Orange Cranberry Muffins

• 1 Cup dried Cranberries (Craisins)
• 1 medium orange (you’ll need juice and zest)
• 2 cups All Purpose Flour
• 2 tsps. Baking Powder
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ½ cup butter or margarine softened
• 2/3 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs at room temperature
• ½ cup milk (soy milk can be substituted)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Zest Orange; be careful not to get the pith (white part). Set zest aside. Juice Orange.

This is the zest I got from 1 orange.

In small saucepan add dried cranberries and juice of the orange (1/4 cup). Cook over medium heat just until simmering. Remove pan from heat and set aside to cool and plump.

While Cranberries cool; Line muffin tin with papers, or grease and flour.

Sift Flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.

Now, In your mixer cream butter, sugar, and orange zest until light and fluffy. You will probably need to scrape the bowl.

Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Remove the bowl from the mixer.

Next, you need to alternate folding the flour mixture and the milk into the butter mixture. You DO NOT want to add it all at once. Separate it into at least 2 additions each. You will want to do this by hand, and try not to over mix.

Once all of the flour and milk has been added, fold in the cranberries and OJ.

Divide the batter evenly into the Muffin tin. You can sprinkle the tops with sugar.

Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Cool muffins in the pan on a rack. Serve Warm.

Recipe via afewshortcuts.com