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Jun 29, 2025

Panettone Muffins

These panettone muffins take the flavors of panettone (an Italian celebration bread) to create a flavorful and easy muffin. 

Panettone Muffin cut in half on a small plate.


These muffins include the delicious flavors of panetton while taking only a couple of hours from start to finish (mostly for soaking the fruit), and with less than 30 minutes of hands-on time. 

Making an actual panettone, the Italian Christmas bread, can be quite a challenge. One recipe I've used involves a sourdough starter and a nine hour rise, and another recipe I've used involves making an overnight preferment. Both recipes produce wonderfully flavored and textured panettone loaves but involve a big time commitment. 

When you want the flavors of panettone without all of the fuss, make these muffins! 

Panettone Muffins in a basket.


Ingredients in these Panettone Muffins: 

Dried Fruit: I used dried blueberries, cranberries, cherries, and apricots. Other traditional additions can include candied orange, citron, and raisins. You can also add almonds along with the fruit. 

Rum and Apple Juice: For soaking the dried fruit. To prepare the fruit there are a couple of options. I soaked them in a combination of rum and apple juice overnight. To skip the overnight soak and use the mixture the same day, you can instead heat the fruit and liquid in the microwave. 

Butter and Vegetable Oil: Butter for flavor and oil for texture. This produces a pretty flavorful and fluffy muffin. 

Fiori di Sicilia: It's a flavoring often used in Italian baking, including in Tuscan coffee cake, Pandoro, Overnight Panettone, and biscotti. It's a combination of citrus, vanilla, and light floral flavors and a little bit goes a long way. Keep it in the refrigerator once you've opened it. If you don't have it, you can substitute orange oil or orange zest along with the vanilla. 

Sparkling Sugar: For topping the muffins. 

From the Pantry and Refrigerator: Eggs, milk, all purpose flour, granulated sugar, pure vanilla extract, baking powder, and salt. 

Panettone Muffins on a platter.

 

You can bake these muffins with or without paper liners. I baked the muffins without paper muffin tin liners and the muffins fell out of the tin without sticking. 

To Make These Muffins:

Once you've soaked the fruit, beat together the butter, oil, sugar, eggs, and flavorings in one bowl and whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in another bowl. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture in thirds, alternating with the milk, ending with the flour mixture. Fold in the fruit. 

Once you've scooped the batter into the muffin tin, sprinkle the tops with the sparkling sugar, and bake the muffins.  

A little taste of Italian celebration bread in muffin form! Oh, and they are really nice warmed... and buttered. 

Panettone Muffin tops.


Store these muffins in an airtight container for about three days. They can easily be rewarmed in the microwave for about 20 seconds. You can also individually wrap and freeze the muffins for up to 30 days. 


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More Muffin Monday Recipes! 


#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page. 


Panettone Muffins on a wooden cutting board.


Panettone Muffins

Panettone Muffins
Yield: 12 muffins
Author: Karen Kerr
Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 20 MinInactive time: 1 HourTotal time: 1 H & 50 M

These panettone muffins take the flavors of panettone (an Italian celebration bread) to create a flavorful and easy muffin. 

Ingredients

  • 225 grams (1 1/2 cups) dried fruit such as blueberries, cherries, cranberries, raisins, and apricots. Dice larger pieces.
  • 1/4 cup apple juice or rum, or a combination. I used half and half.
  • 57 grams (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 131 grams (2/3 cup) granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1/4 teaspoon fiori de Sicilia (or orange extract)
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 270 grams (2 1/4 cups) unbleached all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2/3 cup milk
  • 2 tablespoons sparkling sugar

Instructions

  1. Soak the fruit in the liquid, covered, overnight. Alternatively, heat the fruit and liquid in the microwave until hot and then let cool for about an hour or two.
  2. Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare a 12-cavity muffin tin with paper liners or by greasing the muffin cavities.
  3. In a medium bowl, beat the butter, oil, and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the fiori de Sicilia and the vanilla.
  4. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
  5. Stir 1/3 of the flour mixture into the egg mixture, stir in half of the milk, 1/3 of the flour mixture, 1/2 of the milk, and then the final third of the flour mixture.
  6. Add the fruit, including the liquid, to the batter and fold to combine.
  7. Fill the muffin cavities to almost full and sprinkle the tops with the sparkling sugar.
  8. Bake the muffins for 18 to 20 minutes, until a tester comes out clean.
  9. Let cool for a minute or two in the pan and then transfer the muffins to a wire rack.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

218

Fat (grams)

8 g

Sat. Fat (grams)

4 g

Carbs (grams)

32 g

Fiber (grams)

1 g

Net carbs

31 g

Sugar (grams)

14 g

Protein (grams)

4 g

Cholesterol (grams)

45 mg
panettone, muffins
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Recipe adapted from King Arthur Baking

Would you like to comment?

  1. What a great idea, Karen! The photo of the inside is perfection, just like a mini panettone.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ooohhhh yes, I did Susan's sourdough panettone with a sweet starter and it was absolutely amazing but SO MUCH WORK! This is a much easier option!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love your panettone muffins, need to try it, I will sourdough starter though thanks for sharing with me.

    ReplyDelete
  4. These take me right back to childhood and my grandmother and aunts baking panettone for the holidays. Love the sparkly sugar on top!

    ReplyDelete

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