Wednesday 1 December 2021

Orange and Mincemeat Muffins


Eep!  It's December already!  

No matter how many early Christmas posts I share December always catches me by surprise. Not that I don't love it, I do. I enjoy the lights, the music, Christmas movies, Christmas cards, time spent with friends, and - of course - the food. I'm just never entirely ready for it all, you know? Maybe it's because I'm usually working really hard at this time of year...Or maybe I'm just easily distracted.  lol!

One thing I did manage to get done ahead of time this year was some cooking. I've prepared a whole bunch of recipes as my Christmas gift for you. I'll be sharing one every weekday (Monday through Friday) from now until November 24.  This is the first one. 😊

I enjoy a good muffin. A muffin and a cup of coffee or tea ranks high on my list of small indulgences.  In fact, I could be considered the president of the muffin fan club. lol!

This orange and mincemeat muffin is all good things to me.  Because, muffins. And, Christmas flavours. And, comfort food. Yay! 

Here's the recipe:

  • 1-1/2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar (Adjust this to taste according to the sweetness of the mincemeat you're using. I tend to prefer the smaller amount.)
  • 1/3 cup oil
  • 1 cup mincemeat
  • The zest from one large navel orange
  • The juice from the orange together with enough milk to make 1/2 cup of liquid

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl and stir them gently with a whisk or fork.

Put the egg, sugar, oil, mincemeat, and orange zest into a large bowl. Stir until well combined.

Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture, along with the orange juice/milk mixture. Stir them together just until combined. The batter should be quite thick and slightly lumpy. It's okay if a little bit of flour is still showing here and there.

Spoon the batter into a prepared muffin pan (either greased or lined with baking cups), filling each cup about 3/4 full.

Bake the muffins in a 350F oven for about 25 minutes or until the tops spring back when lightly pressed with a finger.

Let the muffins cool in the pan for a few minutes, then transfer them to a rack. They're good either warm of cold. 

Orange and mincemeat muffins are delicious on their own, or with butter and marmalade. You could even serve them instead of scones at afternoon tea, or for dessert, with marmalade or lemon curd and a generous dollop of whipped cream.

Enjoy!


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do you have a recipe for mincemeat?

Aunt B said...

Hi,

Thanks for your question. For years I made mincemeat using the green tomato mincemeat recipe from "Putting Food By," by Ruth Hertzber, Janet Greene, and Beatrice Vaughan. I can't share the recipe because it would be a copyright violation but the book is still in print should you wish to buy it. The only change I made to the recipe was to open the jars I planned to use for my Christmas baking at least two weeks ahead of time, poke some holes into the mincemeat right down to the bottom of the jars, pour in as much bourbon as the jars would hold, put the lids back on, and put the jars in the fridge until I was ready to bake. When it was time to bake, I emptied all the jars I would be using into a big bowl and added enough cornstarch to thicken the extra liquid from the bourbon before spooning the mincemeat onto the pastry.

These days I have far fewer people to bake for so I just purchase a jar or two of good quality mincemeat from the store.