Here Comes The Sun | Orange Strawberry Muffins

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the wonderful mamas out there! I was able to spend the morning with my fabulous mama, and celebrated her with the most fabulous cinnamon buns ever. In fact, those present at our little brunch exclaimed that they were the best cinnamon buns they had ever tasted. Don’t worry, I will share later this week, but I’m going to hold out on you for now. I have been meaning to share this muffin recipe for a couple of weeks now, and little old life has gotten in the way of me doing so. Spring brings with it the start of many outdoor activities, like soccer and Ultimate frisbee, and at present three of my weeknights are occupied with these activities. Little Miss Bella is in love with this new season, and its new sights and smells, and we are trying to let her enjoy it as much as possible. This means long evening walks, playing fetch in the park, and joining honey and I on the occasional run. When is a girl supposed to blog with that schedule?

My papa spends his winters in Phoenix to escape the frigid Canadian weather, and when he returned in April, he brought back with him 600…yes, six hundred oranges. Six hundred of the most juicy, sweet, amazing oranges I have ever tasted. He threw about 40 oranges my way, and I enjoyed several oranges per day for the first few days before I soon realized that I would not be able to consume all of those delicious oranges before they were past their prime. So I scoured recipe books, foodie magazines, and blogs for some orange recipes. One failed orange cake (which used 12 oranges!) and a batch of orange butter (think lemon butter, but with oranges) later, I stumbled upon this recipe for Orange Strawberry Muffins. I was intrigued by a few aspects of the recipe, including the almond topping and the addition of strawberries. These muffins baked up tender and sweet, with a lovely little hit of orange flavor. And they are quite healthy in comparison to other muffin recipes out there. Give these muffins a try if you’re looking for something a little bit different than the every day muffin. They just might be that little ray of sunshine that gets the day off to a good start.

Orange Strawberry Muffins (slightly adapted from eatingwell.com)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tsp. orange zest

1/4 cup canola oil

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup orange juice

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups chopped fresh or frozen (not thawed) strawberries

Topping:

3 TBSP. almonds

2 TBSP. flour

2 TBSP. brown sugar

1 tsp. orange zest

1/4 tsp. salt

2 TBSP. canola oil

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Prepare a 12-cup muffin tin (with cooking spray or muffin liners). In a food processor, combine the almonds, 2 TBSP. all-purpose flour, 2 TBSP. brown sugar, 1 tsp. orange zest and 1/4 tsp. salt and pulse until finely ground. Transfer to a small bowl, add the 2 TBSP. oil and stir to combine. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 tsp. orange zest, 1/4 cup oil, buttermilk, orange juice, egg, and vanilla and mix well. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients; stir until just moistened. Add the strawberries; stir just to combine. Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle generously with the topping.

Bake the muffins until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Happy eating!



Comments

  1. Oh these muffins do look like a burst of sunshine and the most perfect spring breakfast. 600 oranges?! I am in sunny CA and that even sounds a bit nuts to me! 🙂

  2. Living in the Florida Orange State, I’m always looking for recipes using oranges, but honestly have never aquired that many! So pretty and healthy too!

  3. I love treats with orange in them. Such a lovely and distinctive flavour. Wish someone would throw 40 oranges my way… may try these!

  4. Your muffins look so cheerful and that flavor combo sounds delish. I have a sweet treat linky party going on at my blog and I’d like to invite you to stop by and link your muffins up. http://sweet-as-sugar-cookies.blogspot.com/2011/05/sweets-for-saturday-17.html

  5. Those look great. I’m making it a point to buy strawberries every week. Hey, spring doesn’t last forever. I love that you use buttermilk and orange juicy. Sweet and tangy.

  6. Hi, Amanda! This looks scrumptious! Would love to have one, or two with my coffee right now! 🙂 Great to find you.

  7. Wow the topping on those muffins look sooo yummy! This is going on my Must Make list!

  8. These muffins look SO appealing to me! There is something so RIGHT about combining oranges and strawberries together in one place…especially a muffin!

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