Mince pie muffins
Mince pie muffins. Tradition is such a comforting thing around this time of year; the nostalgia and memories of our holiday routines but sometimes it’s fun to mix things up and this is where this festive mashup comes into its own.
Our family always made a fresh batch of mince pies on Christmas Eve, ready to leave out for Father Christmas which is something I wouldn’t want to change, but there are 12 days of Christmas after all and so plenty of opportunity for creativity. These mince pie muffins are definitely the classics’ sassier cousin who’s come to stay for the holidays. Love it.
These festive treats are filled with spice and mincemeat, covered in cinnamon sugar and topped with a vibrant clementine icing. Perfect eaten any time.
Festive mince pie muffins
Ingredients
For the muffins:
275g self-rising flour
8 tbsp mincemeat
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp mixed spice
½ tsp ground cinnamon
100g melted butter
¼ tsp salt
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
50g caster sugar
225ml milk
For the topping – granulated sugar, ground cinnamon, 80g melted butter and clementine icing
Clementine icing:
200g sifted icing sugar
zest of 2 clementines and juice of 1-2 (depending on the consistency of the final icing)
Makes 12 muffins
Method for mince pie muffins
Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C/Gas Mark 6.
Either line a muffin pan with cake cases or using additional butter than listed in the recipe, brush melted butter and dust with flour to ensure that your muffins come out easily.
Weigh out all of the muffin ingredients (apart from the additional sugar, butter and cinnamon for the coating once they are cooked).
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.
Using a medium ice cream scoop, portion out the muffin batter and bake in the middle of the oven for 15 minutes. The muffins will be lightly browned, springy to the touch and coming away from the edges when they are done.
Leave to cool for 5 minutes in the tin before taking the muffins out.
Dip each of the muffins into the melted butter and roll them in the granulated sugar and cinnamon and leave them to cool completely on a wire rack.
To make the icing, mix the sifted icing sugar with the zest and juice of the clementines. You are looking for a consistency of double cream. Add more icing sugar if you think it is too thin and add more clementine juice if you need to thin the icing down a bit.
Once cooled, top each muffin with the clementine icing and top with a little extra mincemeat. Enjoy.
Tips
Do not over mix your muffin batter, once the ingredients are combined, you’re done. Don’t worry about lumps either, a lumpy batter often makes the lightest muffins; what a baking paradox.
Make sure to dip your muffins into the butter and sugar when they are still warm, the sugar will stick better that way.
An ice cream scoop ensures that the muffins are an even size but of course you can scoop out the batter with spoons.
Want more simple recipe ideas like this one? Try my Apple pie muffins, I think you’ll really love them.
Looking for more festive baking suggestions? Have a go at Quality Street chocolate cupcakes or my Chocolate brazil nut cookies, they’re both real crowd pleasers.
On the look out for Christmas crafting ideas? There are some amazing sellers on Etsy that offer a range of craft kits this time of year. Something fun for everyone to do in the holidays.