Breakfast has a tendency to be my nemesis. I don’t enjoy getting up at 6 am, and I like even less using the stove or oven at 6 am. I’m pretty sure it’s against my religion. However, being the dutiful mother that I am (or, more accurately, knowing that my skinny, scrawny little kids, all three of whom are experiencing pubescent growth, will choose to starve rather than feed themselves a bowl of cereal) I make breakfast every school day.
This week, I whipped up some muffins. Usually I prefer to just buy the boxed muffin mix, because I’m that lazy, but sometimes I use my scratch recipe and fancy it up. I had some fresh cranberries in my fridge, leftover from the Cranberry Lime Sodas I spoke about in my last post, so I plopped a few into some boiling water while I mixed up the batter. The berries popped as they broke open. It only takes a minute or two of boiling to soften the stout berries right up. If you’re not fond of this step, just use the craisins. I think they would be easier and taste just as good, and honestly, the only reason I didn’t use them is that I was completely out.
I also added 1/2 tsp of orange extract, which was leftover from the Orange Creamsicle Cookies I made a few months ago. It turned out to be not quite enough orange flavor for me. I think I will make it 3/4 tsp next time. A handful of mini chocolate chips finished off the concoction. Since I was short on time, I baked them in the mini-muffin tin and let the kids eat several mini muffins with a glass of apple juice. I even had enough leftover to add to their lunches.
I’m pretty sure I first came across this recipe in a Taste of Home magazine. The original recipe calls just for mini chips, but it is so basic that you could literally add anything you want. Almond extract and poppy seeds comes to mind. Or a ripe banana and some chopped walnuts and cinnamon. Canned peaches and white chocolate chunks. Blueberries. Raspberries. Apples. The possibilities are endless….
- 2 cups flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 T baking powder
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 egg
- ¾ cup milk
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 1 handful of boiled or dried cranberries
- ½ - 1 tsp. orange extract
- ⅓ - ½ cup mini chocolate chips
- Mix together the first 7 ingredients until moistened.
- Stir in extract.
- Fold in cranberries and chocolate chips gently.
- Fill mini-muffin cups ¾ full. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes, until they just start to brown.
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Mmmm…these muffins sound great! I love the addition of the chocolate chips! Yummy! 🙂