Mingle it up

Whole Wheat Orange Cranberry Muffins

Oranges or rather Clementines are huge hit at home. Clementine is a lovely little Mandarin family fruit which tastes more or less like an Orange just smaller, easier to peel & almost seedless. That’s why I will refer to them as Oranges instead of Clementine :), just used to saying Oranges.

Orange Muffins are my husband’s favorite. When I make these they go really fast. Within 4-5 days, a dozen of them are already eaten. But hey they are definitely better to snack on than cookies or a bag of chips.

Ingredients
1 Cup Whole Wheat
1/4 Cup Wheat Bran
1 Egg (I use an Egg Substitute Ener-G Egg Replacer)
1/4 Cup No-Sugar Added Apple Sauce
2 tbsp Canola Oil
1 tsp Vanilla
2 -3 tbsp Sugar Or Honey - Depending upon how sweet you like (I use 2 tbsp of Splenda- Sugar Substitute)
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
Pinch of Nutmeg
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1.5 tsp Orange Zest
2-3 tbsp Fresh Orange Juice
1 Orange - roughly chop the peeled fruit into bite size pieces
2 Tbsp Dried Cranberry or Raisins (You can use more if you like them)
3 tbsp Milk

Makes 6 Medium Sized Muffins
Around 140-150 Calories per Muffin.
Oven Temperature - 350 def F
Time - 22-25 Minutes.

Exact same steps as before
1. Sift in the dry ingredients like Flour, Salt, Baking Soda, Cinnamon, and Nutmeg. Add Wheat Bran and Orange Zest into the flour mixture & mix well.
2. Now add Wet Ingredients + Sugar separately in a bowl. Start with blending Sugar, an Egg with Canola Oil and then add other wet ingredients.
3. Now mix the wet ingredients in dry along with roughly chopped Oranges & Raisins.
4. Don’t over mix it; just make sure everything is well incorporated.
5. Line your paper cups in Muffin pan & grease them well (Or you can choose to not use them and drop the batter directly into your Muffin pan. But make sure to grease your pan well then).
6. I generally use an Ice-Cream scoop to scoop out the batter evenly in all the cups.
7. Place the filled Muffin pan in the Preheated Oven for about 20-25 minutes.
8. Check with the tooth-pick to see if they are done. Let them cool on the Wire rack for 5-10 minutes.

Whole Wheat Apple Raisin Muffin
I just love Red Delicious Crispy Apples. They look also so vibrant & radiant. No wonder these were the first I tried in my muffins :).If you are trying Muffins for the first time please go through My Muffin Story post to read some muffin making tips.
The most important one is don’t over mix the batter. Around 10-12 strokes of folding the wet & dry ingredients should do it otherwise you will end up in tough muffins.

Here is what you will need for your Muffins
1 Cup Whole Wheat
1/4 Cup Wheat Bran
1 Egg (I use an Egg Substitute Ener-G Egg Replacer)
1/4 Cup No-Sugar Added Apple Sauce
2 tbsp Canola Oil
1 tsp Vanilla
2 -3 tbsp Sugar Or Honey - Depending upon how sweet you like (I use 2 tbsp of Splenda- Sugar Substitute)
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
Pinch of Nutmeg
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1 Cup grated Apple with Skin (About 1 Medium Apple)
2-3 tbsp Raisins (If you like more you can add more)
3-4 tbsp buttermilk (2 tbsp of Yogurt diluted by 2 tbsp of water)

Few Slivered Almonds for decoration on top of the muffin.

Makes 6 Medium Sized Muffins
Around 140-150 Calories per Muffin.
Oven Temperature - 375 def F
Time - 22-25 Minutes.

1. Sift in the dry ingredients like Flour, Salt, Baking Soda, Cinnamon, and Nutmeg. Add Wheat Bran into the flour mixture & mix well.
2. Now add Wet Ingredients + Sugar separately in a bowl. Start with blending Sugar, an Egg with Canola Oil and then add other wet ingredients.
3. Now mix the wet ingredients in dry along with grated Apple & Raisins.
4. Don’t over mix it; just make sure everything is well incorporated.
5. Line your paper cups in Muffin pan & grease them well (Or you can choose to not use them and drop the batter directly into your Muffin pan. But make sure to grease your pan well then).
6. I generally use an Ice-Cream scoop to scoop out the batter evenly in all the cups. And sprinkle some slivered almonds on the muffins.
7. Place the filled Muffin pan in the Preheated Oven for about 20-25 minutes.
8. Check with the tooth-pick to see if they are done. Let them cool on the Wire rack for 5-10 minutes.