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Sunday, November 20, 2011

Sunday Morning : Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

This Sunday I decided to do a little baking (not like me) so we would have some quick easy snacks this week as we start planning to make that 10 hour drive to SC again.  After much internet searching, I had some ideas and some starting points.  I was trying to make these not too sweet and without a stick of butter - which apparently makes me the odd man out - because that seemed to be the theme of most of the recipes I found! 

It took three batches before I was completely happy with the results, but these are pretty darn good - and I don't feel guilty eating them. 

1 cup unbleached, all purpose flour
1 cup wholewheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp allspice
1 cup canned, solid pack pumpkin
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water / juice -- see instructions
2 large eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup dried cranberries
a juicy orange

Some raw sugar from sprinkling the tops.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners and give them a little spray of oil.

Put the dried cranberries in a small bowl and zest the orange into the bowl with them (I used a microplane to keep it really fine), then squeeze the juice of the orange over the cranberries. Let sit while you do everything else.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Put aside.

Mix together the pumpkin, sugar, eggs and oil until smooth.

Now back to the cranberries - drain the cranberries over a measuring cup and keep 1/4 c of the juice.  If you don't have 1/4 cup - just top it off with water.  Stir this liquid into the pumpkin liquid.  Any extra juice should be discarded.

Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and stir until the batter is just combined, then stir in the drained cranberries.
 
Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling each one almost to the top. Sprinkle the top of each with some raw sugar and bake on the center rack of the oven for 20 – 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Set to cool on a wire rack.

This made 12 regular muffins and about 9 mini muffins.  My muffin tins are over 30 years old, so they are a bit smaller than the monster size muffins you get now - but I think if you had the newer/bigger size tins it would make a dozen.

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