It’s a muffin made with puff pastry, or a raspberry toaster strudel rolled up into a muffin shape. These homemade raspberry cruffins look straight out of a bakery, but they’re actually so easy to make. With the easiest homemade rough puff pastry, these come together in no time. Make a quick raspberry jam using fresh or frozen raspberries, spread it on the puff pastry, slice and roll, then bake them in a muffin tin. The finished product is a crispy, flaky, crunchy bread filled with a rich raspberry jam.
What Are Cruffins Made Of?
A cruffin is a cross between a muffin and a croissant. You can roll flaky pastry dough up into an almost cinnamon roll shape and bake it in a muffin tin. The pastry will puff up into a muffin shape that’s crispy on the outside and flaky yet bready on the inside. This recipe requires no lamination; we’re using homemade rough puff pastry instead, which is super easy to make with just water, butter, and flour. You could also use store-bought puff pastry.
What Is Toaster Strudel Filling Made Of?
These cruffins are based on my favorite toaster strudel: raspberry. The filling is made of fresh or frozen raspberries combined with sugar, salt, and lemon juice, and reduced down until thick and jammy. It couldn’t be easier.
Bake Notes
- The cruffin recipe comes together pretty quickly, but you’ll have to have puff pastry dough ready to go, which takes a few hours of chilling time. Don’t freak out; it literally is so easy and so worth it to make your own: try my easy homemade rough puff pastry recipe. In a pinch, store-bought puff pastry will do just fine. Make sure it’s thawed (not frozen) but cold (thaw it in the fridge, not on the counter).
- Raspberry jam is easy to make quickly because raspberries have natural pectin, which helps jam thicken and set. Strawberry is another easy jam that thickens well without added pectin, so you could try that too.
Homemade Raspberry Toaster Strudel Muffins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 6–8 servings 1x
Description
Based on my favorite toaster strudel, these croissant muffins (cruffins) are made of puff pastry filled with homemade raspberry jam.
Ingredients
- 1 sheet homemade rough puff pastry (see Bake Notes for recipe) or store-bought puff pastry, thawed but chilled
- 2 cups frozen or fresh raspberries
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- Pinch of salt
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Add the raspberries, sugar, and lemon juice to a saucepan. Use a fork to mash the raspberries. Turn the heat to medium-low and cook the raspberries until they release their juices and then thicken into a jammy consistency (7-10 minutes). The mixture will go from runny to thick. When you run a spatula down the middle of the bottom of the pan, the two sides of jam should stay separated rather than coming back together; that’s when it’s thick enough.
- Remove the jam from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Set aside to cool completely.
- If using homemade rough puff: Preheat the oven to 425 F. If using store-bought puff pastry: Preheat the oven to 400 F.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the pastry into a rectangle that’s about 1/8-inch thick.
- Spread the raspberry jam on top of the entire surface of the pastry.
- Slice the rectangle lengthwise into 1-inch strips; it should be around 6-8 to a sheet.
- Roll each slice up as if you were rolling a cinnamon roll.
- Place the rolls into a cupcake tin, with one spiral side facing up (the other facing down). Skip every other muffin slot in the pan so that no two cruffins are directly next to each other. Sometimes, butter melts out of the puff pastry, so it will pool into one of the empty cupcake cups.
- Place the muffin tray with the cruffins in the freezer for 7 minutes.
- If using homemade rough puff: Bake the cruffins for 20-25 minutes, until they are just golden brown. Check on them frequently after 15 minutes to ensure they don’t burn. If using store-bought puff pastry: Bake the cruffins for 20-30 minutes. Check on them frequently after 15 minutes to ensure they don’t burn.
- In a wide bowl or plate, mix together 3 tbsp of sugar and cinnamon.
- When the cruffins are done, let cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove to a wire rack.
- While still slightly warm, roll each cruffin in the cinnamon sugar.
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
What is the lemon juice and vanilla extract used for?
Hi Michael! The lemon juice and vanilla extract are ingredients for the jam; the lemon adds acid to complement the sweetness of the sugar and raspberries, and it also has pectin, which helps the jam “set, or reach the ideal texture. The vanilla is for flavor. To be honest, you could make this without either ingredient, and the jam would still turn out!
Am I crazy or do the instructions not mention the lemon juice or vanilla?
Hi Mike,
You are not crazy! The instructions were missing the steps to add the vanilla and lemon juice. Thanks for letting me know; I’m new to this whole food blogging thing. The post has been updated.