I bought orange flavored dried cranberries at Trader Joe’s because I thought I would eat them as a snack with some almonds while I’m at my internship. I’d make a little baggie and then it would sit in my purse all day. I don’t know why, because I like cranberries and almonds, but I don’t really like healthy snacks (I’ve got a sweet tooth!), so I needed to find a new way to use these cranberries.
I found this recipe for orange cranberry muffins on food.com, but I decided to take a risk and change it a bit. First, I used dried cranberries instead of fresh. Second, I decided to put in some fresh orange bits in the muffin. I got this idea from a blood orange cake recipe I made once from Smitten Kitchen. I liked the warm and juiciness of the cooked oranges so I thought I’d try it. But, I was nervous because baking is a science and I was wondering if the juice from the orange ruining the muffin. It all worked out well and it tastes good, so yay for experimenting! I only put in about 3/4 of an orange, because I kept eating pieces, so I think a full orange could work.
Anyway, making this recipe is pretty easy and it’s so quick! The only prep work is chopping the cranberries and zesting the orange. I realized that my mandoline slicer has a grating blade, which makes it so easy to zest! Also, for as much as I bake, flour is NOT my friend. Every time I use flour it gets all over everything in my kitchen, as evidenced by the picture below which shows flour all over the sink and the pots and pains that were drying.
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped (I used orange flavored ones)
1 egg
3/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 orange, chopped into tiny pieces
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400°
2. In large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda
3. In a small bowl beat egg, orange juice, oil, and zest
4. Add cranberries and liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients
5. Stir until just moistened
6. Put mixture into greased muffin cups (or use paper liners). Fill about 3/4 full
7. Bake 15-20 minutes until browned on top
Messy Level: I’ll give this two spoons because I find it hard to neatly get the batter into the muffin pans. Also, because of flour. I always get flour everywhere.
