Orange Muffins - Two Ways

I recently got some crystallised ginger to make some Grasmere gingerbread but have been experimenting with using it in other recipes. It worked really well in these new twists on a muffin favourite of mine.

There are two sets of ingredients but the method section is the same.
Each set of ingredients yields 12 muffins.

These are great served warm.

Orange-Cranberry-Ginger Muffins

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup sweetened dried cranberries
1/4 cup crystallised ginger, chopped
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup apple-sauce or canola oil
1 tsp. grated orange rind
1/2 cup freshly-squeezed orange juice
1 banana, well mashed or 2 eggs
Cooking spray
1 tbsp. turbinado sugar

Orange-Ginger Muffins

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup crystallised ginger, chopped
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup apple-sauce or canola oil
1 tsp. grated orange rind
1/2 cup freshly-squeezed orange juice
1 banana, well mashed or 2 eggs
Cooking spray
1 tbsp. turbinado sugar

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line a muffin tin with unbleached paper liners.

2. Combine flour and the ingredients up to nutmeg in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Make a well in the center of the mixture.

3. Combine brown sugar, oil or applesauce, orange rind, juice, and eggs in a separate bowl; stir with a whisk.

4. Add the juice mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Spoon batter into the muffin cups. Sprinkle the batter with turbinado sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean.

Reference:
Based on Orange-Cranberry Wheat Germ Muffins from the January/February 2008 issue of Cooking Light.

My Changes:
*Used crystallised ginger in place of some or all of the dried cranberries.
*Replaced half of the cinnamon in the orange-ginger version with ground ginger.

The June Gloom Cure-All

Here in San Diego we often have overcast skies (caused by the marine layer) during the late spring/early summer. In May, we call it "May Gray." In June, it becomes "June Gloom." Yes, living in paradise is awful! How do we manage to live through this for 2 whole months? ;)
These muffins just might be the magic elixir that takes away all the dreary yuckiness that comes with living by the coast!
No matter the weather, these sunny muffins are sure to brighten anyone's day.

Note: I used cow's milk and dairy yogurt to make these but they are extremely easy to convert back to a vegan baking recipe since they are already egg-free. Just sub non-dairy yogurt and milk.

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:
1/2 cup plain or vanilla yogurt (they are vegan if you use non-dairy yogurt)
1/2 cup fat-free milk (again, vegan if you choose a plain or vanilla non-dairy milk)
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract (omit if you use vanilla yogurt)
1 tbsp. ground flaxseed (a coffee bean grinder is a great tool for grinding these)
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup crushed pineapple, squeeze out and reserve all the juice (do not use fresh pineapple, it will interfere with the leavening process)
1/3 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup finely shredded carrot
1 generous tsp. grated orange zest (from 1 large orange)
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. aluminium-free baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin or line with unbleached paper liners.

1. Whisk the yogurt, milk, vanilla if using, and ground flaxseed together in a large bowl.

2. Squeeze the pineapple really well to ensure that you've removed all the juice. Add the pineapple pieces to the bowl along with the reserved juice, carrot, orange zest, raisins, cranberries, and coconut. Whisk thoroughly.

3. Sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk just enough to moisten all the dry ingredients but do not over-mix.

4. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin and then bake for 24-26 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the muffins comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in the tin before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Reference:
Carrot-Pineapple Sunshine Muffins from Veganomicon.

My changes:
I subbed 1/4 cup raisins and 1/4 cup cranberries for the 1/2 cup raisins called for in the original recipe.
I added 1/4 cup shredded coconut.
I added 1 tsp. vanilla extract since I used plain yogurt.
Changes to try in the future: Use half whole-wheat flour, half all-purpose. Add in some cardamom/sub it for the cinnamon. Sub fresh grated ginger for ground ginger. Actually make them vegan with almond milk and non-dairy yogurt. Try them with golden raisins/try mixing it up with other dried fruits.

Note:
These do not rise much (in fact, they're pretty flat!)
Feel free to fill those muffin cups full of batter (the batter, by the way, tastes great!)

Orange-Cranberry Wheat Germ Muffins

My goodness, these are tasty! I've sort of nicknamed them "Super-Food Muffins" since they are packed with antioxidants from the fruits and vitamin E and folic acid from the wheat germ. :)

I wanted to try these out since I love all combinations of orange and cranberry and thought they would be a yummy breakfast treat. The nutmeg and cinnamon add a nice spiciness which goes great with the fruity flavours. I'm very lucky to have parents with a great organic garden who live very close by so I had lots of yummy navel oranges that I got to use in these! Mmmm...

The recipe is from Cooking Light but I changed them a bit. I made these vegan by substituting mashed-up bananas for the eggs. I also used apple-sauce in place of the oil but feel free to use eggs and oil if you'd like. Either way, they are super-healthy.

They are very good warm so plan on giving them a quick zap in the microwave the next morning :) Or just eat them all fresh from the oven! hee hee ;)

12 muffins

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup wheat germ (the original recipe called for raw but I used the toasted stuff) - it adds a great nutty flavour
1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
3/4 cup packed brown sugar (I used light brown)
1/4 cup apple-sauce or canola oil
1 tsp. grated orange rind
1/2 cup freshly-squeezed orange juice
1 banana, well mashed or 2 eggs
Cooking spray
1 tbsp. turbinado sugar

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (original said 375 but I bake everything at 350!)
Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray or fill wells with paper or foil cupcake holders.

2. Combine flour and next 7 ingredients (through nutmeg) in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Make a well in the center of the mixture.

3. Combine brown sugar, oil or applesauce, orange rind, juice, and eggs in a separate bowl; stir with a whisk.

4. Add the juice mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Spoon batter into the muffin cups. Sprinkle the batter with turbinado sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean.

Reference:
The original recipe is from the January/February 2008 issue of Cooking Light magazine.