Outrageous Orange Muffins

A recipe post. Not my usual fare, but these are too good not to share! 

I woke up one day and wanted a muffin. There was a lone orange rolling around in my produce drawer, and I thought maybe I could do something with it. I went to Google and did a search. This is the first recipe I found: LINK

I read a few other recipes, before deciding on that one. I think I made the right choice. The flavor blew us all away. The texture is great. Plus, they are quite wholesome, using very little sugar and whole wheat flour. The fact the recipe calls for a whole orange---peel, pith and all---makes it's pretty outrageous.

I have baked these several times, and tried a few variations. The worst variation was using white flour. Big mistake. It really changed the flavor and texture. The best variation was using buttermilk in place of the orange juice. The muffin did taste less orange-y, but I think they were even better.

By the way, the recipe at the link site says you may use either melted butter or oil. To my surprise, we preferred the muffins made with oil. Also, we do not use the raisins. I might try dried cranberries one day, or nuts. And, once I did try glazing them. I they looked cute, but the muffin really is sweet enough.

Outrageous Orange Muffins

• 1 whole orange (peel, pith, and all) cut into eighths
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 scant tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar

1. Preheat overn to 375 degrees. Butter or line muffin tin.
2. Combine the dry ingredients, plus the brown sugar, in a medium bowl. I like to mix them together with a fork or whisk.
3. Blend the first four ingredients, until the orange bits are almost impossible to recognize.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until just mixed.
5. Divide between 12 muffin cups.
6. Bake 15-18 minutes, until golden.
7. Enjoy!