Who can resist a homemade blueberry muffin? Not me! Lightly lemony with a tender crumb and a sweet streusel topping, these Blueberry Streusel Muffins rival anything you’ll find at a fancy coffee house or bakery. They make a great breakfast treat or after school snack, and are fabulous with a cup of coffee or tea. YUM!

The recipe makes a boat load of streusel — I used most but not all of it. Spoon a generous amount of streusel on top of and around each muffin…really pile that streusel on there. Bake and enjoy!

Blueberry Streusel Muffins
-recipe from Cook’s Country Magazine

Why this recipe works: We thought it would be easy to find a great blueberry muffin recipe, but most baked up dry or spongy, with an ugly color and weak blueberry flavor. We wanted our Blueberry Streusel Muffins to be tender and cakey, bursting with berries and crowned with chewy nuggets of streusel. Replacing the usual sour cream with buttermilk in the test kitchen’s favorite blueberry muffin recipe created muffins with a sturdy-but-light texture that was able to support the weight of our streusel. Juicy fresh blueberries made our muffins soggy, so we opted for frozen berries. Keeping the blueberries frozen until the last second prevented the muffins from turning an unappealing blue. Tossing the blueberries with flour before adding them to the batter kept the berries from sinking to the bottom of the muffin tin. Note: To prevent a streaky batter, leave the blueberries in the freezer until the last possible moment. Wyman’s brand frozen wild blueberries are our first choice, but an equal amount of fresh blueberries may be substituted.

Makes 12

Streusel:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
Pinch salt
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Muffins:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly, plus extra for preparing muffin tin
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for preparing muffin tin
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries

For the streusel: Combine flour, sugars, cinnamon, and salt in bowl. Drizzle with melted butter and toss with fork until evenly moistened and mixture forms large chunks with some pea-sized pieces throughout.

For the muffins: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour 12-cup muffin tin. Whisk egg in medium bowl until pale and evenly combined, about 30 seconds. Add vanilla, sugar, and zest and whisk vigorously until thick, about 30 seconds. Slowly whisk in melted butter; add buttermilk and whisk until combined.

Reserve 1 tablespoon flour. Whisk remaining flour, baking powder, and salt in large bowl. Fold in egg mixture until nearly combined. Toss blueberries with reserved flour and fold into batter until just combined.

Divide batter in muffin tin and top with streusel. Bake until light golden brown and toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out with few dry crumbs attached, 23 to 27 minutes. Cool muffins in tin for 20 minutes, then carefully transfer muffins to rack to cool completely. (Muffins can be stored in airtight container at room temperature for 3 days.)

When Good Muffins Go Bad:
There are plenty of things that can go wrong with blueberry muffin recipes. Here are two of the worst problems we encountered.

GREEN WITH ENVY: Baking soda may have its merits for lift and browning, but it reacts with blueberries to create an unappealing green hue.
 
SOGGY BOTTOM: Think more blueberries make better muffins? Think again. When more than 1 1/2 cups of berries are used, the extra moisture creates muffins with fruit-soaked bottoms.

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Tags: berry muffins, blueberries, blueberry, blueberry muffins, blueberry streusel muffins, coffee cake, coffee house, Muffins

These pretty, jewel-like muffins are easy-to-make, lightly sweetened muffins are delicious, loaded with plumped-up dried fruit and are perfect for a holiday breakfast or brunch. They’re inspired by Panettone, an Italian sweet bread that is popular at Christmas.

For the muffins, I used dried apricots, golden raisins, dried pineapple, chopped dates, and dried cranberries…all soaked in a little orange juice and Grand Marnier. The bulk bins at stores like Winco are a good way to go with any of the dried fruit that you don’t use on a regular basis. I use lots of dried cranberries so I buy a big bag of those at Costco.

The recipe calls for Fiori di Sicilia, a vanilla-orange flavoring. You probably won’t find it in a grocery store (I found mine at kingarthurflour.com). To get a light citrus taste without hunting down the Fiori di Sicilia, add a little freshly grated orange zest to the batter (1 teaspoon or so). The recipe also calls for King Arthur Cake Enhancer but I didn’t use it.

Before baking, sprinkle each muffin with some sparkling sugar, a coarse-grained sugar that adds a sweet crunch to baked goods. I sprinkle it on top of everything from muffins to scones to pies before baking…it adds a nice finishing touch. I like these muffins best served warm with a little butter. Yum!

