Feeling fruity?
I love these cute fruit cake mini-muffins. They are sugar-free & are virtually fat-free (only a tablespoon of melted coconut oil split between 24 mini muffins!), but packed with flavour. They are portable morsels of goodness making them convenient for grab & go breakfasts, packed lunches, picnics & as pre-work-out snacks. They also look the part for an afternoon tea.
They are a great alternative to dense sugary fruit cake. There is no added sugar as dried fruit & orange juice add enough sweetness to the recipe. By using sugar-free home-made apple sauce you can make this cake fat-free or virtually fat-free too. Clean-eating at it’s best!
The nutrition value of these muffins are boosted by adding ground flaxseed, chia seeds & if you wish, you can exchange 2 tablespoons of flour with 2 tablespoons of protein powder (I use Pulsin’ soy bean or pea vegan protein powder) to boost the protein content. Good for those on a paleo diet!
By using chia seed gel & gluten free-flour, these muffins are suitable for vegans & coeliacs, respectively. *Chia seed gel. To replace 1 egg, simply grind 1 tbsp chia seeds in a coffee grinder & mix with 1/4 cup of water. Allow to soak for 10-15 mins until a gel forms & use this instead of an egg. Milled chia seeds are a convenient alternative.
Preparation time: approx. 25 mins
Makes: 24 mini muffins
Baking time 25-30 mins
Ingredients:
1/2 cup pitted dates
1/4 cup pitted prunes
1/4 cup dried apricots
1/8 cup raisins/ sultanas/ currants
Finely grated zest from 1 orange
1/2 cup of orange juice ,1/2 cup water
1/2 cup of applesauce
1 tbsp coconut oil
2 large eggs or chia eggs*
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup wholemeal self-raising flour (gluten-free if required) (If using protein powder, reduce the flour by 2 tbsp & add for 2 tbsp protein powder instead. Pulsin’ soy bean or pea protein powders work beautifully).
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
2 tbsp chia seeds
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg (optional)
1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
To decorate: a handful of flaked almonds
Method:
Preheat the oven to 350F, 180C. Lightly grease 2 mini-muffin trays with melted coconut oil or spray coconut oil.
Cut the dates, prunes & dried apricots into small chunks. Finely grate an orange for its rind. Place all these ingredients & the raisins/ sultanas/ currants in a saucepan along with the orange juice & water & boil for 5 mins.
Add sugar-free apple sauce & a tablespoon of melted coconut oil & mix. The fruit will turn into a mushy-like paste. Set aside to cool.
Mix together eggs, vanilla extract, chia seeds & walnuts. Add to the dried fruit paste.
In a separate bowl, sift the wholemeal flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg & cinnamon, if using. Then add this to the fruit mixture along with ground flaxseed to the fruity paste. Mix thoroughly.
Divide the mixture equally into the muffin tin. Decorate with a few flaked almonds on top.
Bake for 25-30 minutes. Turn cake onto a wire rack to cool. Put the kettle on & enjoy!
Variation: substitute orange juice for strong black tea for a tea bread.
Don’t forget you can find my favourite recipes in my FREE eBook here.
