Thursday, January 31, 2008

Cranberry-Orange Muffins

I was just cleaning out stuff in the fridge the other day (as I occasionally do) and realized that I had some cranberries in the fridge. I had bought them to make cranberry bread and had a bit leftover. Due to circumstance, I never got around to using them. So, I thought, why not make cranberry muffins? I found a recipe here and altered it a bit to suit my taste. The result? Well, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves!


Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 1 cup
Whole wheat flour - 1 cup
Sugar - 2/3 cup
Fresh cranberries, cut in half - 1 cup
Walnuts, chopped - 1/2 cup (optional)
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Orange zest - 2 tsp
Butter, melted and cooled slightly - 1/4 cup (4 tbsp)
Milk - 2/3 cup
Vanilla extract or orange extract - 1/2 tsp (I used orange liquor)
Egg - 1 large

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.

2. Combine flours, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Stir well.

3. Add cranberries, orange zest, and nuts (if using) to the above mixture.

4. In a medium bowl, whisk/beat egg, milk, vanilla/orange extract, and butter until well mixed.

5. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir gently until just combined. The batter will be a bit lumpy at this point. It's fine. Everything will be ok once they're cooked!

6. Either grease muffin tin with butter/cooking spray or line with paper liners like I did and save yourself the work!

7. Fill prepared muffin cups 2/3 full with batter. This amount makes 12 muffins, so adjust accordingly.

8. Bake at 400 F for 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean.

9. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack. Serve warm with butter or jam, if desired, but they really don't need anything additional!

Another look:sweet and tangy = yummy!
I'm sending this over to Bindiya for her "my favorite things event" with the theme of cakes and muffins. Hope she likes them as much as I do! :)

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

oh! my god! I love muffins, looks like I will tempted to make them now.

Rajitha said...

i hear you on buying things for a recipe and not getting to it...happens to me all the time!!

Anonymous said...

Wow , i love muffins anytime.The picture looks so yummy.
How many days can you store the muffins outside - i mean not in the fridge?

Revathi

Anonymous said...

the muffins look lovely, cranberry is my fav falvour for the muffins....love them

Kalai said...

Hima: I love muffins, too! I'm trying to control myself from eating them all! :) Do try.

Rajitha: Nice to know I'm not the only one to do things like this! :)

Revathi: Thanks for the kind words. As for storing the muffins outside... If you're in some place that's not extremely hot, you should be fine leaving them out for 3-4 days in a container, loosely covered. I've left muffins out for almost a week, but then I get paranoid and throw them in the fridge. Warming them up in the oven or toaster over makes em taste fresh baked!

Bhags: Thanks, girl! I love cranberry, too. Anything tangy is right up my alley! :)

Bharathy said...

Very nice combo of these tangy cute berries and orange zest!..Can imagine the yummy flavor,Kalai! :)

We get cranberry juice here but not the fruit!Love em! :)

Bindiya said...

You have a very sweet blog Kalai!, thanks for the most temptingly beautiful entry!!!

Finla said...

I love the muffins.
They are jus so good

Mishmash ! said...

Orange and cranberry are both my fav'...so i should like this muffin too....

vimmi said...

Lovely looking muffins. great way to use leftover cranberries.

Kalai said...

Bharathy: Yes, it's a beautiful combination! Here, we can get them fresh in the winter. Otherwise, it's frozen or dried ones! :)

Bindiya: A warm welcome to you,dear. I'm so glad I was able to participate. Looking forward to the roundup! :)

Happy Cook: Yup, they are really good. Do try!

Mishmash: So good to see you here! If you like orange and cranberry, you'll love these muffinsA!

Vimmi: Thanks! Yeah, I'm all about using up leftovers! :)