I don’t remember much about my breakfasts as a kid. To be completely honest, I’m not even sure if I ever ate any. They only thing that stands out is making these boxed muffins with real canned cranberries to add to the mix. They tasted sublime and were the special thing my sister and I would whip up together on Saturday mornings. Ah, the fond memories.
Now if you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know I do my best to avoid any food that comes in a box. There are just to many artificial ingredients, preservatives, food colorings and additives, which appear in most boxed food, that frankly I don’t want littering my body. So instead, I have been messing around with a recipe, doing my best to recreate the Saturday morning muffins of my childhood.
These muffins have just the perfect balance of flavor with the sweetness of real cranberries and the zest of a tangy orange. They are perfect right out of the oven and are a secret weapon for holiday brunch baking since they can help feed a crowd with the flavors of the season.
The best part is the muffins are made with whole-wheat flour and oats, have no sugar, and are totally vegan. However, if you sprinkle a little Tourbano sugar on top for that extra Christmas sparkle while they are baking, I wouldn’t blame you. I’m all about the Christmas sparkle!
- Zest of 1 Orange
- Juice of 1 Orange
- 1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
- 1 Cup Rolled Oats
- ½ tsp. Salt
- 3 tsps. Baking Powder
- 3 T Safflower Oil
- ½ Cup Maple Syrup
- 3 Egg Whites
- 1 ½ Cups Fresh Cranberries
- 1 T Tourbano Sugar (optional)
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a traditional 12-well muffin pan, fill it with liners, and set it aside.
- Zest an Orange being careful to avoid the white bitter pith. Set the zest aside and slice the Orange in half and collect the juice. If necessary, remove any seeds from the juice and set it aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the Flour, Oats, Salt, and Baking Powder so they are well mixed. In a separate medium bowl, mix together the Zest, Juice, Oil, Syrup, and Eggs until they are well combined. Add the liquid to the Flour mixture, mixing them together until the batter is all wet. Fold in the Cranberries until the incorporated.
- Scoop into each muffin wells ¼ a cup of the batter. If you have leftover batter, use it to evenly fill the wells. The batter should evenly fill all 12 wells, but if you are short, fill the well with water.
- Bake the muffins for 12 minutes. If you are adding Turbaono Sugar, sprinkle it on the muffin tops now. Then rotate the pan and bake for an additional 12 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Once done, remove the muffins from the oven and let them sit in the pan for 5 minutes. Finally remove them from the pan and let them cool on a rack before serving.
A big muffin fan here, those look delicious!
Thanks! I am a huge muffin fan myself, but I’m always looking for ways to keep them healthy! I hope you enjoy these.