I prepared this recipe the first time back in Lebanon when I was visiting my parents. If you are living in Lebanon then of course you know how bad the situation is down there, and how complicated the economic crisis the country is passing through is.
Unfortunately, it has had many bad effects on the life of the citizens, one of these is how hard it is to find some imported ingredients and if you do find them, they will be very expensive!
Panettone gets its name from “pan del ton” which means “cake of luxury” and nowadays in Lebanon baking or cooking with some imported ingredients unfortunately has become a “luxury”!
So, deciding to bake a panettone from scratch while I was in Lebanon probably was not one of my brightest ideas!
But Plato was so right when he said “Necessity is the mother of invention”
because this “invention” I am going to share with you today is one that was created from the lack of accessibility to ingredients but boy it was so good!
without further introductions, I Present for you my take on the traditional panettone Christmas bread but in a Lebanese way and in an easier smaller muffin size that is easy to work with and eat.
Those little panettone muffins are very easy to do with cheap simple ingredients you can find in any Lebanese house.
These little panettone muffins are:
Fluffy
Buttery
Warm
Perfect for this time of the year
Aromatic
Sweet
And with a very marvelous Lebanese taste that you will love!
So next time you are roasting some chestnuts make sure you save some to prepare this recipe the next day for breakfast or afternoon tea snack 😊
Don’t forget to check my Instagram highlights for the steps of making these cute bites under the same name!
Lebanese Panettone Muffins
Ingredients
For the candied chestnuts:
- ½ cup roasted chestnuts coarsely chopped.
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp water
For the starter: (see notes)
- ½ cup water
- 2 tsp active dry yeast
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
For the fruit marinate:
- ½ cup raisins
- ¼ cup orange peel cut into small cubes similar size of raisins
- 4 tbsp arak Lebanese alcohol drink
- 1 tbsp carob molasses
For the dough:
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Zest of 1 large orange
- 3 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 6 tbsp butter softened.
Oil for brushing the muffin tray.
1 egg mixed with 1 tbsp milk for brushing the muffins.
Instructions
The day before baking these muffins we need to prepare three thinks in advance.
For the candied chestnuts:
- Add the roasted chestnuts with the sugar and water to a small sauce pan and sauté for 5 min while stirring till the water is almost dry and the chestnuts are coated with the sugar, spread in a tray and let it cool for the next day .
For the starter: (check notes if you want to skip this step)
- combine all the starter ingredients cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rise overnight.
For the fruit marinate:
- Dissolve the molasses in the arak and add the raisins and orange peel to the mixture and let it soak overnight.
The next day when you are ready to bake:
- Whisk together the egg with the sugar and vanilla extract and the orange zest.
- Add the starter from the night before and mix.
- Then add gradually the flour with the salt and knead.
- Once combined add the butter and knead for 5 minutes until you have a sticky dough.
- Add the marinated fruit mix with the candied chestnuts to the dough and knead until well incorporated.
- The dough will be sticky but smoothly mixed. Brush a bowl with some oil and add the dough to it, brush than the top of the dough with some oil also cover and let it rise in a warm place until double in size (around 2 hours, depend on the weather and temperature of the house)
- Once the dough has rised , you can now divide it into small balls 10 to 12 equals balls depend n your muffin tray.
- Brush your muffin tray with some butter or oil and add the balls you formed cover and let it rest for 30 minutes in the tray.
- Preheat your oven on 180 C ◦
- Once the muffins has rised brush the top with the egg wash mixture and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until they are golden brown.
- Remove from oven and let it cool down a little before removing from the tray
- Serve warm with some milk or hot chocolate enjoy!
Notes
- For the starter: if you couldn’t find the active dry yeast or you find the starter didn’t activate the next morning, nothing to worry about you can substitute with instant dry yeast that you mix directly with the flour while making the dough at the same day just substitute the 2 tsp of active yeast with 2 ½ tsp of instant dry yeast.
- Arak: is a Levantine alcohol drink made from grapes and aniseed which give him a very special taste. It is commonly served with water and ice because of the high alcohol content but here we are using it in soaking the dry fruit instead of the rum traditionally used in panettone recipes.
- Carob molasses: same as the arak carob molasses is a Levantine molasses made with soaked carob pods. It has a very original taste that you won’t find in any other syrup but if you find it hard to find you can replace with just normal molasses or any sweet syrup of your liking.
- For serving: these muffins are kind of sweet bread you can enjoy warm with some milk or with some jam and cheese spread. or just coffee. O keep fresh store in airtight container at room temperature for up to one week and heat for 30 sec in microwave before eating to enjoy that warm fluffiness.