When I was a little girl we had a cookbook with really easy recipes for kids. I used to haul out that thing just about every Saturday when I was about 12 years old and bake. The book had a recipe in there for blueberry muffins and I made those muffins so many times I think I must have had the recipe burned on my brain. This recipe is super easy as it does not require a stand mixer. Just a couple of bowls. Like a good mid-western family we had a huge freezer full of fruit for the cold winter months and we always had frozen blueberries. If you are like me and love to squirrel away fruit; now is the time to stock up on cranberries while they are in season and load up the freezer. Although I love a good blueberry muffin I like different flavors now and several years ago I used to get a cranberry muffin from a local bakery. It had whole tart berries in it and I loved the punchy burst of tart flavor. The muffin had a sweet glaze on top to balance out the sharp contrast of the berries inside. I had that muffin in mind when I came up with this recipe. I like to keep the cranberries whole so you get a real sense of the flavor. It’s a nice surprising fresh pop of tart when you bite into them. The berries do turn out soft in the muffin so don’t worry–no chopping needed.

 

Cranberry Muffins

(yield: 12 standard size muffins)

2 Cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 C sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 Cup + 2 Tbsp. milk

1/4 Cup melted butter

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

zest of one large orange

2 Cups whole fresh cranberries

Glaze:

1 1/2 Cups confectioners sugar

3-4 Tbsp. milk

1. Preheat the oven to 400° degrees F. Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with baking spray or grease. In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients with a whisk or fork.  In a small bowl whisk together the milk, butter, eggs, vanilla and zest. Make a well in the bowl of dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Stir in the cranberries.

2. Fill each muffin tin equally with the batter. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, then decrease the temperature to 350° degrees and continue to bake for about another 10-12 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out almost clean with a few moist crumbs. Cool the muffins in the tin for 7 minutes then remove them to cool completely over a wire rack. Dip the top of each muffin into the glaze and let sit over wire rack with piece of parchment or wax paper underneath to catch any drips.