Panettone Muffins
-recipe from kingarthurflour.com

These tender, golden muffins mimic the flavor of Italy’s classic Christmas bread, panettone. They’re flavored with Fiori di Sicilia — “Flowers of Siciliy” — traditionally used to flavor panettone.  Yield: 12 muffins.

1 1/2 cups diced dried fruit*
1/4 cup apple juice, orange juice, rum, or a mixture
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia, to taste
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons King Arthur Cake Enhancer, optional, for enhanced freshness
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2/3 cup milk
2 generous tablespoons coarse white sparkling sugar, for topping
*Our Favorite Fruit Blend — diced apricots, raisins, pineapple cubes, chopped dates, and sweetened cranberries — is a good choice here

1) Mix the dried fruit and liquid of your choice in a bowl. Cover the bowl, and let the fruit sit overnight. Or speed up the process by heating fruit and liquid in the microwave till very hot, then cooling to lukewarm/room temperature, about 1 hour.
 
2) Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a standard muffin tin. Or line with 12 paper or silicone muffin cups, and grease the cups with non-stick vegetable oil spray; this will ensure that they peel off the muffins nicely.
 
3) In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together the butter, vegetable oil, and sugar until smooth.
 
4) Add the eggs, beating to combine.
 
5) Stir in the Fiori and vanilla.
 
6) Whisk together the Cake Enhancer, baking powder, salt, and flour. Stir the dry ingredients into the butter mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour and making sure everything is thoroughly combined.
 
7) Stir in the fruit, with any remaining liquid.
 
8) Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared pan, filling the cups quite full. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins generously with the coarse sugar.
 
9) Bake the muffins for 18 to 20 minutes, or until they’re a sunny gold color on top, and a cake tester inserted into the middle of one of the center muffins comes out clean.
 
10) Remove them from the oven, and let them cool for a couple of minutes, or until you can handle them. Transfer them to a rack to cool.

Tips from our bakers:
-Don’t want to microwave the dried fruit? Simply mix it with the liquid, cover, and let it rest at room temperature overnight.
-Using 1/8 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia will give you a mild hint of flavor; 1/4 teaspoon will be much more assertive.

Tags: Christmas breads, Christmas muffins, Fiori di Sicilia, Grand Marnier, holiday breads, holiday muffins, King Arthur Flour, Muffins, panettone, panettone muffins

I made these delicious citrusy, berry-studded muffins last week for a gathering. They were easy to make, moist and a perfect way to highlight summer’s freshest berries. These muffins are best the day they’re made…but are still tasty the second day.

I used blueberries and raspberries, and lemon zest and orange zest for both the streusel and the muffin batter. The citrus combination filled my kitchen with a wonderful, summery fragrance. I didn’t use nuts in the streusel and there was still more than enough topping for the muffins. The recipe calls for fresh berries but you could use frozen (they will just take longer to bake). Enjoy!

Berry Best Muffins
-recipe from Simply Classic: A New Collection of Recipes to Celebrate the Northwest by The Junior League of Seattle

Makes 12 muffins.

Streusel Topping
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/3 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest, grated
1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, toasted and chopped
2 tablespoons butter, softened

Muffins
1 1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest, grated
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg
1 1/2 cup berries (a mixture of blackberries, blueberries and raspberries)

Preheat oven to 350° degrees.

For Streusel Topping:  mix brown sugar, flour and lemon zest together in a bowl.  Stir in nuts and butter.  Mix together until butter is evenly distributed and mixture is crumbly.  Set aside.

For Muffins:  combine flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.  Make a well in the center.  Add milk, butter and egg to the well and mix until smooth.  Fold in the berries.

Spoon into 12 greased or paper-lined muffin cups, filling each only 2/3 full.  Top with 1 tablespoon of struesel topping.  Do not overfill the muffin cups or topping will run over into pan.  Bake on middle rack in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Place on a rack and cool for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from tin and serve warm.

Tags: blackberries, blackberry, blueberries, blueberry, Breakfast, lemon zest, Muffins, quick bread, raspberries, raspberry, Simply Classic by the Junior League of Seattle

These moist, spice-flavored muffins are a cinch to whip up and make a nice breakfast treat or after-school snack. I love the muffin’s light nutmeg flavor and simple, old-fashioned goodness. Yumm!

I didn’t have fresh nutmeg so I used regular ol’ jarred ground nutmeg. Enjoy!

Applesauce Spice Muffins
-recipe from Gourmet Magazine, November 2003

Yield: Makes 12 muffins

For muffins:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup pecans or walnuts (3 1/2 ounces), coarsely chopped

For topping:
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Special equipment: a muffin pan with 12 (1/2-cup) muffin cups

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Grease muffin pan.

Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together eggs and brown sugar in a large bowl until combined well, then add butter, a little at a time, whisking until mixture is creamy. Stir in applesauce, then fold in flour mixture until flour is just moistened. Stir in nuts and divide batter among muffin cups.

Stir together all topping ingredients and sprinkle on top of muffins. Bake until muffins are puffed and golden, about 20 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes, then remove muffins from pan and cool slightly.

Cooks’ note: Muffins, cooled completely, keep in an airtight container at room temperature 1 day.

Tags: allspice, applesauce, cinnamon, Muffins, nutmeg, pecans, spice

I love berry treats and desserts and was lured into buying the Stonewall Kitchen Favorites Cookbookbecause of this recipe for Raspberry Muffins. How can anyone resist a moist, freshly-baked muffin flecked with berries and finished with a crunchy streusel topping? Certainly not I!

I’ve made these muffins a few times with great results. I had a hard time getting them out of the muffin tins this time, though, so maybe I didn’t grease the pan good enough. Next time I might try using muffin liners. I used fresh raspberries but the recipe says you can use frozen, too (although the muffins may take longer to bake). These muffins make a great breakfast treat or afternoon snack! Enjoy!

Raspberry Muffins
-recipe from Stonewall Kitchen Favoritesby Jonathan King, Jim Stott, and Kathy Gunst

You can make these muffins year-round–with fresh berries in the summer, or any time of year using good-quality frozen raspberries. Makes 18 muffins.

For the topping:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, at room temperature

For the muffins:
Vegetable oil spray, for the pans
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sour cream
2 1/2 cups raspberries, fresh or frozen

Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

To make the topping: mix the flour and the sugar together in a medium bowl until blended. Add the butter, and using your hands or a fork, mix the ingredients until homogenous and crumbly. Set the topping aside.

To make the muffins: Spray 18 regular muffin tins with the vegetable oil. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl until blended, and set aside.

Beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed with a handheld or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing the batter on low speed until smooth after each addition and scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl if necessary. Add the vanilla, and mix to combine.

Add about one-third of the dry ingredients to the batter, and mix on low until blended. Add half of the sour cream, mix, and repeat with another third of the dry ingredients, the rest of the sour cream, and the remaining dry ingredients, mixing between each addition. Use a wooden spatula to stir in the raspberries by hand.

Fill the prepared muffin tins until almost full, and sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the topping onto each muffin (don’t worry if it looks like a lot of topping).

Bake the muffins for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool the muffins in the pan for 5 minutes. Using a kitchen knife, gently lift the muffins out of their tins and transfer to a cooling rack.

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Tags: Breakfast, Muffins, raspberry, streusel

I love muffins, and I’m always trying to find new and delicious ways to whip up a batch of these easy-to-make treats. The house smelled so good while these Sweet Peach Muffins were baking! The recipe says to eat them 5 minutes after they come out of the oven. I tried that and burned my fingers on molten chunks of peach. I suggest waiting a bit longer for the muffins to cool, especially if kids will be enjoying them. One of my kids even inhaled two of the muffins in one sitting.  The combination of perfectly ripe peaches, warm spices and the streusel topping is delicious!

I skipped the walnuts in the streusel topping because I’m not a fan of walnuts. Pecans would be a great substitute but I chose to forgo the nuts because I thought the kids would like the muffins best without them. Either way, the streusel topping is tasty. This recipe is versatile and can be used with a variety of fruits depending on season. I haven’t tried any of the other versions, but I’m looking forward to trying the muffins with pears and apples in the Fall. Yumm!

Sweet Peach Muffins with Brown Sugar-Walnut Streusel Topping
-recipe from The Foster’s Market Cookbook by Sara Foster with Sarah Belk King

These are best when peaches are at their summer peak, although they’re good made with frozen peaches, too. The streusel topping can be made in advance. These muffins are best eaten warm. Variations: Almost any fresh or frozen fruit (except for very soft fruits like bananas, papaya, or mango) can be substituted for the peaches. Try blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, or strawberries. In autumn, try chopped fresh apples or chipped pears.

Makes large 12 muffins.

Brown Sugar-Walnut Streusel Topping:
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Muffin Batter:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 tablespoon dark rum or pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups peeled, pitted, chopped peaches

For the topping: Combine the walnuts, flour, brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Add the butter and mix until well blended. Set aside or refrigerate in an airtight container until ready to use.

For the muffins: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line 12 large muffin cups with paper liners and spray the top part of the pan lightly with nonstick spray.

Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt in a large bowl and set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, butter, sour cream and rum or vanilla until well blended. Fold in the peaches.

Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just moist and blended. Do not overmix.

Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pan with a large ice cream scoop (1/3-cup scoop). The batter will come to the top of the paper liner or pan. Sprinkle with the Brown Sugar-Walnut Streusel Topping and lightly press the topping into the muffin batter.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until the tops of the muffins spring back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes clean. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Turn the muffins out of the pan, and serve immediately.

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Tags: Baking, Breakfast, brown sugar, cinnamon, Foster's Market, Muffins, peach, Sara Foster, streusel

These orange-scented muffins are moist, not too sweet and studded with chocolate chips. I’m eating one now between sips of freshly brewed French roast coffee…Yumm! I got the recipe out of the Fresh Every Day Cookbook by Sara Foster. She calls the muffins Orange Chocolate Muffins, but I renamed them Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins since they’re not really chocolate muffins (other than the chocolate chips).

I followed the recipe as written, using Trader Joe’s High Fiber cereal in place of All Bran or bran flakes. The addition of the fiber cereal means you’re getting some roughage along with your chocolate. See…chocolate can be healthy! Next time I make them, I’ll definitely add dried cranberries, too, since I love the flavor combo of chocolate, orange and cranberry.

Orange Chocolate Muffins
-recipe from Fresh Every Day: More Great Recipes From Foster’s Market by Sara Foster

These are best served warm, fresh from the oven. Makes 12 large muffins.

1/2 cup bran flakes or All Bran cereal
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt 
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup sour cream
Grated zest of 2 oranges and 1/2 cup of their juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375F degrees. Line 12 large muffin cups with liners and spray the top of the pan with vegetable oil spray or grease lightly.

Stir the bran flakes, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together in a large bowl.

In a separate large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer on high speed until fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add the egg and mix to combine. Add the sour cream, orange zest and juice, and vanilla and mix until incorporated.

Add the bran-flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon or the paddle attachment of an electric mixer until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Stir in the chocolate chips to combine. Do not mix any more than necessary.

Use a 1/3-cup measure or ice cream scoop to scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them to just below the rim of the cup. Bake the muffins for 20 to 25 minutes, until a wooden skewer comes out clean when inserted in the center of a muffin and the muffins spring back when touched. Let the muffins rest for about 5 minutes before turning them out. Serve immediately or cool on a wire rack.

Tags: bran cereal, butter, chocolate chips, Muffins, orange, orange juice, orange zest, sour cream

Recently, I ran across this recipe for Banana Pina Colada Muffins. Since I had some ripe bananas that needed to be used, I decided to give the recipe a try. They’re a nice change from the typical banana muffin. I don’t think they tasted anything like a pina colada, though. The name must be referring to the ingredients used (dried pineapple and coconut) instead of the flavor. So even if you don’t like the famous tropical beverage, you could still enjoy the muffins.

I followed the recipe except that I ran out of wheat flour so I used 1-1/2 cups wheat flour and 1/2 cup all-purpose flour. I also found that I only had about 1-1/4 cups of mashed banana so I spooned in a few tablespoons of plain yogurt to bring the amount up to 1-1/2 cups. The muffins turned out moist and not-too-sweet, and make a great afternoon snack!

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Banana Pina Colada Muffins
-recipe from kingarthurflour.com

Coconut and pineapple team beautifully in that famous rum drink, the piña colada. The two play just as nicely together in this whole-grain muffin. Banana adds pleasingly moist texture, and an additional taste of the tropics.

1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) butter
1/2 cup (3 3/4 ounces) brown sugar, light or dark
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon coconut flavor or rum flavor (optional)
1 1/2 cups (13 1/2 ounces) mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium to large bananas, about 22 ounces before peeling)*
1/4 cup (3 ounces) honey
2 large eggs
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) King Arthur 100% White Whole Wheat Flour, organic preferred
3/4 to 1 cup (4 1/2 to 6 ounces) diced dried pineapple**
generous 1/3 cup (1 ounce) shredded or flaked coconut, sweetened or unsweetened, for topping

*Did you guess wrong and find yourself a bit short of 1 1/2 cups mashed banana? Rather than cut a chunk off another banana, top off the measuring cup with applesauce, if desired.

**Don’t use canned pineapple; it’s too juicy and will make the muffins soggy. If you like, substitute another dried fruit: chopped dates, raisins, or chopped apricots are all good choices.

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with muffin cups, and grease the cups.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, vanilla, and coconut or rum flavor. Add the bananas, honey, eggs, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt, beating until smooth. Stir in the flour, then the dried fruit. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups. Sprinkle each muffin with coconut.

