Orange Blueberry Muffins

After eating a sub-par muffin at a diner I really like recently, I realized that it has been far too long since I made a batch of muffins at home. It’s funny to have gotten out of the “habit” of making a batch every week or two, since they’re so easy to make, but then again there is nothing like an absecse (of muffins, in this case) to make the heart grow fonder. I wanted to make use of some of the oranges from my tree, so I decided to go with orange blueberry muffins.

For some reason, lemon ends up paired with blueberry much more often than orange. It’s true that tarter lemon makes a nice contrast with the sweetness of the berries, but oranges are plenty zesty and really brighten up an otherwise plain muffin. I used both fresh orange juice and plenty of orange zest in these, giving a great orange backdrop for the blueberriesin this muffin. Fresh orange zest will go a long way in providing orange flavor, but you can use store-bought orange juice if you don’t have fresh juice at the ready.

The muffins are moist and sweet enough to stand on their own without needing jam, honey or other toppings. They have a great orange flavor to them, too. These will keep well in an airtight container (or a ziploc bag) for a couple of days, so you can enjoy a batch over the course of several mornings without worrying that you have too many muffins around. Fresh and frozen berries will work in these muffins. If you do use frozen, try not to over-mix them into the batter, or you’ll risk the berries thawing slightly and streaking the batter with purple!

Orange Blueberry Muffins
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tbsp orange zest
3/4 cup orange juice, preferably fresh
1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a 12-cup mufin tin with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and orange zest until smooth. Stir in about half of the flour mixture, followed by the orange juice and then the rest of the flour mixture. Stir only until just combined. Fold in berries to evenly distribute them. Batter will be fairly thick.
Divide batter evenly into prepared muffin cups. Muffin cups will be fairly full.
Bake for 21-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean and muffins begin to brown.
Turn out muffins onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 12