Cranberry-Orange Muffins
Submitted by bellsck
Low-fat cranberry orange bran muffins with cinnamon and real cranberry sauce. Light, fiber-rich, and endlessly adaptable with banana-date, apple-raisin, and zucchini variations.
YIELD
12 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
20 minREADY
30 minHealthy muffins that actually taste like something you’d want to eat for breakfast.
Bran and flour team up with cranberry sauce, cinnamon, and a hit of fresh orange zest for a muffin that’s moist, lightly sweet, and packed with fiber. The cranberry sauce does double duty here: it adds fruit flavor and keeps the crumb tender without loading up on fat.
Ready in 30 minutes from bowl to cooling rack.
Variations
- Banana-Date: Swap the cranberry sauce for 1 cup mashed banana and ½ cup chopped dates or raisins.
- Apple-Raisin: Use 1 cup applesauce plus ½ cup raisins, or pulse an unpeeled apple in the food processor.
- Zucchini: Fold in 1 cup grated unpeeled zucchini plus ½ cup raisins.
Kitchen Tips
- Use real cranberry sauce, not artificially sweetened. The artificial stuff prevents the muffins from rising properly.
- Line your muffin tin with paper cups since low-fat batters stick even to non-stick pans.
- Mix until just combined. Lumpy batter means tender muffins; smooth batter means hockey pucks.
Ingredients
Directions
You may use commercial or home made cranberry sauce but not artifically sweetened sauce (muffins will not rise).
Preheat oven to 400℉ (200℃) and spray at least 12 muffin cups lined with paper baking cups.
Low-fat muffins tend to stick even to non-stick pans.
Measure ½ tbsp lemon juice in a measuring cup, fill to about ¼ cup mark with fluid milk and add some skim milk powder to make it a little thicker.
Set aside.
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.
Add remaining ingredients of your choice and stir until they are just combined.
Bake about 20 minutes or until lightly browned and firm to the touch.
Adjust time if muffins are made smaller.
VARIATIONS, substitute for cranberry:
Banana-Date - use 1 cup mashed banana and ½ cup dates or raisins.
If 2 bananas are not quite 1 cup, concentrated orange juice or orange/pineapple may be added.
Apple-Raisin - 1 cup applesauce plus ½ cup raisins, or coarsely chop an unpeeled apple in a food processor.
Zucchini - 1 cup grated unpeeled zucchini plus ½ cup raisins.
May be made as 16 to 18 small muffins or 9 inch square cake cut in the desired number of pieces.
For a diabetic meal plan, reduce the amount of sugar to ¼ cup or 1 teaspoon per serving (recommended guideline of American Diabetes Assoc.)
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