Fancy making homemade Christmas cake but don’t have the time? Make my Easy Christmas Cake Muffins instead! These cute mini Christmas cakes have all the flavours of a traditional Christmas cake but take just 45 minutes from start to finish. As a bonus they are gluten free, nut free, alcohol free and can easily be made dairy free too – making them perfect for taking to events or feeding to children.
Last year I shared with you my Easy Peasy Christmas Cake – a family recipe that is very easy and totally delicious…but, though it is easy – for a Christmas cake at least, it is quite time consuming.
I wanted to come up with a recipe that was even easier to make AND could be made quickly…and so began the idea of Christmas Cake Muffins – all the delicious flavour of a classic Christmas cake but without the long cook time.
So I looked at my traditional Christmas cake recipe and tried to simplify things a little further, then, instead of baking as a large cake, I divided the mixture into 12 muffin cases – meaning these cute mini Christmas cakes take just 30 minutes in the oven (compared to the usual 3 hours or more of traditional cakes).
But I decided to take these Easy Christmas Cake Muffins one step further and make them free-from friendly too. This Christmas I have been challenged by my friends in the Free From Gang to create recipes for a #FreeFromChristmas…free from at least one of the top 14 allergens.
By carefully adapting my traditional Christmas cake recipe I have made these Christmas Cake Muffins nut free and gluten free (using Vicki from the Free From Fairy’s amazing gluten and rice free self raising flour) …I have also made these muffins completely alcohol free, so they can be served to children (my little boy absolutely devoured these muffins after the photoshoot!) and those who don’t drink alcohol…and if you want to, you can make these dairy free too by using your favourite dairy free spread in place of the butter.
Not only are these muffins perfect if you or your family have to avoid gluten, nuts, alcohol or dairy, but it also means these Easy Christmas Cake Muffins are ideal for lunch boxes, bake sales and other events where certain ingredients are restricted (many schools are nut free these days, for example). They are also great if you are making a traditional Christmas cake, but perhaps some of your friends or relatives are following a free from diet – you can make a quick batch of these so no one misses out.
Of course if you like the look of this recipe but don’t need them to be free from, it’s the simplest thing in the world to adapt them. Simply swap the gluten free self-raising flour for regular self-raising flour, use your favourite tipple instead of the orange juice (sweet sherry works well) and swap 100g of the dried fruit for blanched almonds, if you want to make these nutty.
I like these Christmas muffins just as they are – undecorated, but if you want to decorate them, a drizzle of icing, made by mixing icing sugar with the juice of an orange would be lovely and you could top with some more glace cherries or any decoration of your choosing!
If you want more delicious free from recipes, do check out all the other #FreeFromChristmas recipes the Free From Gang are making this year. I’ve listed the recipes below my Easy Christmas Cake Muffins recipe and you can also follow the #FreeFromChristmas hashtag on social media.
Easy Christmas Cake Muffins (Gluten Free, Nut Free, Alcohol Free)
Ingredients
- 150 g butter or dairy free spread
- 150 g dark soft brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 200 g gluten free self-raising flour (I use Free From Fairy)
- 2 teaspoons mixed spice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 500 g mixed dried fruit
- 150 g glace cherries halved and rinsed to remove sticky coating
- Juice of 1 orange (roughly 75ml / ¼cup)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180C / 160C fan / gas mark 4 / 350F. Put 12 muffin cases in a muffin tin.
- Cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl until pale.
- Add the eggs in one at a time, stirring after each one.
- In a separate bowl mix together the flour and spices, mixed fruit and rinsed cherries.
- Slowly add the flour and dried fruit mixture to the butter/sugar/eggs mixture. Stirring thoroughly each time, to ensure even distribution of fruit.
- Add the orange juice and mix thoroughly.
- Divide the mixture evenly between the muffin cases (roughly 100g/3.5oz in each case).
- Cook in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Check with a skewer – if cooked the skewer should come out clean. If not give the muffins an extra couple of minutes and try again.
- Serve just as they are or with a simple icing made from icing sugar and orange juice.
Notes
Get More Easy Peasy Christmas Recipes here…
The #FreeFromChristmas Challenge
I have made these Easy Christmas Cake Muffins as my contribution to the Free From Gang’s #FreeFromChristmas challenge. For more delicious #FreeFromChristmas recipes check out the following blogs, or follow the #FreeFromChristmas and #FreeFromGang hashtags on social media!
