TWD: Berry Good Muffins

This week's recipe was chosen by Michelle of Sugar & Spice: Orange Berry Muffins. I was excited to make these, as I love anything with fruit, and these muffins looked so simple! Sure enough, these came together in no time and could easily be made on a weeknight to enjoy for breakfast during the week. These muffins are extremely moist, and not too sweet. My mom always complains that things are too sweet (for me, there is no such thing!), but I think she would really like these. Since they are not overly sweet, the blueberry flavor really comes through. The orange flavor is really just a subtle undertone to complement the blueberries.


If you don't have decorating sugar, you can sprinkle the tops of these muffins with granulated sugar before popping them in the oven for a very subtle sparkle.


This week, Nicole of Crazy Delicious and Ashley of eat me, delicious joined the Tuesdays with Dorie group! So don't forget to visit their blogs after checking out Quirky Cupcake, Sugar & Spice, and Abby Sweets to see the fruits of their labor :)

Orange Berry Muffins
from Baking: From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan

Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
About 3/4 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
3 Tablespoons honey
1 stick (8 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup blueberries - fresh, preferably, or frozen (not thawed)

Decorating sugar, for topping (optional)


Getting Ready:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan or fit the molds with paper muffin cups. Alternatively, use a silicone muffin pan, which needs neither greasing nor paper cups. Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet.

Pour the orange juice into a large glass measuring cup or a bowl and pour in enough buttermilk to make 1 cup. Whisk in the eggs, honey and melted butter.

In a large bowl, rub the sugar and orange zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and the fragrance of orange is strong.


Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don't worry about being thorough - the batter will be lumpy and bubbly, and that's just the way it should be. Stir in the blueberries. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Bake for 22 to 25 minutes. If you want to top the muffins with decorating sugar, sprinkle on the sugar after the muffins have baked for 10 minutes. When fully baked, the tops of the muffins will be golden and springy to the touch and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins will come out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold.