When Brad and I recently had our friends Lindsey and Matt over for the day, I prepared brunch for the four of us. Of course, no brunch is truly complete without a Mimosa or Bloody Mary, but the stars of the show were these delicious muffins. Okay, I'll be honest, they may not have been quite as good without the help of the Mimosas, but they're pretty freakin' awesome.
The key/secret ingredient in these blueberry muffins is the orange zest and fresh squeezed orange juice. The zest gave them a little citrus bite, and the juice ensured that the muffins were moist. Yes, Sarah, moist. I should mention here that my sister hates the word "moist." Just like my friend Lindsey hates the word "yummy." As in, these muffins were absolutely yummy. You're welcome, you two.
First you take the orange and you zest it, you zest it. I love my microplane. It has made my life a hundred times better since I've had it. I also bought it around the time I met Brad. Coincidence? I think not!
Look at all that pretty zest! The one thing you DO NOT want to do when zesting, is to zest to the pericarp or albedo. This is the white material attached to the inside of the rind. You just want to zest off the very top layer. If you go too deep with your zesting, dark things happen. Your zest turns bitter and it goes bad. Bad zest! Very bad zest!
This is how pretty the oranges look before you murder them in the juicer. It's a good thing I have a pretty juicer to do the dirty work for me. I'm sorry Mr. Orange. You're going to die in the Kitchen with the Juicer. At least you can die knowing you'll make some damn delicious muffins.
Now that we're done playing with the orange, it's time to get down to business or bidness, whichever you prefer. Pour the orange juice into a glass measuring cup, and add enough buttermilk to make one cup. Then, you'll add the eggs, honey, and melted butter before whisking the whole mixture together.
Now comes my favorite part because I get to use my hands. Yes, I do have a problem. I come from a long line of women who like to touch and feel odd textures. I can't help it, it's in my genes. I've learned to embrace it. We get to rub the orange zest into the sugar until the sugar is moist and smells orange-y. It's pretty fabulous. You should try it sometime. You can't tell from the picture, but I've got a goofy smile on my face and I'm saying "eeeeee," the whole time I'm doing this.
After collecting yourself from the excitement that has just passed, you whisk in the rest of your dry ingredients. Then, pour your buttermilk mixture over the dry ingredients and mix everything together with your whisk or a rubber spatula. It's okay if the batter is lumpy and bubbly.
Now, stir in the blueberries. Aren't they pretty too? A shout goes out to my uncle for giving me these beauties. They are so sweet and delicious.
Only the really messy part remains: dividing the batter up into your muffin tin. You should have the tin already greased or lined with paper cups. I use my ice cream scoop to help keep the portion of batter going into each cup fairly equal. It also seems to be about the right amount of batter per cup since you don't want to overfill and not have enough left when you get to the end.
When you've finished filling the tin, pop it in the oven for about ten minutes. No, the muffins won't be done yet, but this is when you can add some sugar to the tops of the muffins. I used Demerara sugar since the crystals are large and golden. However, it would be ideal if you could get your hands on some clear decorating sugar. The only color my grocer doesn't carry is clear. I didn't really think the muffins would look all that appealing with colored sugar on top, but I could be wrong.
Once you've sprinkled sugar on top of all of the muffins, place the tin back in the oven for another 12-15 minutes. When done, they will be a golden brown, springy to the touch, and a thin knife inserted in the center of the muffins will come out clean. Put the pan on a cooling rack, and after 5 minutes, remove each muffin from its mold.
These muffins were very easy to make and they were a hit! The orange added a subtle and fresh flavor to these little treats. As my friend Matt put it, "I'm not shy about putting butter on any old muffin, but these don't need it." That seemed like a pretty good endorsement to me. I'm happy to add this solid muffin recipe to my brunch/breakfast repertoire.
Up next: Apple Bundt Cake
Orange Berry Muffins
"Baking: From My Home to Yours" Dorie Greenspan
Grated zest and juice of one orange
About 3/4 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
3 T. honey
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 c. sugar
2 c. all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. blueberries - fresh or frozen (not thawed)
Decorating sugar (optional)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease or place paper cups in a 12 mold muffin tin. If you're using silicone, you do not need to grease or add paper cups.
Pour the orange juice in a large glass measuring cup and add enough buttermilk to make 1 cup. Whisk in the eggs, honey, and melted butter.
In a large bowl, rub the zest into the sugar until it becomes moist and orange-scented. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry mixture and whisk or mix together with a rubber spatula. The batter will be lumpy and bubbly. Stir in the blueberries, and divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.
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