Vegan Mincemeat Muffins

Light and delicious vegan mincemeat muffins made with whole wheat flour. They’re ever so quick to prepare and bake, so a useful recipe for when you’re in a hurry. They’re a great way to use up half a jar of leftover mincemeat too.

For a really quick bake, it’s hard to beat a muffin. I’ve already posted my recipe for leftover mincemeat buns, now I’m giving you my recipe for vegan mincemeat muffins.

As is so often the case with me, I found an old jar of mincemeat lurking at the back of the cupboard a couple of weeks ago. It definitely needed using up.

What Is Mincemeat?

Don’t be fooled by the name. Mincemeat is not the same as minced meat. It’s a mix of dried fruit, sugar, apple and spices and it’s usually used in the UK to make sweet pies around Christmastime. As well as the aforementioned ingredients, mincemeat often contains, alcohol, nuts and suet, although none of these are obligatory.

Back in the day, mincemeat did indeed include meat. In medieval times, it was a way of preserving mutton without salt or smoke. But tastes change and as sugar became cheaper so did mincemeat become sweeter. Eventually, at some point in the Victorian era, apples replaced meat, although beef suet was and still is used in many mincemeat recipes. Suet, in case you’re wondering, is kidney fat.

It’s easy to make your own mincemeat, though it does take a few days of soaking before you can use it. Once you’ve sealed it in jars, it will keep in a cupboard for at least a year. Once opened, store in the fridge and use within a couple of months.

I have two recipes for homemade mincemeat: chilli chocolate mincemeat and lemon and ginger mincemeat. As you can tell, I like to add chocolate to mine for extra interest and a surprise element. You don’t need it, nor do you need the chilli element in that first recipe.

Of course, it’s a lot easier and quicker to buy a jar of mincemeat. If you go down this route, try and get the best one you can. It will make a difference. Also make sure to read the label and check that it’s vegan friendly. Some mincemeat contains beef suet.

What To Do With A Jar Of Mincemeat?

Well apart from making these vegan mincemeat muffins, there are heaps of delicious edible delights you can make with a jar of mincemeat. I have several mincemeat recipes here on Tin and Thyme and I also have a fabulous post on all the mincemeat recipes you will ever need.

Vegan Mincemeat Muffins

As it was Veganuary, I had to make something vegan with the mincemeat I found. When I looked back at my mincemeat recipes, I realised I didn’t have a single vegan one amongst them. Another reason for using that jar.

The mincemeat itself is vegan, so no worries there. Sometimes I make it with vegetarian suet and sometimes I leave the fat out altogether. These days I tend to make it fat-free.

These vegan mincemeat muffins are incredibly easy to make. It takes ten minutes or less to prepare them and only twenty minutes for them to bake. Like most muffins, it’s a simple case of stirring the wet ingredients into the dry ones. Once you’ve done that, spoon the batter into muffin cases and bake. I told you it was easy.

The muffins are light in texture, studded with juicy spiced fruit and relatively healthy. This is partly down to the whole wheat flour. I use wholemeal spelt flour as that’s my favourite flour for cake baking. It helps to keep bakes light and it’s easy on the digestion.

How Long Do Vegan Mincemeat Muffins Keep?

For the best experience, eat the muffins warm from the oven. They are, however good keepers and will still taste good on day five if you keep them in an airtight container in a cool cupboard or room.

They go beautifully with a cup of tea or coffee. Or why not try them with mulled cider or wine for an easy festive treat instead of mince pies at Christmastime.

Vegan Mincemeat Muffins: Step-by-Step

Although the muffins are easy to make, I’ve broken the steps down for those that might find it useful.

Step 1. Turn On Oven

With many bakes, it’s too early to turn the oven on before you do anything else. But these vegan mincemeat muffins are so quick to prepare, you need to turn the oven on as soon as possible.

Step 2. Sour The Milk

Muffins work best if you sour the milk first. It’s a bit like using buttermilk, except this is vegan.

Pour your chosen plant milk into a measuring jug. Add the vinegar, give a good stir and leave for five minutes to curdle whilst you get on with the rest.

It doesn’t really matter which plant milk you use. I tend to go with soy milk or cashew milk as that’s usually what I have in the fridge. Oat milk, almond milk or hemp milk are absolutely fine though. Having said that, I wouldn’t use hazelnut milk as that has a very distinctive taste.

Step 3. Whisk Dry Ingredients

Weigh out the dry ingredients first and place them in a large mixing bowl. Use a balloon whisk to mix the ingredients and remove any lumps in the flour.

Top Tip

If you’re baking powder or bicarbonate of soda are in any way lumpy, it’s a good idea to sieve them first. A whisk may not get rid of any small lumps.

Step 4. Mix Together

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the oil and soured milk. Use a large metal spoon to gently mix the wet ingredients into the dry. Go from the inside and work outwards until everything is just incorporated. You don’t want to over mix muffins as this could make them tough.

Stir in the mincemeat. Again, go as gently as you can.

Step 5. Bake Muffins

Line twelve muffin holes with paper cases. I use silicone muffin trays because that’s what I have, but tin ones are actually better if you’re using paper cases. Tin conducts heat well and distributes it more evenly.

Spoon the batter into the muffin cases, so that they’re more or less equal. The batter should fill about two thirds of the cases, which leaves plenty of room for the it to rise.

Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for about twenty minutes. The muffins should be well risen and firm to the touch. If they’re not, pop them back in the oven for a further two to three minutes.

As soon as you’ve removed them from the oven, turn them out onto a wire rack to cool.

Other Vegan Bakes You Might Like

• Amaretti
• Carrot cake with cashew icing
• Chocolate banana cashew cake
• Chocolate chip friands
• Citrus drizzle cake (lemon, lime or orange)
• Healthy pumpkin scones
• King cake
• Savoury muffins

Keep in Touch

Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this vegan mincemeat muffins, 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 more muffin recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.

Choclette x

Vegan Mincemeat Muffins. PIN IT.

Vegan Mincemeat Muffins – The Recipe

Sharing

I’m sharing this recipe for vegan mincemeat muffins with #CookBlogShare, which is hosted by Sew White this week.