Muffin Mondays: Cranberry Vanilla Muffins

I'm a big believer in breakfast, lunch, and dinner (I won't even mention dessert, but that's another meal I believe in). Dinner isn't usually an issue, there are so many recipes to try that it's likely I'll never get through all of them. Breakfast is a different story. I'm a pretty picky breakfast eater. I don't like eggs for breakfast, nor pancakes, waffles and such. I generally like my breakfast to consist of some cross of carb and coffee. Once the weather turns the slightest bit cool, I move from cereal and smoothies to oatmeal with Greek yogurt and fruit. The trouble is, I eat that breakfast daily starting in October, and by the middle of January, when it's really cold, I'm sick and tired of it. I ate toast with butter and jam for a bit, and then I started in on the muffins. I'm a huge fan of muffins for breakfast because they're something that I can make on Saturday mornings and enjoy all week long. They're portable, there are infinite possibilities for muffin creations, and they're lovely with your (my) morning cup o' joe (or even tea or OJ). I've been on such a muffin kick that I decided it'd be fun to post them here on the Singleton. And, because I'm a suck for alliteration, I decided that it's only fitting that muffins be posted on Mondays.

 

The recipe for these muffins comes from a cookbook called Cold Weather Cooking by Sarah Leah Chase. I don't know how I found out about this cookbook, but I know that I purchased it used off of Amazon for about $1 right after I moved to DC. I've looked at the book quite a bit, but this was my first time using a recipe out of it. I don't know what's going on around the country or the world, but in DC we're digging out from a serious snowfall, and the title of this book seemed very apt for my weekend muffins.

These flavor base for this recipe is a vanilla sugar made by processing 1 cup of sugar with 1/2 of a vanilla bean. I almost skipped the vanilla bean because it seems like a pretty pricey ingredient for my morning breakfast, but then I decided to go ahead with it. The vanilla sugar was fabulous, but I do think I'll try this again with vanilla extract in place of the vanilla bean. The only change I made to the recipe was to replace half of the butter with an equal amount of Greek yogurt. I do this almost every time I make muffins, and I've never had a bad result. I used 1% milk in place of the whole milk and I think that there wasn't a noticeable difference. The real reason I decided to make these muffins is because the recipe calls for fresh cranberries. I love fresh cranberries in baked goods, and any time I see them on the ingredient list it amps up my interest in a recipe. 

 

The verdict on these muffins? They are absolutely delightful. I just loved every single aspect of these little goodies, from the light fluffy texture to the contrast of the sweet batter and the tart bits of fresh cranberry. The topping is a nutmeg sugar topping and I had my doubts about adding nutmeg to this flavor combination but it works. Of all the baking spices, nutmeg is really far down on my list, but I liked the way the flavor of the nutmeg enhanced these muffins. They're red and white and a perfect addition to any Valentine's breakfast or brunch.

Cranberry-Vanilla Muffins

Cold Weather Cooking by Sarah Leah Chase

Ingredients

Batter:

1/2 vanilla bean, cut into small pieces

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter (I used 4 tbsp unsalted butter and 4 tbsp nonfat Greek yogurt)

2 large eggs

2 cups unbleached, all purpuse flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk

2 1/2 cups fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped

Topping

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line 12-14 muffin cups with paper liners.

2. Prepare the batter:  Place the vanilla bean and sugar in a blender or food processor and process until the vanilla bean is ground into tiny flecks.

3. Using an electric mixer, cream the vanilla sugar with the butter in a mixing bowl until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

4. Mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk, mixing until smooth and fluffy. Fold in the cranberries. 

5. Divide the batter between the muffin cups, filling each one almost full. Mix together the sugar and the nutmeg for the topping and sprinkle generously over the muffins. Bake until puffed, light golden brown, and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Serve the muffins warm or at room temperature. 

Makes 12-14 muffins (I got 12 muffins from my batch).

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.