Date Flecked Orange Muffins

These little darlings use the whole orange! Caution: Do not taste the batter once it is ready to cook. It tastes so darn good you might not get the muffins made at all!

Step: 1

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.

Step: 2

Place orange pieces into the blender with the egg, buttermilk, dates and butter. Blend thoroughly until mixture is thick, fairly smooth with flecks. Pour out into a large mixing bowl.

Step: 3

In a separate bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cloves and ginger. Stir flour mixture into the orange mixture and stir or fold gently with a wooden spoon or spatula only until dry ingredients have combined. Don’t mind any lumps that may be present. Fill muffin tins to just under rims with batter.

Step: 4

Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out clean. Let stand in pan for five minutes, then remove to wire racks for cooling.

Per Serving: 218 calories; protein 3.1g; carbohydrates 33.5g; fat 8.4g; cholesterol 36.2mg; sodium 206.8mg.

The quality of the flour can make a real difference to your bread. Different brands do vary. Extra-strong or Canadian flours, which are naturally higher in gluten, may give you a better rise than standard dough flours – especially if you’re making wholemeal dough , which not always getting bigger as well as clear bread.

To make this in a breadmaker , add all the ingredients to your breadmaker and follow the makers instructions.

A dough’s first rising can be make in the fridge overnight . This slows down the time it takes to rise to double its size, giving it a deeper flavour. It’s also a great timesaver , as you can work it night before , then finish it off the next day.