Orange cranberry muffins – makes 12 muffins – 30 minutes
Ingredients:
2 cups flour (healthier option, use 1 cup whole wheat and 1 cup all-purpose)
¾ cup sugar or ½ cup if you are using dried cranberries
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 ½ cups dried cranberries or 2 cups if using fresh or frozen cranberries.
1 cup orange juice (fresh squeezed if you have it and with pulp if you like)
½ cup unsweetened apple sauce
2 tbsp orange zest (optional)
2 tsp sugar (optional)
Directions:
- Grate oranges for zest and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt, baking powder and stir. Add the cranberries and stir to coat.
- In a separate small bowl combine the orange juice, apple sauce, and zest.
- Pour wet ingredients into the dry and stir to combine, be careful not to over-mix. The mixture should be lumpy and airy.
- Spoon out into 12 muffin cups right to the rim.
- If you are topping with sugar, pinch into the sugar and sprinkle lightly over each muffin, it will give a slightly crunchy muffin top. So delicious.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool completely before placing in an air-tight storage container but feel free to enjoy while warm, so yummy.
Notes:
- If you are using the zest from fresh oranges, you won’t regret it, it makes the taste so… wow!
- Be sure to wash your oranges well before grating.
- Dried cranberries are naturally sweeter than fresh or frozen, so be sure to reduce the sugar amount if you are using dried cranberries.
- If you want to add chopped nuts to make it more nutritious and hardy, add no more than ½ cup to the dry ingredients.
- The snack-size cups of apple sauce are exactly ½ cup size which makes it so convenient if you don’t want to open a whole jar of apple sauce.
- These muffins will taste fresh for 3 days if left on the counter, 6 days if stored in the fridge in an air-tight container, and up to 6 months if wrapped tight and frozen.