I decided to start making these because I was becoming addicted to the O's Campus Cafe cranberry walnut muffins and would spend $1.50 everyday for breakfast. I wanted to save money, but also make a healthier version, as the cafe ones were no doubt filled with sugar, white flour, and fat.
After searching the internet for a starter recipe and several versions, this is the recipe I finally came up with:
Whole Wheat Cranberry Walnut Muffins with Buttermilk
(Makes 12 muffins, about 200 calories each)
Dry ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder, sifted
¾ teaspoon baking soda, sifted
½ teaspoon salt
Wet ingredients:
1 egg, beaten
¼ cup vegetable oil (can also use olive oil or melted butter)
¾ cup pure maple syrup or honey or molasses
1 ½ cups buttermilk (can use yogurt, but I wouldn't recommend it)
2 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen (thawed, drained, and rinsed)
½ cup walnuts, chopped
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine dry ingredients. Combine wet ingredients in separate container, making sure that they are completely blended. (If using butter instead of oil, mix other wet ingredients first, then add butter.) Stir wet into dry until dry just disappears.
Stir in cranberries and walnuts.
Pour batter into greased muffin tins, filling to the top of the line (don't be afraid... they'll rise a bit, but it won't be overwhelming).
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until tops are golden brown. Serve with butter. Muffins freeze well and also thaw overnight at room temperature. If reheating, microwave for 15 seconds, then toast lightly in a toaster oven. Enjoy!
Thoughts on most recent muffin experience:
This time I used olive oil and honey, which made for an excellent texture and taste. This was the first thing I ever made in my oven at my new place. It's a gas oven like my old place, but as far as I can tell, there is no convection on it. I believe this led to the muffins in the middle not cooking all the way, so they disintegrated when I tried to remove them.
I baked them for 15 minutes on the top rack, 5 minutes on the lowest rack, and then 3 minutes on the top rack. Before baking, I hadn't bothered to move the racks, so next time, I will move one to the middle and see how that goes. If that doesn't work, I might try baking the muffins in two separate tins.
