Cranberry Nut Muffins

Last week, when I saw on Facebook that cranberries were available at Outpost, I immediately added them to my shopping list.  Thank you Sandhill Cranberry in Vesper, Wisconsin for getting your harvest to Outpost so quickly!

The combination of cranberries and orange zest works well in so many recipes.  The recipe that I followed to make these muffins is actually a scone recipe that I tried last year.  At the time I noted that the wet batter would be better for muffins, but hadn't tested that theory until now.

 

It turns out that the recipe works beautifully for muffins.  The only change I made was to reduce the baking time.  Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly.  Not too tart, not too sweet...the perfect muffin! 

The package of cranberries I purchased contained two cups, so I froze the extra cup using my new FoodSaver (which I love, by the way).  Cranberries contain benzoic acid, a natural preservative, so they can be stored for up to 2 months in the refrigerator or frozen for up to a year.

Cranberry Nut Muffins

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients (16 muffins)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup butter, chilled and diced
• 1 cup fresh cranberries, roughly chopped
• 1/3 cup sugar
• grated zest of one orange
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 3/4 cup half-and-half cream
• 1 egg

Instructions

• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin pans with 16 muffin liners.
• In a large bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, nutmeg and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• In a small bowl, combine cranberries with the sugar. Add to flour mixture, followed by the orange zest and walnuts. Mix lightly.
• In a small bowl, whip the cream and egg together with a fork. Then slowly pour into the dry ingredients. Mix with a rubber scraper just until combined.
• Portion batter into muffin pans (I used a large Oxo scoop), approximately 2/3 full. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out cleanly.  Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.

Recipe adapted from: Allrecipes.com

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