After more than a decade of absence, I stumbled upon my old recipe for Cranberry Orange Muffins that used to be a staple of the bread bowl at Thanksgiving. I decided to whip up a batch to see if they were as good as I remembered. As it turns out, they were! They are also forgiving as, midway through, I realized that I didn’t have enough orange juice, so made up for its absence with Triple Sec. I think I just may have improved them!
If your holiday baking has begun, you may just want to give these a try. They freeze beautifully and are equally good at the breakfast table as they are Thanksgiving dinner.
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon freshly grated orange peel
1 large egg
3 tablespoons canola oil
¾ cup freshly squeezed orange juice (about one and a half oranges)
1½ cups fresh whole cranberries
Directions:
Grease and flour a 12-cup muffin pan, or use papers. Preheat oven 375° F.
Sift together flour, baking powder, and soda in a large mixing bowl. Stir in salt, sugar, and orange peel. In a medium mixing bowl whisk together egg with oil and orange juice. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour the liquid into the well. Mix together until just combined. Fold in cranberries.
Using an ice cream scoop, dollop batter into muffin cups (you want them 1/2 to 3/4 full). Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow cooling on a rack for five minutes before removing them from the pan.