Don't have time to make a Christmas cake this year? These easy Christmas cake muffins are a quick and tasty alternative to traditional Christmas cake, and best of all, they're ready in under 30 minutes!
Perfect for festive bake sales, parties, and Boxing Day buffets. You might also like my chocolate orange muffins!
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The fruit cake muffins have all of the festive flavours of a rich fruit Christmas cake, without any of the hassle! They're also freezer-friendly.
👩🍳 Love Christmas baking? Try my easy mincemeat crumble slices next.
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✔️ Why you'll love this recipe!
- Mini Christmas cakes in muffin tins.
- Light and fluffy texture.
- Festive flavours.
- Good use for leftover mincemeat.
- Freezer-friendly.
🛒 Ingredient notes
Plain Flour - use white or wholemeal plain flour.
Light Brown Sugar - or substitute for golden caster sugar.
Bicarbonate of Soda - the raising agent that helps the muffins rise.
Spices - ground cinnamon and mixed spice.
Orange - the zest gives these muffins an extra fruity flavour.
Natural Yogurt - plain natural yogurt, or Greek yogurt.
Eggs - two large eggs at room temperature.
Butter - unsalted butter which has been melted in the microwave and cooled.
Mincemeat - homemade or shop-bought. This is a great recipe for using up those half-empty jars from last year's stash!
Dried Fruit - currants, raisins, sultanas, or dried cranberries can be used.
Demerara Sugar - for a sweet crunchy topping.
🔪 How to make mini Christmas cake muffins
The recipe card with ingredient quantities and detailed instructions can be found at the bottom of the post
One: Place the dry ingredients (plain flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda, mixed spice, cinnamon, and orange zest) into a large mixing bowl.
Two: Whisk together the cooled melted butter, eggs, and yogurt then pour the mixture into the dry ingredients and gently fold in.
Three: Fold in the mincemeat and dried fruit.
Four: Equally distribute the muffin batter between 12 muffin cases in a muffin tin, sprinkle over the demerara sugar, and bake for 16-18 minutes until golden brown and risen.
Top Tips
- Make sure the ingredients are at room temperature before starting the recipe. The melted butter needs to be allowed to cool, before adding it to the wet ingredients.
- Try not to over-mix the muffin batter. Over-mixing will result in tough, chewy muffins. Gently fold in the ingredients, and don't worry if the batter is still a bit lumpy.
- For a high domed muffin, preheat the oven to 20 degrees ABOVE the specified temperature in the recipe card. As soon as you put the muffins in the oven, turn it back down. The high heat will help the raising agent to start working.
🍴 Serving suggestions
Serve the Christmas cake muffins at festive buffets with air fryer sausage rolls, cranberry and white chocolate blondies, and Christmas star biscuits.
The muffins also make an easy dessert served warm with creamy custard or brandy butter.
📖 Variations
- Add a handful of chopped nuts to the muffin batter. Walnuts and pecan nuts work well.
- Mix in a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg.
- Add chocolate chips or replace some of the flour with cocoa powder.
- Use a brandy-soaked mincemeat for a richer flavour.
- Drizzle the muffins with a simple white icing made with icing sugar and water.
- Decorate with nuts and glace cherries.
🥡 Storage
Store - Once cooled, place the muffins in an airtight container or cake tin. They will keep fresh for up to 3 days. Muffins are best eaten on the day they are made though.
Freeze - The Christmas muffins can be frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature before serving.
❓ Frequently asked questions
Make sure all of the ingredients are at room temperature before using them, particularly the eggs. Then, make sure your raising agent is evenly distributed through the dry ingredients before adding the wet ingredients. It's also important to allow the melted butter to cool slightly before adding it to the other wet ingredients.
Tough muffins result from over-mixing the muffin batter. Mix the dry and wet ingredients separately first before mixing them together. Be gentle and it doesn't matter if the batter is a bit lumpy. Gently fold in additional ingredients like fruit, chocolate chips, and nuts.
I haven't tried a vegan version of this recipe but you could try substituting the butter and yogurt with dairy-free alternatives and replacing the eggs with apple sauce or flax egg.
😋 More Christmas bakes
- Mincemeat Muffins
- Christmas Fairy Cakes
- Stollen Muffins
- Puff Pastry Mince Pies
- Puff Pastry Mincemeat Pinwheels
- Mincemeat Blondies
- Chocolate Orange Cookie Bars
- Mincemeat Crumble Slices
- Chocolate Orange Brownies
- Christmas Star Biscuits
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Recipe
Easy Christmas Cake Muffins
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We'll email you this post for easy access later! You'll also join the Effortless Foodie mailing list and receive my popular 'No Bake Bars and Slices' eBook for free!
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Equipment
- Wooden Spoon
- 12 Hole Muffin Tin
Ingredients
- 200 g Plain Flour
- 140 g Light Brown Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda
- 1 teaspoon Mixed Spice
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1 Orange zest only
- 100 ml Natural Yogurt
- 2 Eggs large
- 140 g Butter melted and cooled
- 150 g Mincemeat
- 50 g Dried Fruit
- 2 tablespoon Demerara Sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (170 fan/ Gas 5/ 375F) and line a 12 hole muffin tin with 12 muffin cases.
- Place the dry ingredients (plain flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda, mixed spice, cinnamon, and orange zest) into a large mixing bowl.200 g Plain Flour, 140 g Light Brown Sugar, 1 teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda, 1 teaspoon Mixed Spice, 1 teaspoon Cinnamon, 1 Orange
- Whisk together the cooled melted butter, eggs, and yogurt then pour the mixture into the dry ingredients and gently fold in.100 ml Natural Yogurt, 2 Eggs, 140 g Butter
- Fold in the mincemeat and dried fruit.150 g Mincemeat, 50 g Dried Fruit
- Equally distribute the muffin batter between 12 muffin cases in a muffin tin, sprinkle over the demerara sugar, and bake for 16-18 minutes until golden brown and risen.2 tablespoon Demerara Sugar
Notes
- Make sure the ingredients are at room temperature before starting the recipe. The melted butter needs to be allowed to cool, before adding it to the wet ingredients.
- Try not to over-mix the muffin batter. Over-mixing will result in tough, chewy muffins. Gently fold in the ingredients, and don't worry if the batter is still a bit lumpy!
- For a high domed muffin, preheat the oven to 20 degrees ABOVE the specified temperature in the recipe card. As soon as you put the muffins in the oven, turn it back down. The high heat will help the raising agent to start working.
- Add a handful of chopped nuts to the muffin batter. Walnuts and pecan nuts work well.
- Mix in a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg.
- Add chocolate chips or replace some of the flour with cocoa powder.
- Use a brandy-soaked mincemeat for a richer flavour.
- Drizzle the muffins with a simple white icing made with icing sugar and water.
Dannii
What a great alternative to Christmas muffins. These look delicious.
Amanda Wren-Grimwood
Christmas cake can be so heavy, so this is a great idea to get the flavour without all the work. Great for Christmas parties too.
Mahy
I just love that you make them so cute! The instructions seem easy to follow, so I am in!
Gina Abernathy
I love this idea of muffins instead of a cake. The orange zest gives it just the right amount of flavor.
Tara
You had me at ready in under 30 minutes! Such fantastic muffins for the holiday season. I love those warming spices.
Sarah Caldwell
Hello Beth, I don’t normally have yogurt in the house, however always have buttermilk. Could this be substituted.
Thank you
Beth Sachs
Hi Sarah, Buttermilk acts similarly to natural yogurt, but is quite a lot thinner than yogurt, so when using buttermilk in place of yogurt, it's best to reduce the amount by about one-third.