Dang, these are good. My mom originally got the recipe for these strangely delightful orange muffins from an old Helen Corbitt (rest her culinary soul) cookbook, and she’s made them ever since I can remember. The muffin batter is moist and contains plenty of real orange zest, which provides plenty of flavor on its own. But then you coat the baked muffins with an orange juice and brown sugar glaze that really sets these beauties apart from the fray. The brown sugar in the glaze retains its grainy quality and ultimately settles onto the very top of each muffin, providing an unexpected texture for these bite-sized wonders.
These muffins need to be eaten warm. They’re a perfect accompaniment for scrambled eggs and bacon in the morning, or they’re delicious on their own for a mid-morning "coffee break" (Ga-Ga’s specialty) or a late-night munchie attack. For another twist, my mom and I once served them at a baby shower with small slivers of country ham inside. They were magically delicious!
Let’s whip some up, shall we?
The Cast of Characters: Butter, Sugar, Flour, Eggs, Buttermilk, Baking Soda (Ooops. Forgot to include it in this first photo, dadgummit), Oranges, and Brown Sugar. Divinely simple. Simply divine.
Place two sticks of softened (salted) butter into a mixing bowl.
Add one cup of sugar…
Cream together thoroughly.
Now add two eggs…
…And beat together well.
You could certainly use an electric mixer if you like, but it’s just as easy for me to whip the heck out of it by hand. Probably about forty brisk strokes.
Now add two cups of flour. The recipe calls for it to be sifted, but I usually can’t be bothered with such a step.
Now take the buttermilk…
…And measure one cup. (Remember, if you don’t have buttermilk handy, just add about 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to just under 1 cup of milk. A minute later, you’ll have buttermilk! I do it all the time.)
Now measure 1 teaspoon baking soda…
…And dissolve in the buttermilk.
Now pour it into the mixing bowl.
Now it’s time to zest the oranges! Oooh, baby. Have you seen these spectacular microplane zesters? They’re somethin’ else.
I’ve read that the inventor of this invaluable kitchen tool found herself without a zester one day, so she scoured around her husband’s toolbox until she found a planing tool similar to this. Neato! I just love a good invention story. Just run the oranges over the surface…
And the zest comes right off, without the bitter white part.
Before long, the little dudes are zestless and bald. Why am I suddenly thinking of Frodo on Mount Doom? "I can’t see the Shire, Sam…I’m naked in the dark."
Now add the zest to the bowl…
And there you have it! Orange muffins.
Just kidding.
Now mix it all together really, really well. And if you get some on your finger, please lick it off and close your eyes and moan.
Now. Please tell me you know about this little blue wonder. I make lots of mini muffins (brownies, cornbread, etc.) and this has really changed my life. It’s cooking spray with flour, and it’s made my baking life complete. No more of that annoying grease-and-flour-each-individual-muffin-tin thing. Another brand name of the same product is "Baker’s Joy." I’ve never really been a cooking spray girl, but this cooking spray has really revolutionized things around here.
I just do one quick spray into each spot. Right about now was when my baby streaked through the kitchen holding my empty eye makeup remover in one hand and a Power Ranger sword in the other. I missed my mark just a tad.
Cookie dough scoops are perfect for filling mini-muffin tins. My grandmother gave this to me when we got married and it’s singlehandedly responsible for my left love handle.
The recipe says to fill the muffin tins 2/3 full. I went a little over that, and it would have been better if I’d backed it up a bit; you’ll see why later. And if you don’t have a cookie dough scoop (my mom never did, for Lordy’s sake), just use a regular spoon.
This recipe fills three mini-muffin pans. See the beautiful little bits of zest in the batter? delicious.
(Note: You can also make regular-sized muffins if you prefer.)
Bake mini muffins in a preheated 375-degree oven for about 12-17 minutes (20-25 minutes for larger muffins). Watch periodically while they’re baking and make sure they don’t get too brown.
Now measure 1 cup (lightly packed) brown sugar…
…And dump into a small bowl.
Now take the naked, cold, and bald oranges you zested earlier. Cut them in half and squeeze out the juice. It should come to about 1/2 cup.
Pour juice into the bowl with the brown sugar.
Mix it together…
And that’s it! Mmm…I just love what this unusual glaze does to the finished product.
When the muffins just start turning golden, take them out of the oven. Some of these got just a tad dark around the edges, but they’ll be juuuuuuuust fine. I’m a firm believer in not freaking out when things don’t go perfectly.
Now. Drizzle the brown sugar/orange juice glaze all over the tops of the warm muffins.
The glaze will ooze all over the place, but that’s okay. That’s why it would have helped if I’d filled the tins just a little less full. (I came up short of three dozen by seven.) If the muffins don’t totally rise up over the top, the glaze has a little more room to settle into each individual space.
But no matter…I just kept scooping up the glaze from around the muffins and drizzling it over the tops. The muffins will absorb the glaze pretty quickly.
Use every last drop of that glaze until all the muffins are covered.
Within minutes, you’ll still have a little glaze on the pans, but much of it will have seeped into the muffins. Remove muffins from pans while still warm.
Mmmm. Golden, moist, zesty perfection.
The granular texture of the sweet orange glaze is what makes these muffins so, so special.
Go forth and make muffins! And eat them warm or I’ll spank you.
