Holiday Special Dried Fruit and Nut Muffins | Egg and Sugar Free|Baking these no-soaking, rum-free, egg-free dry fruit and nut muffins is fun during Christmas. Made with whole wheat flour and jaggery syrup they are healthy as well as very delicious.
December is here and everyone is waiting for Christmas and New year celebrations and without a plum cake, it is never complete. This time, I bring a quick version of plum cake where no requirement of soaking dry fruits or making caramel syrup and also it is 100% alcohol free.
These eggless dry fruit and nut muffins have a chocolatey taste as we added cocoa powder in it. I have adopted this recipe from my last year Whole grain Christmas plum cake recipe that you liked very much. And I am sure this will not disappoint you as well.
Making these dry fruit and nut muffins are so easy and simple that even a beginner can make them.
Some other eggfree cakes and cupcake recipes you would like to try
Traditionally, for making a plum cake first, dried fruits are soaked in alcohol either rum or brandy for months before adding to the Christmas Fruit Cake or muffins. But for these eggless dry fruit cupcakes, I don’t use any alcohol or orange juice for soaking. I just add them directly to the muffin batter. This is the simplest method if someone forgets to soak dry fruits.
To keep the process simple, even, I didn’t use any lemon or orange zest. I use black and yellow raisins, dried cranberries, almonds, walnuts, and cashews for this quick Christmas fruit and nut muffin. But you can use any dry fruits or nuts of your choice. Coat the chopped nuts with dry flour before adding them to the muffin batter so that they don’t sink at the bottom.
These muffins are baked in just 20-22 minutes whereas, traditional plum cake takes a long time to bake(approximately 40-45 minutes)
Why do you try these muffins
- Simple ingredients and easy to prepare
- Moist with balanced flavours
- Alcohol free
- Egg free
- Sugar free
- Refined flour free
Let’s see what ingredients we need to make these mixed dry fruit muffins.
Ingredients required to make these Christmas fruit and nut muffins
Flour — although all-purpose flour gives a lighter and soft texture to cakes but to make them health friendly, I used whole wheat flour. That gives them a slightly denser and gooey texture due to their high gluten content.
Sugar — I have used jaggery syrup as a sweetener, but if you don’t have it, replace it with jaggery powder or other healthy alternatives of refined sugar.
Fat — melted unsalted butter is used. If you are using salted butter then skip salt from the recipe. It provides moisture and a buttery flavour to the muffins.
Cocoa powder– dark-coloured cocoa powder is used to give a chocolatey colour and flavour. You can skip it if you want.
Milk — Adds moisture and softness to the muffins.
Salt — A pinch of salt helps to balance sweetness and enhances the flavour of the muffins.
Baking powder and Baking soda — These are very important to bring the desired rise and make the muffins soft and airy.
Vanilla Essence — Vanilla essence gives a lovely flavour.
Spices — Cinnamon powder, cardamom powder, nutmeg powder and ginger powder are added to the cake to uplift its flavour.
Dried nuts and fruits — The star ingredient that provides magic to the texture of these muffins are almonds, cashews, walnuts, dried cranberries, and dried black and yellow raisins.
FAQs
Is eating dried fruit and nuts healthy?
Dried fruits and nuts are considered as super food due to their nutrient profiles. They are a good source of dietary fiber, potassium, protein and healthy fatty acid such as monounsaturated (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). But we should eat a handful of these in a day. Overeating may cause some digestive issues like gas, abdominal pain, bloating constipation or possibly diarrhea.
How to make these very tasty instant fruit n nut muffins, check the instructions below.
Step by step preparation of dry fruits and nuts muffin
Making of batter
1.First, add ½ tbsp vinegar in 1/3 cup of warm milk to make buttermilk. Mix and put it aside.
2. Now in a big bowl, add melted and cooled unsalted butter, jaggery syrup, vanilla essence, cinnamon powder, cardamom powder, nutmeg powder, ginger powder, milk powder, and buttermilk. Mix them well.
3. Add 1 tbsp dry flour to the chopped dry fruits and nuts and coat them well. Put them aside.
4. Put a strainer on the bowl, sieve whole wheat flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix them with wet ingredients.
5. Now add dry fruits and nuts, mix well all together.
6. Batter should be of thick consistency. If the batter is very thick, add 2-3 tbsp more milk to adjust the consistency of the batter.
7. Meanwhile, preheat oven at 180 degrees Celsius for about 10-15 minutes. Line a cupcake mould with paper cups.
8. Now pour 2-3 tbsp batter in each cupcake mould. Top them with some chopped nuts. Tap them two three times to remove any air bubbles.
Baking of muffins
9.Put the tray in the preheated oven and bake it for 22-25 minutes or till a inserted knife comes clean.
10. Once done, take them out, cool them on a wire rack and then serve.
11. They taste best the next day after baking.
Serving suggestions
Serve them as a dessert or snack with a cup of hot tea or milk. They are a great option for gifting purpose during holiday season.
Tips and tricks
- To replace jaggery syrup use 2/3 cup of jaggery powder or any other healthy alternatives of refined sugar.
- Coat dry fruits and nuts with dry flour before adding to batter helps in equal distribution in the batter during baking.
- Preheat oven at desired temperature before start baking.
- Use warm milk to make buttermilk.
- For best taste serve them a day after baking is done.
Recipe card
Holiday Special Dried Fruit and Nut Muffins | Egg and Sugar Free
Ingredients
For making buttermilk
- ⅓ cup milk
- ½ tbsp vinegar
For making muffin batter
- ¼ cup (55 ml )melted unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup (80ml) jaggery syrup
- ½ tsp vanilla
- 2 tbsp milk powder
- ½ tsp cinnmamon powder
- ¼ tsp ginger powder
- ¼ tsp cardamom powder
- ¼ tsp nutmeg powder
- 2-3 tbsp milk to adjust the consistency
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup 110 gm whole wheat flour
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
Instructions
Making of buttermilk
- First, add ½ tbsp vinegar in 1/3 cup of warm milk to make buttermilk. Mix and put it aside.
Making of batter
- Now in a big bowl add melted and cooled unsalted butter, jaggery syrup, vanilla essence, cinnamon powder, cardamom powder, nutmeg powder, ginger powder, milk powder, and buttermilk. Mix them well.
- Add 1 tbsp dry flour to the chopped dry fruits and nuts and coat them well. Put them aside.
- Put a strainer on the bowl, sieve whole wheat flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix them with wet ingredients.
- Now add dry fruits and nuts, mix well all together.
- Batter should be of thick consistency. If the batter is very thick, add 2-3 tbsp more milk to adjust the consistency of the batter.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven at 180 degrees Celsius for about 10-15 minutes. Line a cupcake mould with paper cups.
- Now pour 2-3 tbsp batter in each cupcake mould. Top them with some chopped nuts. Tap them two three times to remove any air bubbles.
Baking of muffins
- Put the tray in the preheated oven and bake it for 22-25 minutes or till a inserted knife comes clean.
- Once done, take them out, cool them on a wire rack and then serve.
- They taste best the next day after baking.
Video
Notes
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Try out this very yummy quick dry fruits and nuts muffin recipe at home. If you like the recipe share it with your friends and family and don’t forget to give us a 5 star rating. How it works for you, take a picture and tag it #healthicallykitchen on Instagram. Or, save it for later on Pinterest. I love to see them. Happy cooking!
easy , yummy and healthy 😋
Thank you!