Cranberry Muffins Cancer-Fighting Recipe
The tartness of cranberries and their subtle sweetness makes for the best muffins. This recipe is very easy, but the trick with muffins is not to over-mix the batter. There should still be streaks of flour in the batter as you spoon it into the tins. Use whole-wheat pastry flour, as it reacts very much like all-purpose flour but adds nutrients. For a lighter muffin, substitute half the whole-wheat pastry flour with all-purpose flour.
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour (see Chef Tips)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup fine brown sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for sprinkling
- Grated peel of 1 lemon
- 1 small ripe banana, mashed
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla essence
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1½ cup cranberries (fresh or frozen)
Directions
- Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.
- In a large bowl sift the whole-wheat pastry flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the brown sugar and lemon zest.
- In medium bowl, beat together the mashed banana, eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted butter.
- Add the banana mixture to the dry ingredients, folding them together with 10-12 quick strokes of a spatula. The batter will be lumpy and streaked with dry flour, but it is essential not to over-mix the batter for a tender muffin.
- Carefully fold in ¾ of the cranberries with another 4-5 strokes. By this time, the batter should be mixed in but still a little uneven. If it is too smooth, you’ve over-mixed it.
- Fill the muffin cups ½ – ⅔ full, depending on preferred size, scatter the remaining cranberries on top, and sprinkle with the remaining tablespoon of brown sugar.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.