Little Miss Muffins

Well, I'm finally remembering to get the muffin recipe in here. I've had a hectic night. I just finished packing for my trip tomorrow, I made dinner, and caught America's Ballroom Challenge on PBS (yes, I love ballroom dancing). I also taped tonight's episode of One Tree Hill which featured The Chemistry Set's tune, Into The Light. The Chemistry Set being my husband's band. They used the entire song! So awesome. Anyway, I believe I owe you good people a muffin recipe.

As I mentioned earlier I have no idea where I found this muffin recipe. Several google searches later I still have no clue. Although it bares some resemblance to many of the recipes that I came across none are a dead-match. If the owner of this muffin recipe comes across this page let me know so I can give credit where 'tis due.

Cranberry Orange Muffins
Makes a dozen
1 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
2/3 cup granulated sugar, plus more for topping muffins
2 large eggs, at room temp
1/2 cup milk

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Put the cranberries and orange juice in a small saucepan, bring just to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat and set aside to cool and plump.
• Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners or lightly brush with butter. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl and set aside.
• In a standing mixer with paddle attachment, or with a hand-held mixer in a large bowl, cream butter, orange zest, and sugar unti light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Remove the bowl from the mixer.
• Fold the flour in 3 parts into the butter mixture, alternating with the milk in 2 parts, until just combined. Fold in the cranberries. Do not over mix. Divide the batter evenly into the muffin tins and sprinkle the tops with sugar. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Cool muffins in the pan on a rack.

My notes: I went the hand-held mixer way, which worked just fine. Also, although it's kind of 'duh' get your zest before you juice from the orange. I ended up using 1 1/2 oranges to get the 1/3 cup juice, although I just use the hand-held method of squeezing. You might be able to get more out of just one orange with some of those fancy devices they have nowadays. These muffins were really great. Light orange flavor, tart but not too tart cranberries, and the sprinkled sugar on top gave them a nice gleam. I enjoyed them with a nice cup of coffee.