Sunday, January 24, 2016

Cranberry-Lemon Crumb Muffins


If you're like me, you've likely stashed a few leftover holiday provisions in the freezer. Extra butter, nuts, cranberries.... Now, after a brief vacation from baking, I can finally look at it all again! The first thing I pulled back out were those cranberries. After all, cranberries are the perfect winter fruit, no? So colorful and tart, they brighten up most everything.


The husband and I are trying to cut back on the sweets...our typical January resolution. But, cut back on sweets all together? Um...no. So, I make things like muffins. I can freeze muffins and take one out at a time. Cranberries make for perfect muffins. Plus, I had buttermilk and lemons in the fridge. They were meant to be....

Cranberry-Lemon Crumb Muffins

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup sugar, divided
  • 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
  • 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour, divided
  • 2 tablespoons cold butter, cubed
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup buttermilk, warmed to room temperature
  • 6 tablespoons melted butter
  • 1 egg, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.; line a 12- cup muffin pan with paper cups.
  2. In a small bowl, blend together the sugar and the lemon peel. Set aside 1/2 cup.
  3. In another bowl, combine 1/4 cup lemon-sugar and 1/4 cup flour. With a fork, cut in 2 tablespoons of cold butter until the mixture is crumbly.
  4. In a large bowl, whisk together 2 cups flour, the remaining 1/2 cup lemon-sugar, baking powder, and salt.
  5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, butter, egg, and vanilla.
  6. Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour. Stir until just combined. Fold in the cranberries.
  7. Use a cookie scoop or spoon to divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the reserved crumb mixture. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the tops spring back when lightly touched.
Tags: muffins, cranberries, lemon, crumb, crumb muffins



Who can resist a buttery crumb topping?


Perfect with that cup of coffee.....




Truth be told, they didn't make it into the freezer...but I did share a few with friends.....

2 comments:

  1. I'm like you, muffins are a good way to have a bite of something sweet when you are cooking for two people. Yours look like a nice treat to have with a cup of tea in the afternoon.

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  2. I made these for my first time last week and my second time this morning. Last week they were delicious (I made the recipe as-is, with one exception: I added a scoop of lemon-curd to the middle of the batter)— soft, moist, not too sweet. The topping is good as well, adds a perfect bit of sweetness.
    This morning I made a couple minor adjustments. I didn’t have any lemons with zest, so I zested some cuties instead. Also, I wanted a bit more lemony flavor than last week so I added 2 tsp of lemon extract. I piped lemon curd into the middle of the batter again (yielded more curd with piping than with scooping), and they’re in the oven now. I’ll try to share pics of I figure out how! Thanks for the recipe ��

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