Do you love orange cranberry muffins?
Our 8 year old wanted to try making orange cranberry muffins the other day and I had everything we needed, so we threw together this quick version and they turned out really goooood! All 24 were gone by the next morning. I used my usual method of combining a few different recipes depending on what I had on hand and what I thought would be a good combo of nutrition and deliciousness. Even though this isn't a recipe using soaked grains (read more about why soaked, sprouted or sourdough grains are better for us here), I did use real food ingredients like these:
- Einkorn flour, one of my favorite alternative grains – we don't use much conventional wheat these days. (Read more about einkorn flour here: could THIS be the cause of the gluten sensitivity epidemic?)
- Organic oranges, since citrus crops are usually heavily sprayed with chemicals.
- Unrefined natural sugar, which is why these muffins are darker in color than the ones you might have had in the past.
- Organic cranberries, which are loaded with antioxidants whether organic or not, but I like organic because most berries are also heavily sprayed.
- And of course gads of my favorite real foodie ingredient: pastured butter! Why is it my favorite? Well, besides that it makes everything taste better, pastured fats are high in nutrients, AND healthy fats help lower the glycemic index of sugar and grains, which means they help to limit the huge blood sugar spikes that you normally get with those foods. (This is good not just for diabetics, but for all of us to limit weight gain and other nasties, cool, huh?)
Orange Cranberry Muffins
Servings: 24 Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup pastured butter
- Zest of 2 oranges, preferably organic
- Juice of 5 organic oranges – I also added some of the pulp for more flavor-- see note below
- 1 3/4 cup of your favorite natural sugar --I like palm sugar
- 1.5-2 cups chopped cranberries – I used my food processor , I use a 12 ounce bag of organic cranberries (easy to find in the produce section before Thanksgiving at our local store, I buy extra and keep them in my freezer so I have them all year when needed)
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 4 cups organic einkorn flour or regular organic all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup plain whole milk yogurt or sour cream --never buy low-fat or non-fat anything, you know that by now, right?! If not, read more about healthy fats here!
- 4 eggs , beaten
- More natural sugar for the top , or some organic white cane sugar so it's a little prettier if desired
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter with sugar, zest, orange juice, and cranberries and bring to a light boil for 10-12 minutes. Let cool. Add the dry ingredients to a mixing bowl, we use my beloved Bosch, and stir together; then beat in the rest of the ingredients along with the cranberry/orange mixture once it's cool.
- Spoon into muffin cups or a buttered muffin pan. (I also made a few mini orange cranberry muffins.) Sprinkle sugar on top. Bake at 350*, or more like 335* if your oven runs hot like mine, for 13-15 minutes or so, just until the top feels set and it springs back when you push it a little.
- If you'd like to make bread instead (it's faster), grease 2 loaf pans well and divide batter between them. For my oven, 48 minutes at 350* was perfect.
Notes
Add a scoop of this collagen to the batter for extra nutrients!
If you don't have fresh oranges, you can just use 1 1/2 cup of organic orange juice.
Check out the pictures below:
Heidi says
I am new to soaking grains before using them. How could I alter this to do so–would I mix it all the flour and milk at once, let sit overnight, then add the rest of the ingredients?
KitchenKop says
Heidi, you’d need some sort of “acid medium” as well, maybe a couple Tablespoons of whey or lemon juice in with the milk and flour. The next day add the other ingredients. Let me know how it goes!
Kelly
Amy G. says
Great timing as I was planning to make cranberry orange muffins today!! Thank you. Amy
Lindsay says
Dee-lish! By far the BEST orange-cranberry muffin or bread I’ve ever had. I did not “count my chickens” before juicing my oranges, so when I found out I had only 2 eggs on hand, I had to halve the recipe. I’ll definitely make these regularly. (BTW, I used 5 tangerines and 2 oranges. The recipe is forgiving of such “experiments.”)
Jill says
so the einkorn flour is considered a grain?
KitchenKop says
Hi Jill,
Yes, Einkorn is an ancient form of wheat, much less hybridized than conventional. For some who can’t eat conventional wheat, they can eat this with no problem. Not everyone, though.
Kelly