Easy Christmas Pudding Cruffins

What are Cruffins?

So what is a cruffin, you ask? Well, it’s a hybrid of a croissant and a muffin, and it’s absolutely delicious. Imagine a flaky, buttery pastry with a spiral shape, filled with your favorite cream, jam, or curd, and sprinkled with sugar. Now as Christmas is around the corner, we are going to give them a festive make over. A little drizzle of icing and holly sugar decorations on top, you now have Christmas pudding cruffins! They even have a secret Nutella filling inside!

You can make your own cruffins at home with some puff pastry or crescent roll dough, a muffin tin, and some creativity. They are one of my favourite pastries and I hope they become yours too. Let me know in the comments if you have tried cruffins before or if you have any questions. Happy baking!

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How do I make Cruffins?

There are two different ways to make cruffins. You can make the croissant dough from scratch or use pre made puff pastry. For this Christmas pudding cruffin recipe I used pre made puff pastry which is quick and easy to use.

Now I’m not sure how or when I realised I could make a cruffin look like a Christmas pudding, but I just knew it would work. Maybe drizzling icing and adding holly sugar decoration on top of anything makes things look like a Christmas pudding…hummm an experiment for another time I think.

Heres how to make these festive Christmas pudding cruffins

• Remove the sheets of puff pastry from the fridge.
• Soften the butter to it is a spreadable consistency, not melted.
• Mix it together with the brown sugar and cinnamon.
• Spread half the butter sugar mix all over the1st puff pastry sheet.
• Roll it into a log shape, so it resembles a Swiss roll.
• Using a pizza cutter, cut the log in half to create two shorter logs.
• Using the pizza cutter, cut the two logs down the middle to expose the layers inside. (see video for reference) Now you should have 4 pieces to roll into cruffins.
• To roll the puff pastry into cruffin shapes, make sure the layers with the sugar are faced up, then roll into a rose shape. Tuck the end securely underneath to stopped it from popping out during baking.
• You should have 4 rose shaped cruffins. Place them into a cupcake tin and bake for 20-25min at 200c. They should be golden brown and cooked on the inside. Do not let them burn.
• Repeat this process with the second sheet of puff pastry. In total you should have 8 cruffins.
• Remove the cruffins from the baking tin whilst warm, then roll in cinnamon sugar.

Scroll down to get the full recipe and method…

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Tip for making the perfect Cruffin?

1. Use store-bought puff pastry to save time and effort.
2. Do not let the puff pastry become too soft otherwise it will be hard to roll and keep its shape.
3. Bake the cruffins in a preheated oven at 200c for 20-25 minutes, or until golden and puffy.
4. Once you have rolled the cruffins into rose shapes, make sure to tuck the end of the cruffin underneath. If you do not do this it can pop out during baking and you will not have a neat cruffin shape.
5. Enjoy your cruffins warm or at room temperature. You can also dust them with cinnamon sugar which makes them taste like cinnamon rolls!
6. When you make the icing for the top, make sure the consistency is thick enough that it does not run all the way down the cruffin. if your icing is too runny and more icing, if it’s too thick add more water.
7. If you can’t get pre made sugar holly decorations, you can make your own using green and red fondant and buy a holly shaped cutter online.

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How do you fill a Cruffin with Nutella?

It’s easy to fill the a cruffin with Nutella, all you need is a piping bag!

1. I used a metal straw to make a hole in the top, then moved it around inside to make space for the Nutella filling.
2. Remember to not cut off the tip of the piping bag before you add the Nutella so it doesn’t run out. Cut the tip off once you have prepared all the cruffins with holes, then start piping.
3. Start piping the Nutella into the bottom of the hole, squeeze and pull up until you get to the top. That’s it!

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If you like this festive recipe check out these ones…

• Edible brownie pine cones
• Black Forest chocolate fudge cake

Scroll down to get the full recipe…

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Print

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 4.5/5

( 4 voted )

Ingredients

Cruffins

• 2 sheets puff pastry ( makes 8 cruffins)

Cinnamon sugar filling

• 4 tbsp butter
• 3/4 cup / 100g brown sugar
• 1 tbsp cinnamon

Cinnamon sugar for dusting

• 5 tbsp caster/granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp cinnamon

Nutella 

• 1/2 cup Nutella

Icing sugar & holly sugar decorations

• 3 tbsp water or milk
• 10 tbsp icing sugar
• 16 holly sugar decorations

 

Instructions

Cruffins

1. Remove the sheets of puff pastry from the fridge.
2. Soften the butter to it is a spreadable consistency, not melted.
3. Mix it together with the brown sugar and cinnamon.
4. Spread half the butter sugar mix all over the1st puff pastry sheet.
5. Roll it into a log shape, so it resembles a Swiss roll.
6. Using a pizza cutter, cut the log in half to create two shorter logs.
7. Using the pizza cutter, cut the two logs down the middle to expose the layers inside. (see video for reference) Now you should have 4 pieces to roll into cruffins.
8. To roll the puff pastry into cruffin shapes, make sure the layers with the sugar are faced up, then roll into a rose shape. Tuck the end securely underneath to stopped it from popping out during baking.
9. You should have 4 rose shaped cruffins. Place them into a cupcake tin and bake for 30-35min at 190c. They should be golden brown and cooked on the inside. Do not let them burn.
10. Repeat this process with the second sheet of puff pastry. In total you should have 8 cruffins.
11. Remove the cruffins from the baking tin whilst warm, then roll in cinnamon sugar.

Nutella filling

1. Make a small hole in the middle of the cruffin using a metal straw or something similar. 
2. Add the Nutella into a piping bag, then pipe from the bottom of the all the way to the top of the hole.

Christmas pudding topping

1. Add the icing sugar and water into a bowl, mix until smooth. If the icing is too thick add a little water until it reaches the right consistency. Make sure it is not runny as you do not want the icing to run down the sides of the cruffin. 
2. Add the icing into a piping bag, pipe some of the icing over the Nutella that will be sticking out the top to cover it, then pipe the Christmas pudding icing shape.
3. Stick on the 2 holly sugar decorations and thats it!