Cranberry Orange Muffins
After letting my excitement get the best of me at TJ’s last week, I found myself with a random, leftover bag of cranberries slowly fading in my refrigerator. I made a cranberry walnut quick bread, and of course, it was promptly devoured.
I had thought of doing something different with the remaining cranberries (a spin on lemon bars came to mind), but I’m still recovering from dessert overload, and those peppermint patties sure aren’t helping.
Instead, I decided I would modify the cranberry walnut bread, this time referencing one of my favorite flavor combinations: cranberry and orange. I went with muffins to add in a little portion control, since it’s all too easy for me to keep slicing tiny slivers of bread all day. Please tell me I’m not the only one who does this?
I used fresh orange juice in mine, but I was really just feeling guilty for letting my juicer collect dust last week. Any old orange juice will do.
You could also throw in a generous handful of chopped walnuts if you like. Or chocolate chips. That could be interesting…
Okay, now I’m distracted. Back to the muffins.
| Cranberry Orange Muffins |
- 1 C. All-Purpose Flour
- 1 C. Whole Wheat Flour
- 1 1/2 Tsp. Baking Powder
- 1/2 Tsp. Baking Soda
- Zest of 1 Orange
- 3/4 C. Orange Juice
- 1 Flax Egg (1 Tbs. ground flax, 3 Tbs. water)
- 1/2 C. Granulated Sugar
- 2 C. Fresh Cranberries
- 1/2 Tsp. Salt
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Lightly grease a muffin tin and set aside.
- Prepare your flax egg by combining 1 Tbs. ground flax with 3 Tbs. water. Stir and allow to sit for 3-5 minutes, until it has a gel-like consistency (similar to an egg).
- In a large bowl, mix together flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the flax egg, orange juice, orange zest, and sugar. Stir until just combined.
- Fold in fresh cranberries.
- Divide batter evenly into muffin tin and bake for approximately 20 minutes, until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Similar to the cranberry walnut bread, I intentionally went easy on the sugar in this recipe to create muffins that are only slightly sweet. If you’re looking to bake a sweeter muffin, I recommend using 3/4 C. to 1 C. of sugar.
These are wonderful topped with a little honey butter (honey or agave mixed with your favorite buttery spread).
