Leftover Mincemeat Buns: With Optional Banana

Do you ever have an annoying bit of mincemeat left in the bottom of the jar at Christmas? These leftover mincemeat buns provide a solution. They’re quick and easy to make and are really tasty too. In fact, many will argue they are nicer than mince pies.

Looking around my kitchen the other day (well more like the other week), two items caught my eye. An opened jar containing some chocolate mincemeat leftover from the mincemeat slices I’d made a few days earlier and one lost languishing banana which was about to expire. It was obvious there was no time to spare, I needed to use them quickly.

Leftover Mincemeat Buns

What could I do, but make some leftover banana and mincemeat buns. I based my recipe on some mincemeat buns I created a couple of years ago in order to thank our lovely neighbours who take in our parcels with monotonous regularity and never complain.

The banana is entirely optional. I’ve made it both with and without. Both are good. The deciding factor is if I have a banana lying around that needs using up. It may well be the same for you.

I also have a recipe for fig and mincemeat buns, but they were more to do with leftover cake mixture rather than leftover mincemeat.

The buns rise well and have a fabulous crumb structure. And more to the point, they’re very tasty. Even CT likes these and he is not a mincemeat fan.

If you want to pretty them up or make them look festive, sprinkle a little icing sugar over the top once they’ve cooled.

Vegan Mincemeat Buns

If you fancy vegan mincemeat buns, I have a recipe for that too. Only I’ve called that one vegan mincemeat muffins, because they’re made in a rather different way. What I’m trying to say is they are muffins, not buns, but also exceedingly good.

What’s The Difference Between A Bun And A Muffin?

A bun in UK parlance can be one of two things. It’s a small British cake made by creaming butter and sugar together. You then beat in some eggs, add flour and whatever additions you fancy. Dried fruit is quite common.

The other type of bun is a sweet yeasted one such as these Chelsea buns or these hot cross buns.

Muffins also refer to two different types of bakes here in the UK. There’s the American muffins which is a type of cake made by mixing wet ingredients into dry ingredients. They’re usually made with oil rather than butter and traditionally weren’t as sweet as buns. These days they tend to be sweeter.

English muffins, on the other hand are a type of soft bread roll. We like to enjoy them toasted and spread with butter and jam.

Other Bun Recipes You Might Like

• Apricot and vanilla buns
• Blueberry muffins (vegan)
• Henk’s chocolate nut cakes
• Stollen cakes
• Triple chocolate buns
• Wensleydale and cranberry chocolate muffins

Keep in Touch

Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make my leftover mincemeat buns, with or without the banana, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.

For more delicious and nutritious recipes follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard or Pinterest. And don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to my weekly newsletter. Or why not join the conversation in our Healthy Vegetarian Whole Food Recipes Facebook Group?

If you’d like other ideas for mincemeat recipes, take a look at my mincemeat tag. I have quite a few. I also have a post on all the mincemeat recipes you will ever need, which includes recipes from other food bloggers.

Choclette x

Leftover Mincemeat Buns. PIN IT.

Leftover Mincemeat Buns – The Recipe

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5 from 1 vote

Leftover Mincemeat Buns with Optional Banana

These buns provide a solution to any post-Christmas leftover mincemeat you might have. If you've got an over-ripe banana, throw that in too.

Cook ModeToggle to keep screen awake

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Course: Afternoon Tea, Snack

Cuisine: British

Keyword: banana, buns, cakes, mincemeat

Servings: 10 buns

Calories: 221kcal

Author: Choclette @ Tin and Thyme

Ingredients

• 125 g unsalted butter softened
• 125 g golden caster sugar (I used cardamom sugar)
• 2 large eggs (I used duck eggs)
• 1 banana (optional) – mashed
• 125 g flour (half wholemeal, half plain)
• ¾ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• 4 tbsp mincemeat (I used chocolate mincemeat)

Metric – US Customary

Instructions

• Cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy.
  125 g unsalted butter, 125 g golden caster sugar
• Break in the eggs, one by one, beating well between each egg.
  2 large eggs
• Beat in the mashed banana, if using, until well combined.
  1 banana
• Sift in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda, discarding any particularly large pieces of bran left in the sieve.
  125 g flour, ¾ tsp baking powder, ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• Stir in the mincemeat.
  4 tbsp mincemeat
• Spoon into 10 muffin cases, unless you add the banana. In which case spoon into 12 muffin cases.
• Bake at 180℃ (160℃ fan, 350℉, Gas 4) for 15 minutes until risen and golden.
• Place on a wire rack to cool. Sprinkle with a little icing sugar once cooled, if liked.

Notes

Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on serving size and exact ingredients used.

Nutrition Estimate

Calories: 221kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 60mg | Sodium: 87mg | Potassium: 56mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 360IU | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 1mg

Tried this recipe?Leave a comment below letting us know how you got on and do share a photo on Instagram. Tag @choclette8 or use hashtag #tinandthyme.

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Using up leftovers and homemade leftovers at that, as well as rescuing a banana from the compost heap gives these simple buns the necessary kudos to be entered into Credit Crunch Munch with Camilla of FabFood4All.

This month’s Family Foodies is all about getting something prepared fast – fast as in under 30 minutes. Well I reckon as long as your butter is soft and your ingredients handy, you could get these leftover mincemeat muffins prepared in ten minutes allowing them twenty minutes to bake. I’ve also managed to get a healthy banana in there as well as lots of dried fruit and dark chocolate. Hosted alternately by Bangers & Mash and Eat Your Veg.