This recipe beautifully showcases the love affair between the cran and the lemon. A match made in gastronomical nirvana. In this recipe you have a sweet, moist and light muffin with more than a hint of fresh lemony goodness and then ba-bang!! You get an explosion of a fresh cranberry, and then another .... and another! A veritable profusion of cranberry! Never has something that hails from an acidic bog in the northern hemisphere tasted so very good!
Now, I've said before that I don't have an overly sweet tooth. But I do adore anything sweet that is balanced with a touch of sourness. Kind of like my personality, I suppose. You get my
You may be asking yourself ... 'Self, where does Laurie get fresh cranberries this time of year?' Well, seeing that I don't live near an acidic bog here in the northern hemisphere I have to stock up on bags of fresh cranberries every Fall. I toss these bags into my freezers and hoard them like the apocalypse is imminent. They are my treasure. My preciousssss.
Currently I still have about 7 bags of cranberry goodness divided between my three freezers. I'm currently awaiting a TV network to come up with a new show called 'Frozen Food Hoarders' to showcase my obsession which could also include the 30+ frozen bananas and as well as Jumbo Freezies from 1998 that are stockpiled alongside the cranberries. But I digress ...
These delicious muffins didn't last long in our house. While Boy 1 and Missy Moo are not fans of the cran Brad, Boy 2, my parents and I eagerly divvied up these muffins and ate them all within a day. Needless to say these easy-to-whip-up and oh-so moist muffins will definitely be making a regular appearance in my weekly baking.
Yield: 12 medium-sized muffins
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 large lemon
1 1/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup grapeseed oil (or vegetable oil)
1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries (I use them from frozen)
Preheat oven to 400F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with muffin papers and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt. Zest the lemon and add zest to the dry ingredients.
Halve the lemon and juice it. Add 2 tbsp lemon juice to the milk and set it aside. It will become clumpy looking and will give it an added lemon kick.
Meanwhile, lightly beat the eggs in a medium bowl. Add oil and milk/lemon juice mixture. Mix well.
Gently pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and slowly blend (remember: Overbeating will create dense muffins!). Fold in the cranberries (mine are always still frozen when I add them).
Using a large melon baller (or large spoon) fill muffin tins. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Remove muffins to a wire rack and allow them to cool completely. Store muffins in an air-tight container or freeze for later use.
Inspired by: Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy Lemon Cranberry Muffins
I just made these today to bring to a quilting retreat on the weekend. Of course I had to taste them first... They are delicious! I can't wait to make more for my kids next week!
ReplyDeleteGinettte - I'm so glad that you liked these muffins! A quilting retreat sounds great. I hope your kids enjoy them next week. I have a couple of lemons and a few bags of cranberries. Maybe I'll bake some tomorrow on my day off. :)
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