Cranberry Orange Muffins
I have a confession to make. I’ve never made muffins. It’s not that I’m muffin phobic or anti-muffins but they’ve never been interesting enough to warrant the time and energy. Since one of my goals for the new year is to try new things, I figured it was time to mark them off my culinary to do list.
These muffins remind me of ones I’ve had at an unnamed overpriced national coffee shop chain. They aren’t overly sweet and have a nice citrusy tanginess that goes well with cranberries. If you can’t find fresh cranberries, you could use dried but plump them first by soaking them in some hot water for about 10 minutes. Don’t skip sprinkling sugar on top. You’ll need that extra sugar to offset the tartness of the cranberries. Turbinato would also work well.
Cranberry Orange Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (about 9 ounces)
- 1 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
- 3/4 cup orange juice
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 2 cups coarsely chopped fresh cranberries
- 1/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted
- Cooking spray
Instructions
- Combine flour, 2 cups sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture.
- Combine zest, juice, oil, and egg in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk.
- Add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Fold in cranberries and pecan.
- Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray.
- Sprinkle evenly with 1 tablespoon sugar.
- Put muffins in 500 degree oven and immediately turn oven down to 400 degrees. Bake for 15 minutes or until the muffins spring back when touched lightly in center.
- Run a knife or spatula around outer edge of each muffin cup. Carefully remove each muffin; place on a wire rack.
3 Comments
Jackie
January 20, 2011Looks yummy…I’ll have to make these this weekend.
jfoster
January 21, 2011They were really good. I’ll definitely be making more muffin recipes.
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December 14, 2011[…] cranberry muffins ever especially with nutella or dark chocolate […]