Tuesday, January 29, 2008

TWD: Orange Berry Muffins


Jaime from Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats invited me a few days ago to join Tuesdays With Dorie! Tuesdays with Dorie is a group of 6 people now (Jaime as mentioned, Quirky Cupcake, Sugar & Spice, Abby Sweets, Crazy Delicious and Queen of the Marginally Bright) who choose one recipe a week and all make the same thing from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours. Such a great idea as I really love this cookbook and haven't made nearly enough things out of it. So this was my first week with them and we made orange berry muffins!


I wasn't sure that I was going to make them as I was trying to be healthier this week with my whole wheat blueberry muffins. But when I found out that today was a snow day and my school was closed, I had to make them! And I'm really glad I did. They're such soft, fluffy and tender muffins. And so beautiful looking too! I went all out and even buttered the muffin tin instead of using muffin cups, making for nice crispy muffin edges all around, mmm. I didn't have any buttermilk, so I used milk with a bit of vinegar and it seemed to work fine (my first time using a buttermilk substitution).


The blueberry and orange flavours were perfectly balanced and the muffins were just the right sweetness. The muffins were very easy to put together and I love that the recipe uses melted butter instead of room temperature butter, meaning you can bake them on a whim! Thanks ladies for welcoming me to your group. Go check out the others' blogs to see their yummy muffins!


Other muffins I've made:
Almond Coconut
Snickerdoodle
Lemon Poppyseed
Healthy Banana Bran
Healthy Pumpkin Banana


Orange Berry Muffins
Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours (Dorie Greenspan)

Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
1/2 tbsp vinegar + 3/4 cup milk, mixed (or 3/4 cup buttermilk)
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons honey
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup frozen blueberries

Preheat the oven to 400F. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan or fit the molds with paper muffin cups. Alternatively, use a silicone muffin pan, which needs neither greasing nor paper cups. Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet.

Pour the orange juice into a large glass measuring cup or a bowl and pour in enough buttermilk to make 1 cup. Whisk in the eggs, honey and melted butter.

In a large bowl, rub the sugar and orange zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and the fragrance of orange strong. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don’t worry about being thorough - the batter will be lumpy and bubbly, and that’s just the way it should be. Stir in the blueberries. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Bake for 22 to 25 minutes. If you want to top the muffins with decorating sugar, sprinkle on the sugar after the muffins have baked for 10 minutes. When fully baked, the tops of the muffins will be golden and springy to the touch and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins will come out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold.

39 comments:

Nikki57 said...

Yay for Snow Day baking! They look great.

Anonymous said...

Ahh, those look really good *salivates* It's too bad every time I make muffins I overmix or add too much flour, because they usually turn out like dry, hard rocks. I live in Burnaby, but most of the schools stayed open. My school's near a hill/mountain, though, so you can imagine how much fun we had sifting through the snow and slush walking and bussing to school, haha.

Anonymous said...

These look beautiful! Your muffins came out perfect - I'm glad you were able to make them after all!

Jaime said...

i'm so glad you decided to join us! and hooray for snow days :) your muffins look so fluffy and delicious!

Sarah said...

Yum! I baked cranberry orange muffins today. :) Yours are probably better though since I attempted to make mine uber-healthy!

Much enjoying your recipes already even though I'm fairly new to your blog!

slush said...

Good call on the buttered tin. They look oh so good. YUM! So glad you joined us!

April said...

Great looking muffins! I am happy that you joined us!

Patricia Scarpin said...

Citrus and berries together?? I'm in for some, please!

Cookie baker Lynn said...

Doggone it - I wish I hadn't looked at this before eating breakfast. Now I want these for breakfast and I don't have any blueberries in the house! Ah! You taunt me with your gorgeous muffins. Could you run a few down her for me, please?

Deborah said...

I hardly ever have buttermilk at home, and use the milk and vinegar substitution often. It also works with milk and a bit of lemon juice.

Your muffins look amazing! I'm gonna have to try these out!

Anonymous said...

Wow, now THOSE are some muffins! I'm drooling over here!

Brilynn said...

I love that you guys are doing TWD! That's so awesome!

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

Those muffins look wonderful, the orange is a nice addition! I just love blueberries, but haven't had a bluberry muffin for ages. I like the way that some of the blueberries just explode inside of the muffins!

Lisa Turner said...

Just found your blog via Holler. These muffins would be just perfect right now. Lovely recipes and photographs. I'll be back.

kickpleat said...

oh wow, that looks so tasty! great photos and hooray for snow days (tho it looks like it's all going to melt).

