Piggybacking on the last recipe here. Cranberries, cranberries, and more cranberries did I have left! I threw some into weeknight salads with some goat cheese, FYI: they compliment each other nicely. I froze some for... I'm not sure yet. Mixed them with pretzels, almonds and chocolate chips for a DIY trail mix. And still, the bag of them in my fridge was staring me down. Enter Covid-19 and nowhere to go with kids needing to get busy.
So the girls and I got on our aprons and got to work. Despite adding to the shambles my house has been in since the quarantine, we had a great few hours mixing, measuring, whisking and baking. We were out of a few ingredients the original recipe called for, so they also got a lesson in making do with what you've got.
I'd say these came out super. I had to substitute almond extract because I couldn't find the vanilla in my hot mess of a pantry. Albeit, a hint of sweet almond came through and tasted delicious against the tart cranberries. The icing was clutch and made for a more dessert-like snack for the kids. Although to be honest, they picked out the cranberries and preferred just the plain muffin with icing. Oh well, kids will be kids I suppose. At least I got them involved in the kitchen and out of each others' hair for a bit!
Cranberry Orange Muffins
Adapted from: Sally's Baking Addiction
Makes: 12
1/2 C unsalted butter, room temperature (1 stick)
1/2 C sugar
1/4 C brown sugar, packed (light or dark)
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 C vanilla yogurt
2 tsp almond extract
1 3/4 C all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 TBS orange juice
2 TBS milk
1 1/2 C fresh cranberries (or frozen- not thawed!)
Orange Glaze:
1 C confectioners' sugar
3 TBS orange juice
1. Preheat oven to 425 F. Spray a 12 cup cupcake tin with nonstick spray or line with liners.
2. In a medium bowl, beat the butter on high speed until creamy. Add in the regular sugar and brown sugar and beat on high for 2 minutes. Be sure to scrape down the sides of bowl.
3. Add the eggs, yogurt and almond extract. Beat on medium for about 1 minute, then turn up speed to high and beat until uniform or almost uniform in texture. Scrape down sides again as needed.
4. In a large bow, toss together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
5. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk slowly until combined.
6. Add in the orange juice and milk and gently whisk until combined with little lumps.
7. Fold in the cranberries.
8. Spoon the batter into prepared pan, filling up to the top.
9. Bake for 5 minutes at 425 F., then while keeping the muffins in the oven, lower the oven to 350 F. and bake for 18-20 more minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.
10. While cooling, make glaze: whisk glaze ingredients until smooth. Drizzle over warm muffins.