Flavorful Tsoureki Muffins

26 Comments

Hello from Kouzounas Kitchen! I am actually writing you guys from my kitchen. 🙂

Greek Easter is around the corner, and I am super excited and ready! Are you? What is your favorite Greek Easter food? One of my favorites is tsoureki, sweet Greek Easter bread that is delicious packed with tons of flavors. We usually have tsoureki left over from Easter, so we make french toast with the left over bread. 😉

Okay guys, after testing out numerous recipes of tsoureki muffins, I finally mastered down the one I like. My family gave this recipe a million stars, and I hope you do too. I had to take my original recipe, and play with it to see what ingredients to add or take out to create these tasty muffins. Enjoy foodies!!

 

 

Flavorful Tsoureki Muffins

Servings: 12 

Notes~

Mahlepi is a Greek spice with a distinctive, fruity taste. The finely ground mahlepi powder is made from the inner kernels of cherry seeds. If you don’t have mahlepi or mastiha, try searching at a near by Greek international market, or Amazon. I included the links from Amazon here.

Mastiha is a Greek spice that is made from lentisk trees on the island of Chios. Mastiha is used in sweets and breads. Please click on the photos to take you to the Amazon store to purchase.

Flavorful Tsoureki Muffins

Ingredients:

  • 2  cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt (Pink Himalayan Salt)
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 tsp mastiha
  • 2 tsp orange zest
  • 1/2 tsp cardamom
  • 1 tsp mahlepi
  • 1 egg
  •  2 tsp vanilla flavoring
  • 1 cup almond milk or regular milk
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 3 tablespoons fresh orange juice

Nutella Glaze

  • 1/2 cup nutella
  • 2 tablespoons almond milk
  • 2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Method

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees, and grease a muffin pan.
  2. In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients. (Flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, mastiha, cardamom, and orange zest.)
  3. In a medium pot, add the milk, butter, and mahlepi. Whisk to combine over medium heat. Remove from heat, and let cool.
  4. Add the egg, vanilla, and orange juice to the milk mixture and combine. (I use my hands to mix the dough together.)
  5. Fill the muffin pan. You should be able to get 12 muffins out of this recipe, if not more.
  6. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool on wired rack before you ice the muffins.

~Icing~

  1. In a medium bowl, place the nutella in a bowl and heat for 20 seconds.
  2. Whisk in the almond milk, and powdered sugar.
  3. Drizzle the nutella icing over the top of the tsoureki muffins.

Kali Orexi

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26 Comments »

  3. I can taste these muffins! I know mahlepi as mahleb. Mastiha, however is something new for me. A crisp, cold Retsina comes to mind. Any flavor similarities between the two? And nutella – genius!
    Gina

    • Thank you very much!!!

      Yes mastiha ice cream is amazing, have you tried it?

      You’re very welcome. Yes if you do buy it, let me know what recipes you try. Its perfect in Greek breads.

      • Yes, I’ve tried the ice cream when I was in Greece and in Turkey. I had such lovely unique texture. I’m also a big fan of Retsina wine.
        I’ll check your blog for posts using it when I’ll get it. 🙂

      • Not sure if I’ve tried this specific brand, but if you recommend it I’ll look for it.
        I would love to go back to Greece as well. When I lived in Israel it was easy to go, even for a short vacation. Now from NY it’s not so simple…
        I’m sure you’ll be able to gather some wonderful recipes for your book when there. 🙂

      • You mean Mavrodaphne? It’s different from Retsina completely. Just one of my favorite sweet red wines. 🙂

        Oh you’re residing in New York? What part? I have some great friends from Israel who love the Greek culture. 🙂

        My BF is from Queens, NY. He moved to Athens when he was 15 and now lives here with me in CA. Yes we both miss Greece!!

        Yes the plan is to go back one day to work on my next project. Hey at least your flight is only about 9 hours? Here it is about 16 +.

      • Oh I didn’t realize it’s not a retsina type of wine. I’ll check it out anyway.
        I live and work in Brooklyn and even though it is indeed a shorter flight to Greece, it’s not as easy as it used to be when I lived in Israel.
        You’re very right, Israelis love the Greek food and Greek music. I especially love the life in the more remote and less touristic islands. It’s such a wonderful way of life… 🙂

      • Yes a Mavrodaphne is more of a dessert wine. It’s unique in its own way, and very tasty.

        Oh Brooklyn very cool. My godfather was from Albany. I know, Israel was a hop-skip and a jump away from Greece.

        I agree with you, the life on the islands is perfect.

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