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If you’re not sure what to do with left over cranberry sauce, these Christmas Cranberry Muffins could be the answer.

They are so delicious, it’s worth making extra cranberry sauce, just to make sure you’ll have some left over.

Christmas Cranberry Muffins

This recipe will make 10-12 muffins and to keep things simple, I use a cup measure. The cup should hold approx 8 fl oz / 250 ml liquid.

Let’s get started:

Christmas Cranberry Muffins – Ingredients

• 2 cups self-raising flour
• Half cup raw sugar (or your usual sugar)
• 4 oz / 100 g butter (or your usual spread)
• 1 egg
• 1 cup of milk (I use soy)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence (optional)
• Left over cranberry sauce
• Spray oil for baking tray

Christmas Cranberry Muffins – Method

1. Mix together the flour and sugar in a bowl
2. In a separate bowl, gently melt the butter in the microwave
3. Add the egg, milk and vanilla essence to the melted butter and mix well
4. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mix and mix together
5. Spray muffin baking tray with oil
6. Spoon mixture into muffin tray
7. Add at least a heaped teaspoon of left-over cranberry sauce to each muffin and stir in, just a bit
8. Bake in a moderately hot oven for 12-15 minutes, until the muffins are just firm to the touch
9. Allow to cool in the tin for a couple of minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool a little
10. Best eaten while they are still warm

Christmas Cranberry Muffins - Uncooked

Christmas Cranberry Muffins - Cooling

Variations and Handy Hints

• If you’re a bit short of left-over cranberry sauce, don’t skimp on how much you put in each muffin – instead, use something else – something like chocolate chips or left over apple sauce
• For a scrumptious variation, add both chocolate chips and cranberry sauce – naughty but very nice
• These Christmas Cranberry Muffins will keep for a couple of days (unlikely in my house). You can reheat them in the microwave.
• They also freeze well and are perfect for the school lunch box

As you can see, it’s well worth making extra Cranberry Sauce.

Thanks for reading another Dinner in Ten Minutes Christmas recipe.  I look forward to reading your comments.

You can follow Dinner in Ten Minutes on Facebook.

Jan Littlehales

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If you’re looking for a delicious Christmas Cake recipe that’s quick and easy to prepare, then you’ve found it.  This Easy Christmas Cake Recipe is so simple and quick, you’ll wonder why you ever spent all those weeks chopping, soaking and stirring.

Easy Christmas Cake Recipe

Preparation time is around 10 minutes and it will serve 6-8 people.

To keep things simple, I’ve used a ‘cup’ measure.  The cup should hold around 8fl oz/250ml of liquid.

Here goes:-

Easy Christmas Cake Recipe – Ingredients

• 3 cups (around 1 pound / 500 grams) mixed fruit
• 3 oz / 80 grams butter (or usual spread)
• half cup raw sugar (or brown sugar)
• 2 eggs
• Half cup Irish Cream (I used Baileys) or fresh cream is you prefer no alcohol
• 1 cup self-raising flour
• Half tea-spoon ground nutmeg

Easy Christmas Cake Recipe – Method

1. Put the mixed fruit into a large mixing bowl
2. Put the butter and sugar into a food processor and whiz until well mixed
3. Add the eggs and Irish cream and whiz some more
4. Add the flour and ground nutmeg and whiz for the last time
5. Pour this mixture on top of the mixed fruit and stir well to combine
6. Line a cake tin (approx 7″/18cm diameter) with baking paper, pour in the cake mix and flatten on top
7. Cook in a very slow oven for around 1 hour 45 minutes (your Christmas cake should be browned and firm to the touch)
8. Take out of the oven, cover with foil and allow to cool completely in the tin (this will make the cake nice and moist). See photo image and handy hints below

How easy was that!

Unbaked Christmas Cake

Hot out of the Oven Christmas Cake

Christmas Cake Covered in Foil

Handy Hints and Variations

• Covering the cake/cake tin in foil when it comes out of the oven is important because it helps to moisten the cake. You want your Christmas Cake to be ‘dense’ and ‘heavy’ – not ‘light’ and ‘fluffy’.  It will help if you remove the baking paper from around the edge of the cake – it should just pull out
• This cake can also be served hot as Christmas Pudding
• It will keep for up to 4 weeks in the fridge
• Dark brown sugar will make this Christmas cake slightly darker in colour
• If you want a larger Christmas Cake, just double the quantities and bake for a longer time (around 3 hours for a double sized cake)
• This cake has a great smell – and reminds me of Christmas

Have a go at making my Easy Christmas Cake Recipe and let me know how you get on.

