Ho Ho Holy crap, have I been busy. I don't mean to be neglectful.
I've been working full-time (for the first time ever) as a restaurant baker for the past few months, and I haven't quite figured out how to manage everything. You see, Mr. Beta works mornings and I work nights, so the only time we have together is on the weekends--which I magically have off. So it's not that I don't love you guys and want to fill your tummies with ooey gooey goodness, I'm just learning to be a real grown-up.
We moved to a big-kid apartment at the beginning of the month, and I decided that was a great opportunity to try to start things up again. More space for more cooking toys means more kitchen play time. And, hopefully, that means more time for Baking Beta!
Anywho....
Ever since I can remember, my family had Christmas brunch/breakfast. We always had eggs, sausage, coffee, clementines, and something I baked. Most of the time, our muffins came out of a box--usually Krusteaz cran-orange or blueberry because they were super yummy and moist. But given my new position, I thought I would start making my own Christmas muffins from scratch. And what better holiday combination is there than cranberries and orange, both of which are in season this time of year?
A bonus to this recipe is that these muffins are pretty low-calorie. Fewer than 200, in fact. For those of you who don't know, I lost quite a few pounds after my freshman year in college, and I am in no hurry to see them come back, so I try to find and create recipes that won't hurt my waistline. This is a good one. Rather than using sugary dried cranberries, this one uses fresh cranberries. They are oh-so-tart and tasty!
What you need:
Cranberry Orange Muffins
(yield: about 12)
1 1/2 C. APF
3 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1/4 C. white sugar
1/4 C. vegetable oil
1 beaten egg
1 C. orange juice
1 T. orange zest
1 1/2 C. chopped cranberries
First thing's first: preheat that oven to 400 degrees. You won't need any power tools for this recipe; I just used good old-fashioned elbow grease.
In a separate bowl, beat the sugar and oil together until light. You can use a hand mixer if you want. A note: I used raw cane sugar (also called turbinado or demerara sugar) rather than white. First of all, raw cane sugar has subtle caramel notes which I think gives it a better rounded flavor than plain old granulated sugar. Second, it is more likely to be vegan friendly than white sugar. Raw cane sugar has not been processed and filtered (often through animal bone char) the same way that white sugar has. Sorry for that image. Either way, it worked just fine.
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| See? Teeny. Tiny. |
Add your beaten egg to the same bowl. Follow that up with your orange juice and zest. I had to use a teeny, tiny box grater because I haven't gotten a microplane zester yet. One day. I used regular carton orange juice, but I think I may use fresh-squeezed for Christmas day. Fresh is best.
Make a little "well" in the center of your dry ingredients, and slowly add your wet ingredients. Mix well until all of your flour is incorporated.
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| OMG. CRANBERRIES!!! =O |
Spoon batter into greased or paper-lined muffin pans until they are around 2/3 full. Place them in the oven and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes. Mine took 20, and I rotated the muffin pan half way through.
Let them cool enough to handle and remove from pan. Or just rip one apart right out of the hot pan like I did because CRANBERRIES!!!!
On top of using fresh juice, I think I may include some cinnamon in these puppies for Christmas day.
Happy Holidays, guys, and thank you for reading.
Keep calm and bake on,
BB
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