A cup of tea and a recipe for Orange Cranberry Breakfast Muffins...

Well, it's back to school for the hubby and my eldest daughter... Yeah, the hubby also runs on the academic calender, and so, I've lost my Summer helper...that would be the hubby, not the daughter...
Having the whole family at home over the Summer is definitely a blessing (especially when  it comes to having someone to help with those diaper changes), but, by the close of the holidays, I'm desperate to have a bit of structure in my life... wearing p-jams past 10am each day is not a good look... not when it's 7 days a week for 2 months straight!

I decided that I would send them off on their journey into the new academic year with full tummies and raring to go, and so, I decided to whip up a batch of muffins. The hubby leaves at an ungodly hour, and so, usually eats breakfast on the fly (the crumb situation in his car is out of control)...

Anyhoo, I figured an orange cranberry muffin would fit the bill nicely for all parties involved...  Both the kiddies and the hubby like these... and, come to think of it, me too (and I'm not a muffin gal)... they're delicious split and toasted with a bit of butter, and a nice cup of tea to wash them down... a perfect way to start the day... and the new 'academic' year!

 

Orange Cranberry Muffins

Ingredients

2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon of baking powder

½ cup of sugar

½ cup of ground almonds

Dried cranberries (soaked in orange juice for at least 1 hour)

zest of one orange

½ cup of milk

½ cup of fresh orange juice

½ cup of butter or margarine (1 stick) melted

1 large egg

Method

1.   Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a muffin pan with 12 muffin cases.

2.   In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, ground almonds, soaked cranberries (drained of juice) and orange zest.

3.   In a medium bowl, using a fork, beat the egg, milk, orange juice and cooled melted butter.

4.   Add the liquid mixture, to the flour mixture and stir in, until the flour is moistened (the batter should still look lumpy).

5.   Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases (I use an ice-cream scoop to ensure, nice equal sized muffins). Bake until a toothpick inserted, comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes.

6.   Remove the muffins from the pan (still in the cases) and cool on a wire rack; or try them, while they’re still warm... I love to split them, toast them a little and serve with a drop of butter and a lovely cup of tea!