Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a safe and wonderful New Year’s full of love and great people. Mine sure was! I also made sure to eat my black eyed peas for luck on New Year’s day. My momma did raise me right, after all.
In other news, since the university I work at is still on break, that means that I am, too! Of course I will have to get back to work soon, but until then I have been taking full advantage the opportunity to be lazy, with spurts of productivity in the kitchen thrown in for good measure. Today I tried two new recipes that I cannot wait to share with you soon! They’re good ones, so make sure to check back soon. =)
Until then, I thought that this would be a great recipe to share with you today because every new year needs a little bit of sparkle. I LOVE cranberry muffins, and I would be hard-pressed to find a better recipe for them than this one. This recipe came from the mother of my preschool boyfriend – there we are pictured below, sharing an umbrella at a preschool picnic. Aren’t we cute???
Of course, the pièce de résistance here is the sparkly tops of these muffins – when they come out of the oven, you dip the tops in melted butter and then in some sugar. Easy as it gets, but oh so fun! I would only dip the tops of the muffins that you are planning to serve the same day, though – the sugar gets a little weird if it sits too long. Any “un-sparkled” muffins can, of course, be frozen for later snacks or quick breakfasts.
Now, if you will please excuse me, I am off to enjoy what may be the best part of the new year – a new season of The Bachelor. (Wipe that judgement off your face; we all have our guilty pleasures!)
Sparkling Cranberry Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped fresh cranberries
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- In a bowl, combine chopped cranberries and 1/2 cup of sugar. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, combine the egg, buttermilk and oil. Create a small well in the dry ingredients, pouring the wet ingredients into the well and stirring just to combine. Fold in cranberries.
- Divide batter evenly into a lightly greased muffin tin. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until tops are lightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from pan and allow to cool on a wire rack.
- Melt 1/4 cup butter. Dip the tops of the cooled muffins in the melted butter, then in a small bowl of sugar.
I do believe that these are my favorite muffins of all. Well, until I eat one of the banana nut muffins you posted. Maybe that’s why I have muffin tops…
These are so pretty!
I need to not read things like this when it’s still hours until lunch. You make my stomach feel all hungry and such.
These look incredible and I just so happen to have a bunch of cranberries leftover! These are a must! 🙂
Aw that photo is adorable! Love this recipe. The muffins look so yummy! Happy New Year!
These are so pretty! I love anything with cranberry this time of year.. yum!
I just made these, and they turned out beautifully. I ended up using a whole bag of frozen cranberries & adding orange zest & juice. I also used yogurt instead of buttermilk because that’s what was in my fridge :). Anyway, thanks for the great recipe! Will definitely make these again.
Oh, I bet the orange zest/juice was good! The yogurt was a good idea, too – probably will help to keep the nice and moist. So glad you tried and liked them! =)
I am a huge fan of the Joy of Baking ingredient subsitution list – it’s come in handy on many occasions! I have it to thank for the yogurt suggestion. I was really pleased with how moist the muffins turned out. I also have to tell you I got child-like joy out of pouring the wet ingredients into a dry ingredient well, haha. http://www.joyofbaking.com/IngredientSubstitution.html
Awesome! I love have those kinds of resources. And I’m totally with you on the well thing.