Thanks for reading another Dinner in Ten Minutes recipe.

For more Christmas themed blogs, please visit:-

Creative Women Online – The Story of Christmas for Kids

Raising Great Kids Blog – Christmas Stocking Oranges and Socks

Parks in Sydney – Christmas in the Park

New Life on the Road – Our First Christmas Living in our Motorhome

Weekend Getaway Ideas – Christmas Destinations

Lisa’s Healthy Lifestyle Challenge – Christmas Shopping List

Rita Pepper Online – Christmas Past and Present

Dinner in Ten Minutes – Easy Christmas Cake Recipe

Jan Littlehales

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Haven’t got time to make Pecan Pie this Thanksgiving Day?

Why not give my Thanksgiving Pecan Muffins a try . You’ll have them prepared and in the oven in less than ten minutes – and you can make them in advance if you wish.

Thanksgiving Pecan Muffins

They are packed with Pecans and deliciously sweet – just like Pecan Pie. You can serve them hot out of the oven or cold – or re-heat them if you made them in advance. And there’s nothing to stop you serving them with a dollop of ice-cream or cream – or both!

This recipe will make around 12 average sized pecan muffins – and to make things simple I use a ‘cup’ measure. The cup should hold around 8 fl oz / 250 ml of liquid.

Here goes:-

Thanksgiving Pecan Muffins – Ingredients

• Two cups of self raising flour
• Quarter cup of raw sugar (or other sugar)
• Half cup of chopped Pecan nuts
• 4 oz / 100g butter (or usual spread)
• 1 cup of milk or soy (I use soy)
• 1 egg
• 2 Tablespoons warmed Maple Syrup or Honey (I use honey)
• Approx 12 whole Pecans (for decoration)
• Spray oil
• Extra 4 Tablespoons warmed Maple Syrup or Honey
• Extra sprinkling of raw sugar

Pecan Muffins - uncooked

Pecan Muffins - cooling on wire rack

Thanksgiving Pecan Muffins – Method

1. Mix together in a bowl the flour, sugar and chopped pecan nuts
2. Gently melt the butter in a separate bowl (the microwave is a good option here)
3. Add the milk, egg and warmed honey to the melted butter and mix well (again, the microwave is a good option to warm the honey)
4. Add the liquid mix to the dry ingredients and mix together
5. Use spray oil to coat a 12 muffin tray, then add muffin mixture
6. Place a whole pecan nut on top of each one (see photos above)
7. Bake in a moderately hot oven until browned and just firm to the touch (around 12-15 minutes)
8. As soon as the muffins come out of the over, drizzle the extra warmed honey over each one, then sprinkle with a little extra raw sugar
9. Allow to sit in the tray for a few minutes then remove them and cool slightly on a wire rack

Handy Hints and Variations

• You can use wholemeal flour instead of white, or a combination of the two
• You can make extra large or small muffins, just make sure you adjust the cooking time accordingly
• The extra warmed honey and sprinkling of raw sugar make these pecan muffins sweet, a little ‘sticky’ and a bit ‘crunchy’ on top. It’s optional, but well worth the extra effort.
• You can make them several days before Thanksgiving and freeze until the day.  Defrost thoroughly, and if you wish to serve them warm, just pop them in the microwave.
• If you do plan on freezing them, it might be a good idea to do the final extra step (drizzling with honey and sprinkling with raw sugar) on the day you are serving.  Do this after warming them in the microwave.
• You are allowed to make these pecan muffins any time of the year – not just Thanksgiving – and I recommend you do

Happy Thanksgiving to Americans all over the World. Have a wonderful celebration with family, friends and fine food.

Thanks for reading Dinner in Ten Minutes. If you enjoyed this recipe, please share on social media. You can also leave comments below.

Jan Littlehales

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