Maggie Monday: Orange Juice Muffins

Some of the best recipes are made on the fly from what you have in front of you. Maggie shows how true this is…

I promised the horsey girls I’d bake something for the next horseshow. Then, the week got nuts at work, and I forgot. I found myself contemplating the pantry and frig rather late on a Friday night, wondering what I could toss together.

I spied a big bowl of oranges, and went with that. There is a bagel shop in town that makes incredible Orange Juice Muffins, the size of your head. Maybe not really, but they are certainly JUMBO! And a huge piece of citrusy baked good yumminess. I decided it would be done.

It was not as easy as I thought to find a recipe, but I settled upon this one from Call Me PMc. They looked very similar to those at Mr. J’s. And the ingredient list was simple and short. Done and done.

Most muffins are simple, and these are no exception. Mix everything up, slap them in a muffin tin, and done. Well, these get a glaze, which is a bit more work, but TOTALLY worth it. DO NOT SKIP THE GLAZE. The muffins, in reality, are simply a vehicle to eat the orange glaze.

These are pretty, and taste incredible.

Orange Juice Muffins

What you need:

• 21/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter (melted)
• 2 tsp orange baking emulsion or pure orange extract
• 2 tsps fresh orange zest
• 1/3 cup fresh orange juice
• 2 large eggs

Glaze

• 2 tsp orange zest
• ½ cup orange juice
• 2 cups confectioners sugar

What you do:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 12 muffin tin with non-stick spray.
• Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
• In a small bowl, combine milk, butter, orange zest, orange juice and eggs.
• Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
• Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin.
• Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until set in the center. Muffins will not brown very much.
• Mix glaze: Whisk 2 c powdered sugar and ½ c orange juice until smooth
• Remove from pan and immediately submerge in Orange glaze, coating entire muffin. Allow to drain on a wire rack. Place waxed paper under rack for easy clean up.
• Serve immediately.