Wake up Cheerful!
Cheerful cranberry orange muffins with walnuts
Ah, Cranberry Orange Muffins…
There’s nothing so cheerful as waking up to a batch of cranberry orange muffins. Because what’s better in a muffin than the bright red tart cranberry paired with the bright cheery sweet orange? Well, it’s even nicer if you add walnuts, too! (unless you don’t like nuts, then, leave those out!) These little guys will make you want to get right outta bed with a smile on your face.
The elusive cranberry
Now, the only problem with the cheerful cranberry orange muffin is the fact that cranberries only come at one time of year. 🙁 Every year I plan to stock up heavily on bags of cranberries to fill a good portion of my freezer. When they start to show up in the stores at the end of October or early November, you only have a couple more months before they’re gone again until next year.
You’d think I’d have it all figured out by now but it never fails each year. I always run out of my stash of frozen cranberries before they’re back in the stores. It just breaks my heart when I use up that last bag on a batch of these muffins and it’s only June or July. But it’s not the cranberry’s fault. They stay good for a year in the freezer! It’s my fault for not buying enough bags to keep on hand throughout the year.
Just one question
But I do wonder one thing. Why can’t I find cranberries in the freezer section? Is it just my local stores that don’t carry them or is that a thing everywhere? I don’t get it. If they freeze so well, why can’t the stores carry them all year in the frozen aisle? Something I’m left to ponder.
However, this year I have faith I will buy enough bags of these little gems to make it all the way until the new batches return. I’ve started the process with every trip to the grocery store. They are stockpiled in my freezer every week. I only buy organic but I’ve been able to find them a little easier this year. Normally I only find them at Wild by Nature in Hampton Bays but they’ve had them at Stop and Shop this year, too! Yay!
Seasonal-Smeasonal
So, technically, I suppose these muffins are a rather seasonal sort of muffin because of the cranberries. But, as I’ve mentioned, I like them more often. You’re probably thinking, ‘why not just have dried cranberries?’ Because I’m not a fan. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, since I like raisins and I love cranberries but I just don’t like craisins (or dried cranberries). We just like what we like and sometimes there’s no rhyme or reason, right?
The any-time muffin!
So you know I like these muffins any time of year but I also like them any time of day. They’re not just good for breakfast time, they’re also good for dessert, mid-day snack, late-day treat…you get the idea! And they will never cease to make you smile before you eat one. Because they’re the Cheerful Cranberry Orange Muffin. Cheerfully delicious!
cheerful cranberry orange muffins for you!
You might also like brilliant banana bread for another cheery treat to eat!
EAT IT
copyright © thehamptonsvegan 2017 – 2023. All rights reserved.
Cheerful Cranberry Orange Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups frozen or fresh cranberries
- 1 cup pecans or walnuts optional
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup orange juice
- 1/2 cup oil
- 2 tablespoons orange zest
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line muffin tin with 12 paper liners. Chop cranberries in half and chop up nuts if using. Set aside. In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add orange juice, oil, zest, vanilla, and almond extracts. Mix all together but just before all flour is blended in, add cranberries and nuts. Finish mixing just until all is moistened. Fill muffin cups evenly and bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack, removing muffins from the tin as soon as possible (after 5-10 minutes) to allow them to cool on the rack without the tin. Then cool completely before storing in an airtight container. *see note.
Notes
cheerful cranberry orange muffins for you!