Ruby Red said...

I'm trying to think, and I believe this would be the first time I've ever seen blueberries and oranges together in a baked good recipe before. They sound delicious, and your baking group sounds fun - even though it's only the internet, there has to be some sort of "bonding" or some extra feelings of closeness by all making the same recipe and being able to talk about it. And by the way, your muffins are always shaped perfectly. They've got the nice smooth bottom that I like, and your pictures are just so darn gorgeous to begin with. :)

Kelly said...

Oooo, yum yum. I already have a favorite, die-hard blueberry muffin recipe, but these are tempting enough to reconsider. And for that recipe, I use a buttermilk substitute as well: for 1 cup of buttermilk = 1 tsp. lemon juice + add enough milk to make a cup. I imagine hint of lemon would be great with these!

thepassionatecook said...

blueberry muffins are one of my husbands yet unfulfilled dreams.. he's been asking me to make some for ages, so i think this weekend, i'll venture into it... thanks for the recipe!

winedeb said...

Hi Ashley! Was introduced to you over at Holler's blog. Thought I would drop by and say Hi! I obviously did it at the right time as I am gathering muffin recipes to bake when I have guests the 2nd week of February. I figured muffins and a big bowl of fruit salad would be a tasty and healthy breakfast! Your muffins look awesome!

Sylvia said...

My husband love muffin and I am searching for a perfect muffin now. Looking at yours I thought that they had the texture that I was searching, and I definitely must try your recipe.

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Orange-Blueberry muffins... now THAT'S a winning muffin variety, for sure - delish!!

Sarena Shasteen - The Non-Dairy Queen said...

They look so good! I am on the hunt for a blueberry muffin that looks like that and tastes like that, but is healthy!

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

They never closed the schools here in Comox. I was surprised because the roads were slippery. Those muffins looks so good.

Mary said...

holy "cow" those look amazing! I got here from holler's blog.....I think she adopted me too...does that mean we are siblings? I want those muffins!

KJ said...

i wish it snowed here. I could do with a day off. And then i could make these muffins too, because they look so good.

Anonymous said...

I love Dorie! This was the first recipe I made when I received the book. They look so good that I may have to whip up a batch!

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

PS: I have tagged you for a MEME. This is an easy one and you are not obligated but check out my answers if you get the chance. Cheers!

Anonymous said...

Deborah - I didn't know that lemon juice could be used for making buttermilk. Nice! I like that. I've been doing soy milk + vinegar for years with great results.

JEP said...

Gorgeous photos & I am sooo in the mood for muffins!

Oye Cookie! said...

beautiful! i'm thinking of joining this group just cause i really enjoy dorie greenspan's recipes. i'm a new baking blogger and would love to have a project to work on once a week. just have to get that book though!

jennifer
www.oyecookie.com

Susan from Food Blogga said...

Ooh, that's just how I like my muffins-- moist and cakey. With citrus season in full bloom, I'll have to try these. Thanks!

Jannett said...

These look sooo good... great photos...
:)

Anonymous said...

These look good! I love anything with orange.

Katy said...

those look just awesome -- the blueberries look so plump and delicious!

madeleine said...

Found your blog whilst looking for healthier baking tips. I just made these citrus berry muffins on the weekend (with a few twists - half wholemeal/half white flour and flaked almonds on the top) and they were super delish! Nice one!

elimagination said...

hi im elisa, i know this post was a WHILE ago but i was seeking for new recipes for muffins, i am the kind of person who eats healthy food too, and also i am lactose intolerant, so sometimes is hard for me to make things like these. I do not use milk, butter, buttermilk, and almos any eggs, so what can i do when it comes to put buttermilk into the muffins any idea?.. but well even without butter or milk my muffins taste pretty good, maybe you should try it once. To do it only with oil and one egg.. two eggs arent necesary, but is just a suggestion.. ohh and maybe you can create some sort of lactose free muffin for people who is lactose intolerant like me..haha
thanks for listening

eatme_delicious said...

eli: I have some vegan muffin recipes on my blog that don't have egg, milk, butter or buttermilk. You can google vegan muffins too and will find lots of recipes. =)

Unknown said...

I made these using 1/4 wheat flour, 1/4 c honey and 1/4 sugar then drizzled them sparingly with a simple orange glaze. My boyfriend thought they were really tasty, calling them a cross between blueberry pancakes and orange scones. Next time, I'll add more orange zest and maybe substitute some corn meal in.
Thanks for the recipe!

eatme_delicious said...

Ooo a cross between blueberry pancakes and orange scones.. what a delicious way to describe them!