Fabulous #FreeFromChristmas Recipes…
Christmas Biscuits (GF, DF, Ve) by Nathalie at Intolerant Gourmand
Clementine and Cranberry Wreath Bread (GF, NF, SyF) by Vicki at Free From Fairy
Vegan Mince Pies (GF, DF, Ve) by Eva at The Healthy Tart
Gluten Free Mini Christmas Cakes (GF, DF, NF, Ve) by Rebecca at Glutarama
Pork, Sage and Onion Stuffing Balls (GF, DF, EF, NF) by Eb at Easy Peasy Foodie
Protein Hot Chocolate with Orange (GF, DF, Ve) by Eva at The Healthy Tart
Dairy Free Homemade Bailey’s (GF, DF) by Rebecca at Glutarama
Traditional Christmas Cake (GF, DF) by Laura at Dairy Free Kids
Boozy Bailey’s Real Hot Chocolate (GF, NF, can be DF) by Kate at Gluten Free Alchemist
Pin Easy Christmas Cake Muffins for later
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Kate - Gluten Free Alchemist says
Love these Eb….. I’m not a huge lover of Christmas Cake, so mini bite sized versions would suit me fine! x
Eb Gargano says
These are PERFECT for that…this recipe only makes 12…so just enough to feel like you’ve had a taste of Christmas cake for the year, but not so much as you begin to feel obliged to eat it because it it STILL there at the end of February!! 😀 Eb x
Corina Blum says
These are gorgeous Eb! I love the idea of that simple orange glaze that you could top them with too. Thanks so much for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice x
Eb Gargano says
Thanks Corina! They are so delicious…and so quick and easy to make!! Eb x
Angela / Only Crumbs Remain says
These are fab Eb! I love making mini fruit cakes too as you say they bake in a trife of the time and are perfect for sharing with loved ones. I’m just in the process of deciding what fondant chracters & shapes to decorate our mini ones with!
Angela x
Angela / Only Crumbs Remain says
PS, thankyou so much for joining in with #BakingCrumbs Eb 😀
Eb Gargano says
A pleasure! So glad I could join in this month 😀 Eb x
Eb Gargano says
Exactly – I do love christmas cake, but it takes an awful long time in the oven – these mini ones can be done in a flash (problem is they are also gone in a flash…) Looking forward to seeing what your next fondant characters will be. Eb x
Midge @ Peachicks' Bakery says
How cute are these & would be a great idea for breakfast on the big day! Love that they are so adaptable to cater for lots of different dietary needs 🙂
Eb Gargano says
Thanks Midge – they are amazingly flexible…so perfect for all kinds of occasions. But I do like your idea of having them for Christmas breakfast 😀 Eb x
Kat (The Baking Explorer) says
These look yummy and so much easier than making a whole cake weeks in advance!
Eb Gargano says
Thanks – they are so quick and easy to make! Perfect if you are short of time 🙂 Eb x
Kirsty Hijacked By Twins says
We all love Christmas cake, I will admit that we have got one that is already started and a second one that is still maturing! These sound so good! Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare x
Eb Gargano says
TWO???!! Now that is just greedy! 😉 Though to be fair…I’ve made 36 this year…albeit they were these mini ones! And I have plans to make these again with the kids when they are off…there can never be too much Christmas cake!!!! 😀 Eb x
Eva @ The Healthy Tart says
These look gorgeous and so simple, sounds like a great alternative to Christmas cake, thanks for sharing the recipe. 🙂
Eb Gargano says
Thank you Eva – they really are so quick and simple to make! Eb x
Deborah says
Hi I’m an Almond meal user how would Almond sub in? Ratio? and Erythritol or Maple sub? & Olive oil not Butter ration as I love your Mini Xmas muffin idea PERFECTLY
Kind regards Deborah
Eb Gargano says
Hi Deborah, I’m so glad you like my recipe – I’m afraid I simply don’t know the answer to your question – I’d honestly just b guessing (or googling!) if I tried to answer it! My only suggestion would be to try and make the substitutions 1:1 and see what happens, then you’ll know what you need to adjust to make it perfect for you! Do let me know how you get on, if you try it. Eb 🙂
S says
How long do they keep for?
Eb Gargano says
About a week, but they are best in the first 3-4 days. However they can be frozen, if you want them to last longer. Eb 🙂