Mincemeat Muffins

My favourite time of the year always includes making these mincemeat muffins on repeat! They are so easy to make, no mixer needed, and filled with wholesome ingredients like whole wheat flour and wheat bran. The mincemeat provides a perfectly spiced flavour with bursts of fruit in every bite! The perfect Christmas morning muffin recipe!

They fill the kitchen with a wonderfully nostalgic, subtly spiced aroma that makes the whole house feel festive. Fresh from the oven they are wonderfully soft, lightly sweet, and just the treat with a cup of coffee on a cold morning. In fact, I make these well into January just for that reason!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

They are quick to make, beginner-friendly, and are a delicious change from mincemeat tarts. They’re freezer friendly and not overly sweet thanks to the whole grains. Another wholesome beginner friendly muffin recipe you’ll want to try are these no-fail bran muffins!

Ingredients You Will Need

• whole wheat flour
• unbleached all purpose flour
• wheat bran
• baking powder and baking soda
• salt
• eggs
• brown sugar
• vegetable or light olive oil
• milk
• jarred mincemeat

What is Mincemeat

Despite the name, there is no meat in modern mincemeat. It’s a delicious blend of sugar, finely chopped apples, candied fruit and raisins or currents. The Robertsons Classic mincemeat that I use also has a blend of sweet and savoury spices including cinnamon, coriander, dill, fennel, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and cassia. It also contains vegetable suet for a fat content.

Mincemeat gets its’ name as it did at one time contain meat along with the suet, dried fruits and alcohol spirits and spices, however nowadays it is rare to find meat in commercially prepared mincemeat. You can also make mincemeat from scratch if you are so inclined.

How to Make Mincemeat Muffins

Add flours, wheat bran, baking soda, baking powder and salt to a large mixing bowl and whisk until well combined.

Beat two eggs in a medium mixing bowl. Add brown sugar, milk, oil and mincemeat and stir until well combined. Make a well in the centre of dry ingredients.

Pour wet ingredients into the well, and stir gently with a wooden spoon or spatula just until combined. Do not over mix! Using an ice cream scoop, divide batter evenly between 16 muffin tins, filling almost to the top.

Bake at 400 Fahrenheit for 5 minutes. Lower heat to 375 (do not open oven door) and continue baking for 13-15 minutes, until a tester comes out clean. Transfer pan to a cooling rack and cool for 10 minutes before removing from the muffin pans.

Serving Suggestions

• serve warm with whipped honey
• they make a lovely addition to a holiday brunch buffet
• delicious with tea or coffee
• tuck them in a gift basket for gift giving

Storing and Freezing

Freshly made muffins can be stored in an airtight container lined with paper towel for up to 3 days or wrapped well and placed in airtight freezer bags and frozen for up to 1 month for best flavour.

Tips and Variations

• do not over mix the batter as this may result in a dense muffin
• bring all ingredients to room temperature before beginning
• make them dairy free by using oat or soy milk in place of regular milk
• add additional fruit such as dried cranberries or chopped nuts to the batter
• sprinkle with course sugar before baking for a sweet crunch or dust with powdered sugar when cool

Festive muffins like these are right at home throughout the holidays. Other festive muffin options are these cherry chocolate chip muffins or morning glory muffins which are loaded with delicious fruit!

I hope you get a chance to try these muffins made with mincemeat. They’re a simple treat to be enjoyed during the hectic days of December, or tucked into a festive Christmas morning spread. If you do try them, please let me know by leaving a comment or a recipe rating as I’d love to hear what you think!