Baking for Beginners: Churros Muffins

*Smug Face* I spent Christmas and New Year in Spain. A very sunny bit of Spain. I KNOW, I KNOW, you're all enjoying the snow, WHATEVER. Don't snow on my smug.

My favourite Spanish treat is the delectable churro. A treat which I enjoyed every morning for two whole weeks. Deep-fried, sugar-coated batter can never be a bad thing, agreed? EXCEPT... it can. Let me tell you a secret. I am a very clumsy cook. I've long since resigned myself to the ever-sprawling map of scars that used to be my hands (although I do sometimes find myself sobbing, "I'll never be a hand model now!"). In fact, I quite like my culinary battle scars. They're like memories. Oh look, there's the one I got pitting an avocado with a Swiss Army Knife in the grounds of the Palace of Versailles. Here's a handy (BOOM BOOM) reminder of making soup with my new blender-on-a-stick at university. And what's that there? Ah, yes - the Dalek biscuits that never were.

So, much as I love churros, I can't make them myself. Deep-frying is banned in my home. I'd be typing this with my elbows if it wasn't. If you're less of a catastrophic cook than I am, Sel's got traditional churros covered. But if you'd like the taste of churros without the trip to A&E, these muffins are just what the doctor ordered.

I had the bright idea for these on the plane on the way home, but a quick Google (not in the air, I'm not Alec Baldwin) proved I was not alone in this desire for a muffin that tastes like churros. I used Drizzle of Sunshine's recipe as a jumping-off point, although I've fiddled with some of the quantities - mainly because I'm a cinnamon fiend!

Churros Muffins (makes 24 mini muffins)

You'll need:

For the muffins:

• 75g unsalted butter, melted
• 100g granulated sugar
• 190g plain flour
• 120ml whole milk
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon

For the topping:

• 100g granulated sugar
• 110g unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon 

Make it!

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. 
2. Grease a muffin tray - I made mini muffins, but whatever you've got lying around is fine.
3. Sift together all the dry ingredients, then add the wet ingredients and stir. You don't want a smooth batter here - there will be lumpy bits!
4. Pour the mixture into your muffin tray, nearly filling each hole to the brim.
5. Bake for about 20-25 minutes for small muffins, longer if you've super-sized them. Use a skewer to test the centres if you're not sure - it'll come out clean when they're cooked through.
6. A couple of minutes before the muffins are ready to come out of the oven, melt the remaining butter in a saucepan. In a separate bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon. This is your churros muffin production line.
7. Whip out your muffins (don't snigger), and while they're still oven-hot, remove them from the tray (I know: it's against everything we ever learned about baking). Dip each one in butter, coating all available muffin surfaces, and then immediately roll them around in the sugar-cinnamon goodness. Don't put your fingers in the hot butter! Guess what? I did! USE A SPOON, YOU EEJIT. 
8. Eat them all quickly while they're warm.