Hello!
Ready or not, here comes the holidays. Time to start thinking about that season of cooking.
I look forward to all the holiday dishes, new and the old traditional ones. The special seasonal fruits, and the hearty warm dishes. Who can resist the comforting smells of home?
Cranberries are a feeling of Thanksgiving and Christmas. They are also the main subject of this recipe, which is Cranberry Muffins.
I usually bake these ahead of time and they are perfect for a quick snack or even breakfast. They freeze well.
I really enjoy them for Thanksgiving Day breakfast. I just pull them out of the freezer and maybe pop them in the microwave for a few seconds and enjoy them with a piping hot cup of coffee to get the big cooking day started. You need energy, right? Cranberry muffins will help with that.
This recipe calls for coarsely chopped cranberries. I will just typically run them through my food processor, and it just does the trick perfectly. You really don’t want any big chunks in the muffins, just smaller pieces.
Also, this recipe calls for orange zest. I don’t always keep oranges on hand, but I do typically keep orange extract.
So, if you don’t have the oranges, in the recipe you can substitute one-half to three-fourths teaspoon of orange extract instead of the zest to this recipe. I do like the slight flavor of orange mixed with the cranberry in these muffins.
This recipe makes about 18 muffins. That’s a lot. Share some with a neighbor or they can easily be frozen.
Cranberry Muffins
Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 ½ Teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
½ cup shortening (I use applesauce )
¾ cup orange juice
2 large eggs, room temperature lightly beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups coarsely chopped cranberries
Directions:
1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, baking soda, ginger, salt and orange zest, Cut in shortening until crumbly. In a small bowl, combine the orange juice, eggs and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in cranberries and nuts.
2. Fill 18 greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 375 degrees until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, 18-20 minutes. Cool in pans for 10 minutes before removing to wire rack.
Enjoy!
