cranberry orange muffins

Today I had my first subbing gig. And I found out at 6:00 this morning that I would be doing it. Baptism by fire as the principal said. Totally busted up my dreamy plans of baking Christmas cookies all day, but hey, it's not like I can't use the money! Especially this time of year when everyone wants to do ALL the things! :)

So tomorrow I'm actually subbing 1st grade which should be interesting. I had to cancel a dentist appointment for that and the woman I spoke to was bitchy to say the least. Sorry that I got a sudden job opportunity toots but I'm going to take it! I may also be doing 4th grade on Thursday which is their Advent retreat so that would be a super easy day. Who knew so many teachers took off the week before Christmas?

I made these muffins on Sunday because I had the urge to bake but wasn't quite ready for cookie mass production yet so I took a peek in the fridge and saw a pretty little bag of cranberries! I searched for a recipe for my favorite muffins that I had recently bookmarked and got looking for the other ingredients.

Wouldn't you know we just happened to have exactly what I needed? We had just one orange which gave me the right amount of juice and zest, a stockpile of the dry ingredients for our upcoming cookie marathon, and a container of sour cream that was supposed to be for a dip last weekend but didn't end up getting used.

This recipe makes the most delicious batter that compliments tartness of the cranberries so well. This one is definitely a keeper. I'm so glad I found such an amazing recipe for my favorite muffins! :)

Are you doing any major Christmas baking this year? Any old standbys you'll be sure to make?


Recipe continued after the jump..



Cranberry Orange Muffins
recipe from Kristine's Kitchen

1 cup milk
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (about 1 orange)
1/2 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, melted and cooled slightly
3 1/2 cups flour (ap or whole wheat)
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
zest of 1 orange
1 1/2-2 cups cranberries, halved
Preheat oven to 350F. Line or grease two muffin pans. In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, orange juice, sour cream, eggs, and butter. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and zest. Pour liquid ingredients over dry and mix just until flour is incorporated. Add the cranberries and fold into the batter. Divide the batter among both muffin pans until cups are about 3/4 of the way full. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out with moist crumbs. Allow muffins to cool for about 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

*Note: I filled the muffin cups until they were almost full so I got about a pan and a half instead of two. I did this because I like the muffins to have the little tops! I think I would even fill them a little more next time. Use your judgement!