Cranberry Orange Muffins

It's a Friday and there's barely anything left in the kitchen to eat. What's a girl supposed to do for lunch then? I couldn't possibly sit around and let myself starve, especially since the day i graduated from college I haven't exactly been allowing myself to diet much or for that fact, mind how my body has been ballooning horizontally. :) But have you heard muffins for lunch! Golly. I'm so glad i'm living my world. Or at least living lunch my way when mom's out.

I really liked these muffins. I'm a chocolate lover up to my toes so i really am not such a big fan of things with fruit in them, with the exception of cranberries, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries and all the other berries that i can find. But these muffins tasted very REAL to me. I guess it's cause of the low amount of sugar used and the use of orange juice and milk to make up for that lack of sweetness. I also threw in some orange pulp and nibbling on them in the muffins was quite an experience. Honestly, I never did like fresh oranges. I didn't like the acidity of oranges, or the fact that they tended to make your nails orange and the bitter aftertaste if i bit too far into the peel. Until last year when i decided it was more worthwhile and fun (with all that juice squirting into my eyes) to eat a fresh orange than vitamin C pills.

This recipe is a Nigella Bites one. Orange Breakfast Muffins. But i'd recommend you add in some dried cranberries cause they give it an added sweetness. Remember watching Nigella on TV and she saying something like how muffins to her are a type of bread. Just break it open whether warm or cool and eat it with cream cheese or jam and that's how i ate mine. The muffins may seem to some to be a little bland (to a chocolate lover, definitely) but i guess you really have to get used to the fact that this recipe called for freshly squeezed juice so it tastes less sweet, but tangier and of course healthier. The smell of butter and milk is still wonderfully strong from these muffins and so, it's really yummy to eat it with strawberry cream cheese, homemade marmalade or really just simple strawberry jam. Best thing was I had this for lunch while watching Jamie Oliver dearest on Discovery Travel&Living-perfect afternoon. Makes the dreaful heat livable.

Cranberry Orange Muffins

Ingredients

75g unsalted butter

1 2/3 cup flour, sifted

1/4 cup ground almonds

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup sugar

zest of 1 orange, washed and dried

juice of one orange (abt 1/3 cup)

1/3 cup milk

1 egg

Preheat oven to 200dCelsius.

Melt butter and set aside to cool.

Combine flour,almonds,soda and baking pwder, sugar and zest in a bowl and give a little stir with a fork. Measure juice and milk into a jug and whisk in egg, followed by the cooled melted butter.

Make a well in the dried ingredients and neatly pour in the liquid ingredients into the well, mixing carefully but swiftly with a fork as you go until just incorporated and mixture starts to resemble yellow custard.

According to Nigella, if batter is too dry, add either a tbs of juice or milk. Bake for 20min and no longer. Once out of oven, transfer to wire rack to cool and while still slightly warm, crack open muffin and serve with jam! Voila!