Rum and raisin muffins

Moist, delicious, and just the right amount of boozy, these egg-free rum and raisin muffins are perfect for some holiday baking!

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December has to be one of my favorite months of the year. With all the Christmas vibes around and the excitement of a new year around the corner, it’s natural to feel jovial. It’s also my favorite time to bake all the Christmas goodies and share them with my friends and family. Now, you guys are also my virtual family and It’d be so unfair if I couldn’t share something with you. Well! Can’t send you all the goodies but I can definitely share my favorite Christmas recipes with you. Kick-starting the Christmas season with a recipe that fits right in with the December spirit – Rum and raisin muffins. A warm boozy muffin studded with golden raisins that provide a burst of fruity sweetness against the woody notes of the rum. The recipe can be adapted into an alcohol-free version as well with a minor tweak which I share in the notes here, so, sit tight and scroll down. The recipe for these muffins actually requires some prep work that can begin as early as a few months ahead to a few hours prior which involves soaking the raisins in rum.

Choice of Liquor 

While these muffins are called rum and raisin muffins, frankly, rum is not your only choice of liquor here. Raisins have a great absorption quality and thus, anything that you use to soak them in, they’ll pick up the flavor quite well. Dark rum is my choice for this recipe, but other options like vodka, brandy, cognac, coffee, or citrus based liqueurs, and whiskey would work well too.

When to Soak

To bring out the best flavor of rum without tasting pungent, the raisins should ideally be soaked a few weeks ahead. You could do as early as 3-4 weeks. The longer the raisins are soaked, the more flavor they’ll absorb and impart in the recipe. However, if you don’t want to plan that ahead, you could still soak your raisins 24 hours prior to making the recipe.

How to Soak

Place the raisins in a clean sterilized glass bowl. Pour the rum over the raisins and stir with a wooden spoon. Use enough liquor to cover all the raisins. Keep the bowl in a cool and dry place (not the fridge.) If you soak ahead, you have to stir the raisins daily. Uncover the bowl, stir the raisins once, then cover the bowl again. If all of the liquor has been absorbed, you could add a little more.

How to use the Soaked Raisins

You need to drain the raisins before using in the muffin batter. We just want tipsy, not risky! If there is any excess liquor left in the soaking bowl, use it to baste/brush the muffins after baking.

Alcohol-free Option

If you want to skip using the alcohol, or you’re looking to make a kid-friendly version of these muffins, you’ll be making a cinnamon-raisin muffin version of the recipe. Trust me they taste just as good even without the booze!

To do this, skip the pre-soaking of the raisins in liquor, and instead soak the raisins in boiling water a few minutes before making the batter. This will make the raisins plump and they will taste good in the cake. Another alternative is to use rum essence or extract – which doesn’t contain any alcohol but imparts a nice rum flavor to the cake.

Basting/Brushing the Muffins

Once the muffins are baked, we baste/brush them with more liquor – typically, the same as you’ve used to soak the raisins. This gives them an added punch of flavor. You could even bake the muffins a few days ahead and brush them daily with the liquor till the time of serving.

Storing the Muffins

Since the muffins contain a decent dose of alcohol which acts as a preservative, they can be stored just as easily at room temperature without spoiling for weeks (the non-alcoholic ones need to be refrigerated and keep well only for 4-5 days.) Keep the muffins in an airtight container or wrapped in cling film. No real reason to not make these for your Christmas treat today! So, this was my first in the list of many Christmas recipes that are coming soon on the blog. If you make it, do share your pictures with me. Watch this space for many more christmasy recipes to come in the following weeks. Share your recipe requests with me on Instagram @loveandflourbypooja More recipes you might like

• Dates and Walnut Cake
• Carrot Cake Muffins
• Oats Blueberry Mufffins
• Upside down Apple Cake

Print Recipe

Eggless Rum and Raisin Muffins

Moist, delicious, and just the right amount of boozy, these egg-free rum and raisin muffins are perfect for some holiday baking!

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time20 mins

soaking1 d

Keyword: Bakery, cake

Ingredients

• 150 gm raisins
• ½-1 cup rum
• 1.5 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• ¼ cup butter
• 2 tbsp oil
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• ¾ cup milk

Instructions

Instructions

• Soaking the Raisins

  4 weeks to 24 hours ahead of making the recipe, place the raisins in a glass bowl, and pour enough rum to cover all the raisins. Stir the raisins, and cover the bowl. Keep it in a cool and dry place. Stir the raisins daily till you need to use them. Drain any excess liquor before using.
• If making without alcohol, bring a cup of water to boil. Dunk the raisins in the hot water, cover and let it sit for 30 minutes. Then drain to use.
• Pre heat the oven to 190 degrees and grease the muffin moulds.
• Sieve the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon powder in a bowl.
• In another bowl, beat together the butter and brown sugar.
• Alternating, add flour mix and milk to the wet ingredients and fold everything together.
• Add the drained raisins and fold them in.
• Transfer the batter in prepared moulds and bake at 190 degrees in a preheated oven for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Notes

For measurement conversions to grams and ml, refer the conversion guide here – Measurements Conversion Guide