Add eggs and stir to combine. Stir in lemon zest and vanilla.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together baking powder, salt and flour. Stir into butter mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Fold in fruit mixture.

Spoon batter evenly into prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle tops with sugar, if desired. Bake muffins 18-20 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove from oven and cool 5 minutes in muffin tin, then remove from tin and cool completely on a cooling rack (if using panettone molds, remove muffins from baking sheet to cool completely).

icon

Stephanie Wise

Stephanie Wise is the founder and creator of Girl Versus Dough. She started sharing her bread baking adventures and recipes in 2009. Her love of bread only deepened as her skills and knowledge expanded. What began as a place to try others recipes quickly became a collection of her own creations!

You May Also Like

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

25 Comments

  1. Lily Chiu says:

    May I know the exact size of your paper molds? And how much should I put in to let them grows?

    1. Stephanie says:

      Lily, To be honest it’s been a long time since I’ve made these, but I know the molds can fit into a standard muffin tin. Hope that helps!

      1. Lily chiu says:

        Yes, thanks!! 🙂

  2. Diana says:

    OH MY GOODNESS!! This may sound totally crazy BUT I am trying my best to impress a 82 year Italian lady 🙂 ( which is sometimes hard to do 🙂 )She loves my baking BUT I am a Canadian from Newfoundland.. I have never in my life attempted something as delicate as Panettone .. I have seen some scary recipes where it is a HUGE Bread and then Viola !! Here you are , I am soooooooo happy that I found a recipe that says it can be made in a muffin tin .and no Yeast included 🙂 I have purchased the flower paper muffin liners from the dollar store 🙂 So gonna try this recipe TODAY hopefulyl!! My question is .. DO these freeze well? Also if I wanted to post a photo of the final product how do I go about it?
    Please and Thank You

    Merry Christmas

    1. Stephanie says:

      Diana, Thank you so much! Merry Christmas!

      1. Diana says:

        Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours!!

        I wanted to say that The Panettone Muffins turned out absolutely perfect!!! My boy friends mother ate all but 2 🙂 and that was only because she gave 2 to her daughter to try.. I made 6 without Raisins and Currants and 6 plain 🙂 I even made some for a little get together the other day as well… HIT HIT HIT!!!

        I would recommend these little wonders to anyone out there wanting to make a Panettone without having to wait forever and everyone loved that fact that they were individual Panettone 🙂

        Thanks again .. Recipe has been saved and will be used over and over again 🙂 🙂

      2. Diana says:

        I meant to say 6 with Raisins and Currants and 6 Plain 🙂 Oops