Orange Cranberry Mini Muffins

 An adorable little brunch treat with one of my favorite flavor combos.  And, an original recipe!  While I often adapt other recipes to suit my style, flavors or techniques, this is the first time I've actually created the recipe.  As they say, necessity is the mother of invention and I needed to find a recipe for something I could take to a work meeting, with my heart set on mini muffins.  I searched for mini muffin recipes with ingredients I had on hand and actually wanted to bake, but came up short.  So I got creative and I think the end result was pretty good.

The muffins have a great, spongy consistency with a wonderful flavor of sweet and tart from the orange juice and dried cranberries. Next time I would add more cranberries (and I'd love to try these with fresh cranberries).  I might also infuse the glaze with orange zest, but if I'm being honest, the glaze was actually leftover from another recipe, so I worked with what I had.


Orange Cranberry Mini Muffins

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, separated
1/4 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt (I just noticed the salt isn't pictured.  Oops!)
1/2 cup dried cranberries (could increase to 1 cup)

In medium bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 

Add egg yolks, one at a time, and beat until combine. 

Stir in orange juice and zest.

In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt. 

Add to creamed mixture and stir until combined. 

Add dried cranberries and gently combine, being careful not to overstir the batter.

Gently fold in egg whites.

Grease a mini muffin pan.  Using a small cookie scoop, scoop batter into pan. 

Bake at 375 degrees F for 14 minutes.  Cool in pan for a few minutes before removing to wire racks.  Repeat with any leftover batter.

Optional Glaze

Ingredients:

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
2-3 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon orange zest

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and spread over cooled mini muffins.  Allow glaze to set.

Makes 3 dozen mini muffins.

Happy Baking,
The Cookie Princess