Bake the muffins for 25 to 28 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center of one comes out clean. Remove from the oven, and as soon as possible tilt each muffin in its cup, to allow air to circulate and prevent the bottoms from steaming. Serve warm, or at room temperature. Yield: 12 muffins.

Tags: banana, coconut, dried pineapple, Muffins, pina colada

Looking for a way to use up some fresh cranberries that didn’t get put to use during the holidays? These orange-scented muffins are delicious, moist and not too sweet.

Since I didn’t have buttermilk, I substituted a mixture of 1/2 cup sour cream and 1/2 cup 2% milk. I made 6 muffins as is, then added chocolate chips to the rest of the batter. Both versions were great. Because of the added chocolate chips, I ended up with a total of 14 muffins instead of 12. The Wilton Sparkling Sugar I sprinkled on top of the muffins adds a pretty finishing touch.

Cranberry-Orange Muffins
-recipe from Fine Cooking Magazine

Orange zest brings a sweet complement to the tart fresh cranberries crowding this muffin. Yields 12 muffins.

1-1/2 cups fresh cranberries, picked through and rinsed
9 oz. (2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour; more for the pan
2 oz. (1/2 cup) cake flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. table salt
5 oz. (10 Tbs.) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature; more for the pan
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1-1/2 tsp. finely grated orange zest (using a rasp-style zester, this is the zest of 1 small orange)
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 Tbs. turbinado sugar (such as Sugar In The Raw)

Position a rack near the center of the oven and heat the oven to 425°F. Generously butter a standard 12-cup muffin tin, including the top rim, and dust the pan with flour. Tap out any excess.

Using a food processor, coarsely chop the cranberries.

In a medium bowl, mix the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder, ginger, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 min. Scrape the bowl. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing for at least 30 seconds at medium speed and scraping the bowl after each addition. Beat in the orange zest and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, briefly beat in one-third of the flour mixture, then add 1/2 cup of the buttermilk; when combined, mix in another one-third of the flour; then mix in the remaining 1/2 cup buttermilk and the orange juice, and finally mix in the rest of the flour. Scrape the bowl and beat the batter just until smooth, another 10 seconds. Using a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon, fold the cranberries into the batter.

Spoon the batter evenly into the muffin tin (each cup will be quite full). Sprinkle the tops of the muffins generously with the turbinado sugar.

Bake until the tops are golden and a skewer inserted an inch into the top of a muffin comes out clean, 15 to 18 min. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 min. and then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely. These muffins are best eaten the day they’re made.

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Tags: Baking, buttermilk, Christmas, fresh cranberries, holidays, Muffins, orange zest

These moist and tender muffins are a great way to show off a seasonal Springtime ingredient: rhubarb. The muffins are slightly tart and slightly sweet with a delicious cinnamon-sugar topping.  I like them best the day they’re made when the muffin tops are still a little crunchy.

Trim away any rhubarb leaves from the stalks (they’re toxic), stalk ends and brown spots. Look for firm rhubarb stalks that are pale pink (hothouse grown) or bright red (field grown) in color. 

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Cinnamon-Rhubarb Muffins
-recipe from Fine Cooking Magazine
 
These muffins are best when freshly baked, but they’re still good the second day. Just reheat them in a 350°F oven for 3 to 4 minutes to refresh them. Yields 12 muffins.

For the muffins:
9 oz. (2 cups) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup sour cream
4 oz. (8 Tbs.) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 large eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups 1/4-inch-diced rhubarb (7-1/4 oz.)

For the topping:
3 Tbs. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 400°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper or foil baking cups.

Make the muffin batter: In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt and whisk to blend.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the sour cream, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Lightly stir the sour cream mixture into the dry ingredients with a spatula until the batter just comes together; do not overmix. Gently stir in the diced rhubarb. The batter will be thick.

Divide the batter among the muffin cups, using the back of a spoon or a small spatula to settle the batter into the cups. The batter should mound a bit higher than the tops of the cups.

Make the topping: In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon and mix well. Sprinkle a generous 1/2 tsp. of the cinnamon-sugar mixture over each muffin.

Bake the muffins until they’re golden brown, spring back most of the way when gently pressed, and a pick inserted in the center comes out clean, 18 to 22 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes. Carefully lift the muffins out of the pan—if necessary, loosen them with the tip of a paring knife—and let them cool somewhat. Serve warm.

Tags: cinnamon, Muffins, rhubarb, springtime