PPQ: Essence of Orange Muffins

Well it’s that time of the week again, time to post the Project Pastry Queen recipe. I have been looking forward to today because I have been really excited to get back into the kitchen and back to the blog after a blissfully relaxing week in VT. I did my fair share of cooking and baking while I was there (to be blogged later in the week) but I did not have a wifi connection (Eek!) and therefore could not blog. Also, cooking in someone else’s kitchen made me realize that my definition of  ‘kitchen essentials’ and other people’s definition may be a little different (what? no microplane?! no pastry blender?!?) So these muffins were a great way to get back into my kitchen and back on the blog! Thanks Shawnda!

These muffins are great because they don’t require any electricity! Well, except for the oven, the dishwasher, and the juicer. But they don’t use a lot of dishes! Well, except for the 3 – 1/2 cup measuring cups, the 6 bowls, the juicer, the teaspoons, 2 knives, 4 spoons, 2 wet cup measuring cups, and the muffin tin, oh and the cooling racks. Ok, well maybe they just didn’t require the use of either the stand mixer or the food processor, which to me means no electricity and less dishes. And if you are looking at that list of dishes and thinking to yourself – less dishes?, you may be right in assuming that I am a very messy cook. If I don’t use at least half of the dishes in the house, it isn’t worth it. Well, these muffins are deemed ‘worth it’ and for more reasons than just using a lot of dishes! They are fluffy, slightly sweet, and have just the right amount of orange in them. And of course, I wouldn’t be happy without just a little bit of pumpkin, so I substituted 1/2 cup of the melted butter with 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree. It turned out to be a very good substitution, if I may say so myself.

Check out the recipe here. And stay tuned next week for a black and white cranberry tart. (Check out other PPQ members muffins here.)