Photo of Individual British Christmas Puddings by WW

Individual British Christmas Puddings

7
Points®
Total Time
1 hr 5 min
Prep
20 min
Cook
45 min
Serves
6
Difficulty
Easy
Classic Christmas pudding—aka figgy pudding—is an admittedly delicious but rather involved recipe that includes a long cook time, lots of dried fruits and nuts, and suet (a type of solid animal fat). It’s not exactly light fare. This version, however, fits into your healthier eating plan by starting out pre-portioned, using just a wee bit of sugar, relying on whole-grain bread and flour, and using an egg to bind the ingredients together instead of suet. Most British recipes call for “mixed spice,” but here we use pumpkin pie spice, a similar blend that’s plentiful in the U.S.

Ingredients

Cooking spray

4 spray(s)

Orange juice

½ cup(s)

Dark brown sugar

2½ Tbsp

Dried dates

4 oz, chopped

Sweetened dried figs

3 oz, stems removed and chopped

Reduced-calorie wheat bread

2 slice(s)

White whole wheat flour

¼ cup(s)

Pumpkin pie spice

¾ tsp

Baking soda

¼ tsp

Brandy

2 Tbsp

Orange zest

1½ tsp

Egg

1 large egg(s), lightly beaten

Light aerosol whipped cream

2 Tbsp

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat a 6-cup muffin tin with cooking spray. Bring a kettle of water to a boil.
  2. In a small saucepan, combine the orange juice, sugar, dates, and figs. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the fruit is softened and most of the liquid has been absorbed, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool slightly.
  3. Tear the bread into small pieces and place in a mini food processor; process until fine breadcrumbs form, 15 to 30 seconds. In a medium bowl, stir together the breadcrumbs, flour, pie spice, and baking soda.
  4. Stir the brandy and orange zest into the fruit mixture in the saucepan. Gradually stir in the egg, then stir in the breadcrumb mixture. Divide the mixture evenly among the prepared muffin cups. Cover the pan tightly with nonstick foil and place inside a sheet pan. Place the pans on the oven rack; carefully pour hot or boiling water into the sheet pan until it’s about halfway full. Bake at 350°F until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes.
  5. Remove the pan from the oven and remove the foil; run a small, thin knife or offset spatula around each pudding. Invert the puddings onto plates; top with whipped topping.
  6. Serving size: 1 pudding and 1 tsp whipped topping