Cranberry-Orange-Walnut Muffins

I suppose it's time to connect the gas to my heater. When you wake up and decide to make muffins primarily because it will warm the place up... maybe it's too cold.

I also made these muffins because I have a considerable amount of fresh cranberries sitting in my fridge, staring up at me. Trader Joe's this season is nice enough to sell 12-oz bags for $1.99, but it turns out that 12 oz is a lot of cranberries (fresh cranberries are very light!).

This muffin recipe (another adaptation of Arhia's recipe) is inspired by a cranberry quick bread that my mom often makes during the holidays. I didn't have that recipe, but I maintained its combination of fresh cranberries, walnuts, and orange zest. The cranberries get wonderfully juicy, and the final product isn't overly sweet or rich.

Cranberry-Orange-Walnut Muffins

Ingredients

2 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c white flour
2 tsp baking soda
3/4 c turbinado sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp dry ginger
1/2 tsp salt
*
1/3 c corn oil
1 c applesauce (unsweetened)
juice and zest of one medium orange
soymilk or water to desired consistency
*
1 c walnuts
1 c fresh cranberries

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375*. Oil muffin tin.
Combine dry. Add wet, adding liquid to muffin-batter consistency. Stir in walnuts and cranberries. Fill muffin tins all the way to the top. Bake about 25 min.

Update: On a repeat offense, upon finding I lacked applesauce, I substituted 1/4 c ground flaxseed whisked with 3/4 c water for the 1 c applesauce with equally excellent results.