These cute Free From Christmas Cake Muffins have all the flavours of a traditional Christmas cake but are gluten free, nut free, dairy free and alcohol free too – making them perfect for taking to events or feeding to children. As a bonus they take just 45 minutes from start to finish!
This blog post contains affiliate links, this means if you click on a link and go on to buy the product I recommend, I will get a small commission, but you will not be charged a penny more – thanks in advance!
Christmas Cake – made free from!
By carefully adapting my traditional Christmas Cake recipe I have made these Christmas Cake Muffins gluten free, dairy free and nut free.
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.
Not only are these muffins perfect if you or your family have to avoid gluten, nuts, alcohol or dairy, but it also means these Free From Christmas 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.
How to make Free From Christmas Cake Muffins
These Christmas Cake Muffins are so easy to make…
All you need to do is beat together butter, sugar and eggs. Then, in a separate bowl mix together the flour, spices mixed fruit and glacé cherries. Add the flour and dried fruit mixture to the butter/sugar/eggs mixture, stirring thoroughly to ensure even distribution of fruit, then add the orange juice and mix thoroughly.
Finally, divide the mixture evenly between the muffin cases and bake for 30 minutes. Easy Peasy!
(Full recipe given in the recipe card below.)
How to decorate Christmas Cake Muffins
I prefer 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!
How do you make these muffins unfree-from?
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 regular butter in place of dairy free spread, 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.
What type of muffin cases should you use?
You can use regular muffin cases for these Christmas muffins, but I prefer to use these beautiful tulip muffin cases, which you can easily buy on Amazon.
Either way, ensure your muffin cases are 5cm at the base and at least 3.5cm tall – don’t use the tiny cupcake cases! (Well, you can, but you’ll make more of them and they will need less time in the oven.)
How to store Free From Christmas Cake Muffins
Simply store these Christmas Cake Muffins in an airtight cake tin.
How long do Free From Christmas Cake Muffins keep for?
In an airtight tin these muffins will last 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 (see below).
Can you freeze Free From Christmas Cake Muffins?
Amazingly yes! You can freeze Free From Christmas Cake Muffins. Put them in a plastic lidded container, or and airtight freezer bag, and place in the freezer, where they will keep for 3-6 months.
Defrost at room temperature and decorate as above.
I wouldn’t recommend freezing decorated Christmas Cake Muffins, however, as the icing does not fare well in the freezer!
Want more delicious Free From Christmas recipes?
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.
If you like this recipe…
…you might also like:
- Gluten Free Soda Bread (Dairy Free Option)
- No Buttermilk Soda Bread (Vegan & Dairy Free)
- Gluten Free and Dairy Free Brownies
- Pork, Sage & Onion Stuffing Balls (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free, Nut Free)
- Oat, Almond and Banana Pancakes with Frozen Berry Compote (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free, Vegan)
Free From Christmas Cake Muffins (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free, Alcohol Free)
Ingredients
- 150 g dairy free spread
- 150 g dark soft brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 200 g gluten free self-raising flour
- 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 dairy free spread 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 gluten free 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
- Suitable for freezing.
- Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
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
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Disclosure
This blog post contains affiliate links, this means if you click on a link and go on to buy the product I recommend, I will get a small commission, but you will not be charged a penny more – thanks in advance!
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