Orange Muffins

Orange_Muffins

I was trying to think of what recipe to share on Toothless Wahine first. Then it occurred to me to start at the very beginning (a very good place to start!). Orange muffins have been around our house for as long as I can remember. To be honest I have no idea where we originally found this recipe. These muffins have become a staple at all of our holiday meals as well as anytime we want a fresh baked quick bread with a meal. These are great for breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner. The batter can be made ahead of time (just add the baking powder when you go to bake them). These muffins can also be made as an orange cake in a square 8×8 glass-baking dish. This recipe is also easy to double or triple if you need more than 12 muffins. You can probably see why this is one of my favorites! And I will give you all sorts of variations to accommodate several food allergies.

Orange Muffins

¼ cup butter/margarine
½ cup sugar
1 egg
¼ cup rice milk/milk/orange juice
½ cup orange juice
1 tsp orange zest
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cream butter and sugar together. Add the other ingredients and combine but avoid over mixing. I have made these by hand or in a mixer and I can’t tell a difference. Add the baking powder right before baking. Spoon batter into a 12 count muffin tin that has been lined with paper muffin cups. You can also use cooking spray to line the muffin tins if you wish to not use paper muffin cups, and you can also butter and flour line the muffin tins. Bake at 425 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Muffins should be golden brown on top and a toothpick should come out of the center clean.

So it’s a very simple recipe. I have made these with either butter or margarine so whatever works for you is fine. As far as the liquid is concerned I have used soy milk, rice milk, fresh squeezed OJ and canned OJ. I find the muffins are more orange flavored if you use all orange juice. If you zest a large orange, it is usually pretty easy to get a quarter cup of juice out of the same orange. The muffins do tend to be a little smoother if you use a milk product (I use rice milk regularly). I have even mixed the juice and rice milk half and half and they come out great. Also, if you have an allergy to egg yolks, these muffins do pretty well with two egg whites substituted for the whole egg. For crunchy muffin lovers you can also bake these in a muffin top tin and you get nice muffin tops with crunchy exteriors and fluffy centers (this recipe makes 6 muffin tops). I make them as normal muffins now since I do not enjoy the super crispy exterior since radiation. You could probably also glaze or frost these with an orange glaze or vanilla frosting if you enjoy death by sugar.

I hope you all find this recipe as useful as I have. Its one of my favorites and ono! (yummy in Hawaiian). Have I mentioned that I have family history in Hawaii so I tend to use Hawaiian words at random? ☺