Orange Berry Muffins

I had the honor of choosing this week’s Dorie recipe, and I thought after a few weeks of decadent desserts we could use something a little lighter. These Orange Berry Muffins were just perfect! I have to say that as much as I love my KA mixer, I definitely don’t mind when a recipe comes along that’s simple and only requires a couple of mixing bowls. These muffins were quick and easy to throw together and have a perfectly light taste to them, which is a welcome change from my standard banana muffins, which are fairly heavy and sweet enough for dessert (although, they certainly have their place)! The orange flavor is nice and light and a perfect complement to the blueberries. These are going to be great for morning snacks, and it goes without saying that this was yet another Dorie recipe that hit the spot.

I believe that this recipe would adapt well to other fruit combinations. The first one that comes to mind is lemon/raspberry. I am not a huge fan of lemon, but I think that these flavors would complement each other very well in these muffins.

Our group of Dorie fanatics keeps growing! This week Nikki of Crazy Delicious and Ashley of eat me, delicious have joined us. Welcome girls! I have created a small blogroll on my right sidebar with everyone’s blog links… check out the muffins made by the rest of the gang!

Check back next Tuesday to see the Black and White Cake.

Last week: Perfection Pound Cake

Orange Berry Muffins

(Source: Dorie Greenspan “Baking: From My Home to Yours” p. 3)

Ingredients:
Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
About 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 blueberries – fresh, preferably, or frozen (not thawed)

Decorating sugar, for topping (optional)

Getting Ready:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. 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.

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