Fruit Cake Muffins are a classic Christmas dessert made portable filled with pecans, candied fruits and a tender spice cake. Forget the old fruitcake reputation!
If you love traditional Fruit Cake during the holidays but wish it were easier to share, then you’ll love these delicious, shareable Fruit Cake Muffins. My Holiday Recipe Page is filled with more treats and meals to share with loved ones through the holiday season.
FRUIT CAKE MUFFINS
Christmas Fruit Cakes are a delicious tradition that a lot of us can remember as far back as early childhood, sometimes fondly and sometimes not so much. Fruit Cakes get a bad rep for being heavy, dense, or even soaked in cheap liquor. But a good Fruit Cake is flavorful and moist, filled with sweet candied cherries and warm spices. They are known for lasting a long-time, which made them great gifts – a cake that could be sent in the pre-Amazon mail system.
This Fruit Cake Muffin recipe takes only the best parts of traditional Fruitcake and makes them easily sharable for holiday office parties and potlucks. These muffins are much lighter than the mail order cakes of the past, slightly sweeter, and filled with the same flavors you know and love.
If you want to make these into mini Fruitcake loaves, just pour the mix into mini loaf pans. To make Fruit Cake Muffins an adorable Christmas treat, bake them in colorful, festive cupcake liners and top with some icing and a halved candied cherry.
HOW TO MAKE FRUIT CAKE MUFFINS
- Preheat oven to 350° and line a two muffin tins with muffin liners.
- Add your shortening and sugar to a stand mixer or a large bowl with a hand mixer on medium speed for 1-2 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add in the eggs one at a time until fully combined, then add in the vanilla extract.
- Add in the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, salt and cardamom until just combined then fold in the chopped dried fruit and walnuts.
- Scoop the mixture into your muffin liners using an ice cream scoop or a ¼ cup measure.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
MORE CLASSIC HOLIDAY DESSERT RECIPES
Apple Pie
Watergate Salad (Pistachio Delight)
Ambrosia Salad
Pumpkin Pie
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VARIATIONS ON FRUIT CAKE MUFFINS
- Add ins: You can use more than just the dried fruit that I listed in the recipe. You can add more fruit to suit your personal tastes. Try candied cranberries, apricots, or currants.
- Spices: Try mixing in a dash of nutmeg, cinnamon, or allspice to add a bit of a zing to these Fruit Cake Muffins. Depending on what occasion you’re serving the Fruit Cake at, you can customize the flavor to suit you and your guests’ palates.
- Toppings: While the muffins are still warm from the oven, sprinkle brown sugar over the tops of the muffins. For a festive treat, top with Homemade Buttercream and half a candied cherry.
- Gluten-free: To make gluten free Fruit Cake Muffins, replace the all-purpose or wheat flour with almond or buckwheat flour. Beyond that, these muffins are already gluten-free so you don’t need to alter much else.
FRUIT CAKE MUFFIN FAQS
- Is Christmas cake the same as Fruit Cake? Christmas Cake is a kind of Fruit Cake popular in the UK. There are some differences between Christmas cake and Fruit Cake. For one thing, Christmas Cake usually has marzipan and icing. Overall, though, they are very similar.
- Why do we eat Fruit Cake at Christmas? Americans eat it because it’s a British tradition that carried over when America was a British colony.
OTHER TASTY MUFFIN RECIPES
Pumpkin Muffins
Banana Bread Muffins
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Chocolate Banana Muffins
HOW LONG ARE FRUIT CAKE MUFFINS GOOD?
- Serve: Fruit Cake Muffins are good at room temperature for up to 2 days. You should keep them in an airtight container or a sealable bag to keep them fresh.
- Store: You can keep your Fruit Cake Muffins in the fridge for up to 3 weeks. Make sure that you let them cool down to room temperature before you put them away.
- Freeze: You can freeze Fruit Cake muffins for up to a year. For best results, keep them in an airtight bag that won’t allow moisture inside.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
- 1/2 cup candied red cherries
- 1/2 cup candied green cherries
- 1 1/2 cups candied pineapple
- 1 cup golden raisins
- 2 cups pecans , chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° and line a two muffin tins with muffin liners.
- Add your shortening and sugar to a stand mixer or a large bowl with a hand mixer on medium speed for 1-2 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add in the eggs one at a time until fully combined, then add in the vanilla extract.
- Add in the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, salt and cardamom until just combined then fold in the chopped dried fruit and walnuts.
- Scoop the mixture into your muffin liners using an ice cream scoop or a ¼ cup measure.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Nutrition
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If I were to omit the nuts should I make any adjustments to the recipe to account for the loss of the 2 cups of nuts? Thank you!
no adjustments needed. Let us know how they turned out! How about craisens (dried cranberries) or raisens or some other preferred fruit as a suggestion?
My muffin did not rise. Any advice?? Help!!
Hi Joycelyn, Im sorry I won’t be too much help as there are a lot of reasons why muffins wouldn’t rise. Did you use old cooking ingredients tht may have lost potency? Is your oven temperature accurate?
I made them twice and made sure recipe as followed. They did not raise and fill the jumbo muffin cup as in your picture.
I plan on making these tomorrow and I don’t mean to question your expertise, but because I’ve never made this recipe before, I’m wondering if 3 eggs is enough liquid ingredient to moisten and create a batter? Thank you and Happy Holidays!
So sorry this is so late, your comments was stuck in a spam filter! Yes its enough
My cake was white inside and on the top. It didn’t look as yours, what have I been missing. Did a trial run, the taste turned out good. but wondering what I made wrong as its not browning.
Hello, Can I use butter in place of shortening?
Yes 🙂
What would the baking time be for mini muffins?
10-13 minutes. Enjoy!
Could I add some brandy?
Sounds perfect!
I am SUCH a huge fan of fruit cake! In my house, it was always only me and my dad eating it when I was younger, but I associate it so much with the Christmas holidays. 🙂
These muffins definitely look more enjoyable than older traditional fruitcake recipes! What a fun holiday treat!
So much easier than a large loaf to serve with company, love it.
Completely agree!
These turned out so good! I hate that fruit cake gets a bad rap.
Agreed!
We love a properly made fruit cake for Christmas, the one lovingly soaked in brandy/rum over a period of a month or two. But, these muffins are just as lovely, and are perfect for the holiday season too. 🙂
Is there a different spice that can be used in place of cardamom? I truly don’t like the taste of it!! Thank you for your response in advance. Respectfully, Susan.
So sorry for the delay in reply – you can substitute equal parts nutmeg and cinnamon if cardamom is not for your taste.
Can I use all butter in place of shortning
I haven’t before but I’d try it. I can’t vouch for it having not tested it, but it should work.
Do I need to spray muffin liners before filling with batter?
I didn’t. What type of muffin liners did you use? Looking forward to hearing how your muffins turned out.