TWD Rewind- Orange Berry Muffins

This week, we were allowed to go back and do a “rewind” recipe (one that we may have missed), instead of making this week’s choice, creme brulee.  I jumped at the chance because (1) I couldn’t find any butane for my torch, and (2) I don’t like the “brulee” on creme brulee.

I chose Orange Berry Muffins (page 3 of Dorie’s book), and they were fantastic.  I swapped cranberries for the blueberries, sprinkled a bit of cinnamon sugar on top of each one before I baked them, and I whipped up the whole thing in my food processor, so not too many pans to clean!

I usually use an ice cream scoop to fill muffin cups, but if you decide to do that, be aware that you will end up with nine muffins instead of twelve.  If you have empty muffin cups, fill them with some water to keep the pan from warping, like you see in the photo to the left.

These really are wonderful – a soft, cakey, moist crumb, perfumed with orange, but not so much that it overwhelms.  I love the sourness of the cranberries combined with the orange.  Definitely on the repeat list, and one of my favorite Dorie recipes so far!  You can find the recipe after the jump, and be sure to check the TWD blogroll to see what others did this week. 

Orange Berry Muffins
Adapted from by Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
About 3/4 cup buttermilk

3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons honey
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cranberries, frozen (not thawed)

Cinnamon sugar, for topping (optional)

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan.  Be sure to spray the TOP of the pan, as well – this will help to prevent the muffin top from tearing off when you remove the muffins from the pan. Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet.

Coarsely chop the cranberries and set aside.  Pour the orange juice into a large glass measuring cup (a 2 cup size is good) and pour in enough buttermilk to make 1 cup. Whisk in the eggs, vanilla extract,  honey, and melted butter.

In a food processor, pulse the sugar and orange zest together. Pulse in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and pulse two or three times. DO NOT OVER MIX.   If you need to, transfer ingredients to a bowl and gently but quickly stir to blend. Don’t worry about being thorough – the batter will be lumpy and bubbly. As I noted before, the key is not to over mix, or the muffins will become tough.  Stir in the cranberries. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.  Top the muffins with cinnamon sugar.

Bake for 22 to 25 minutes. When fully baked, the tops of the muffins will be golden and springy to the touch and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins will come out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold.