Thursday, February 7, 2013

Orange, Walnut, and Rosemary Muffins

Are you currently living in a winter wonderland? Feeling snowed in? Blue? Well, try these muffins for a nice pick-me-up! The combination of orange and rosemary will have your senses perked up in no time!
I used to think oranges were a summer fruit since they are so sunny and happy. It was a little shocking to find out they are best in winter (at least here in North America.)

I love what Eat the Seasons says about oranges: "Oranges provide seasonal eaters with a taste of sun in the middle of winter. [They are] fabulous [in] desserts where they form a heavenly match with chocolate."
 
Amen.
Orange, Walnut, and Rosemary Muffins (adapted from The Kitchen Prep)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar (Erika's Extras - I used organic sugar. Worked well.)
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
2 eggs
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
6 tablespoons canola oil (Erika's Extras - I used grape seed oil bc I didn't have canola. Worked fine but I think I would have preferred canola.)
Zest of 2 oranges - save 1 teaspoon for icing
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped, plus extra for garnish

For Icing:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon orange zest
3-4 teaspoons freshly squeeze orange juice (Erika's Extras: Used the oranges you just zested.)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a muffin tin with paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, and walnuts.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, yogurt, oil, orange zest, and chopped rosemary.
4. Pour wet mixture into dry mixture and mix until just combined. Do not over mix, there will still be some small lumps. If your mixture looks a bit dry, add 1 tablespoon at a time of milk or almond milk until moistened.
5. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop batter into liners. Bake for 16-18 minutes until tops are slightly golden and firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
6. Cool on a baking rack for about 30 minutes or until completely cooled. Spoon icing over top and decorate with a small sprig of rosemary.

Icing:
1. Sift powdered sugar into a small bowl.
2. Add zest and juice and whisk until smooth.
3. Drizzle or spoon over muffins.
4. Add a sprig of rosemary on top of the icing of each muffin.
Bake well and prosper!

6 comments:

  1. Yum, and we have tons of blooming Rosemary in the garden right now! Citrus is also best in Germany in the winter. We had fantastic clementines and blood oranges, either from Spain or Israel ;)

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  2. Thanks so much for sharing the link to this! I love seeing the outcome of recipes people find through my blog. The muffins turned out beautifully! I used to think the same exact thing about oranges being a summer fruit until recently... I probably should have known better considering I'm a Floridian! ;) So glad you enjoyed the recipe!

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  3. This sounds like such a gorgeous recipe... I'm really loving herbs in sweet dishes at the moment. Just discovered your blog and I'm happy I did!! Thanks for sharing.

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  4. Hi Erika,

    I love rosemary but use it more for my savoury cooking rather than sweets. This combination looks fantastic and I think that I should step out of my comfort zone and start using rosemary for my non-savoury baking.

    Zoe

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  5. These muffins are cute. And the orange just like sunshine in the winter. I gotta try combining orange and rosemary together, sounds like a beautiful combination and very delicious.

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Thanks for taking time to leave a message! xo - EB