Cranberry Muffins

         I always have had a heart for red colour, when it comes to food.. That must be the reason why, when you go vegetable shopping at the stores or super markets, you feel like an invisible hand pushes you towards the beautiful array of strawberries , tomatoes on the wine.. and the like... and you cannot wrench your hand away when it stretches unknowingly towards the red peppers. The result is.. you end up buying a lot of vegetables and fruits which where not in your 'urgently needed' list when you got into the store the first time. So when I saw these cranberries winking at me from inside the packet pulling me to it as if with ropes, I just had no power to resist and fell in the trap again.. SO LIKE ME! :(

       Back home in my kitchen, I was wondering what I was going to do with these cranberries, which even my son declined to eat due to their tartness. First I thought I would pickle them.. then I got a better idea. Why not incorporate it in a muffin? My son loves anything cupcaky and he is sure not going to mind cranberries in them. So I made these cranberry muffins and was glad I did. My son loved the interesting involvement of cranberries in his muffins and finished two of it immediately after it was taken out from the oven.

     The addition of orange zest gave it a flavourful twist which was hailed with zeal by both father and son. But I had a problem with the amount of batter to be poured in each paper cups. I made the first batch, filling quarter of the cups with the mixture and the result was muffins which didn't rise to the top. It rose only up to three fourth of the cups. So I made the next batch filling up to three fourth, and then it was perfect. A nice muffin with splashes of scarlet tartness from the cranberries. I must say, I too fell in love with their looks and taste. Coming to the recipe..

Things you need:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 cups white flour
A pinch of salt
1 egg, well beaten
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup orange juice
3 tbsp grated orange peel
1 cup cranberries, coarsely chopped

Procedure:

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degree F. Line a medium muffin pan of 12 numbers with paper cups.

2) Sift together  flour,baking powder, baking soda and salt and keep aside.

3) Beat butter and sugar until soft and fluffy. Add orange zest and orange juice and beat until blended.

4) Beat the egg and slowly fold in to the mixture little at a time, adding a little of the flour mixture with last of the egg.

5) Now fold in the flour mixture gently. Very lightly stir in the cranberries.

6) Fill the batter up to 3/4th of the paper cups in the tray and bake for about 20 minutes until the surface is slightly brown and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

7) Transfer the muffins to a wire wrack to cool. Enjoy!

And Aipi of US Masala has shared this lovely award for participating in the Veggie/Fruit a month event. Do visit her blog.. She has a wonderful space with nice recipes. Thank you Aipi for the award!