Recipe Redo: Cranberry Orange Muffins with Streusel Topping

Around this time last year I posted a recipe for Cranberry Orange Bread and just the other day I had two of the essential ingredients leftover from Thanksgiving: cranberries and oranges! I remember the bread being truly moist and the marriage between cranberries and orange produced a muffin with a nice balance of sweetness and tartness. I was excited to revert back to that recipe and make some scrumptious muffins! But to my dismay that old recipe which may or may not still be on this blog (it is *blushes*) wasn't written properly. There seemed to be ingredients missing and misguided steps; for example there wasn't flour or sugar listed in the ingredients for the streusel topping! I felt pretty darn silly about that recipe and prayed that no one baked that bread and kind of overlooked the whole post. But I still really wanted to bake those muffins! So I began rewriting the recipe in hopes of fixing all it's boo-boos. 

Upon rewriting the new recipe I made a couple of modifications and used an egg and goat milk; but if I can remember correctly both of those ingredients can be successfully swapped with applesauce and non-dairy milk. Even though I was embarrassed by that past recipe, I don't regret posting it because it shows me that I'm still learning and that indeed is humbling! Having a blog has taught me that this is my own journey, and that it's okay to make mistakes and fix 'em. My mantra out of this experience is simply: I am a human being and it's okay to make mistakes; even in the things I'm passionate about. For the longest time I've been especially hard on myself with my cooking and wanting to everything to be perfect before I shared it with anyone else; but quite honestly perfect is boring and 9 out of 10 times my screw ups have left me with burning determination to whip up something better. As simple as this recipe may be I think it's better than the first bread I made. Maybe yesterday I'll want to improve it? Only time will tell my dears... In the meantime do me a favor and bake these muffins for yourself and let me know what you think! :)

Cranberry Orange Muffins with Streusel Topping

makes 16 medium sized muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup natural cane sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon sea salt

2 medium oranges, zested and juiced (reserve half of zest for the streusel topping)

½ cup milk*

½ cup canola oil

1 large egg, room temperature*

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 ½ cup fresh cranberries, roughly chopped

Streusel topping:

2 tablespoons butter or vegan shortening

¼ cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup brown sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground cardamom

Pinch of salt

Optional: ½ cup raw pecans, chopped                                                              

Notes: I used goat milk for this recipe but like I mentioned above any milk will do, and about ¼ cup applesauce will replace one large egg. Also if you prefer a sweeter more dessert like muffin add 1/4 cup more sugar to the batter.

Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin tin with parchment liners. 

Streusel: In a small bowl mix with hands or a fork the shortening, flour, brown sugar, spices and salt until thoroughly combined. Add in the pecans, mix and set aside.

In a large bowl mix together flours, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl beat together orange zest and juice, milk and eggs then mix in the canola oil and vanilla. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients mixing until just moistened. Fold in the cranberries. Fill each muffin tin with 3 tablespoons of batter and sprinkle batter with about a tablespoon of streusel. Bake for 25-30 minutes until lightly browned on top or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

xo Jessica

Banana Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake Donuts + Our newest addition :)

Before I share the recipe for these wondrous donuts, I would like to share a little tidbit of what has been going on in our lives; Michael and I got a puppy! Her name is Zoe and she is a 10-week old French Bulldog with the warmest and cuddliest belly we’ve ever seen. After much research we decided a Frenchie was the dog for us because they are companion dogs, smart, quirky and the perfect size. Little Zoe is something else too; she is a little monster that makes up for devilish antics by being… "So cute!" We learned very quickly that having a little puppy around requires adjustment, responsibility and patience; lots and lots of patience. Zoe's antics of choice are biting every little thing around the house and of course, being a little rambunctious beast. But you gotta love her! She really is great though and my heart almost always melts when she cuddles up with me, and the way she rolls around on her back while snorting like a piglet automatically makes me giggle. Some shots of the babe...

dat belly... <3_<3

She loves bedtime.

I'm obsessed with her double chin.

Zoe getting caught in one of her antics... I believe she was eating my in-laws houseplants again.

Now, back to the donuts! I originally found the recipe here.  I adjusted the recipe to be vegan and was extremely pleased with the results. To me anything coffee cake or that contains bananas, walnuts and chocolate is my kind of dessert. I find that these donuts are cozy, moist, sweet and downright delicious. The first time I made this recipe I baked it into a 6” inch cake pan, and baked the remaining batter into muffins. This time I decided to break out my donut pan because, well, I think everything tastes better in the shape of a donut! 

Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake Donuts
makes a dozen donuts 

Topping:

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup walnuts, chopped

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon cardamom

2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons room temperature vegan butter

¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips

Dash of salt

Cake:

½ cup vegan butter

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ cup whole wheat flour

¾ teaspoon baking soda

¾ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon sea salt

¾ cup natural cane sugar

1 tablespoon chia seeds + 3 tablespoons water

¼ non-dairy milk + ½ teaspoon vinegar (or add a squeeze of lemon and let it sit for 5 minutes to curdle)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 bananas, mashed

Preheat oven 350. Lightly grease donut pan with cooking spray, vegan butter or coconut oil.

1. Make topping; mix all ingredients except chocolate chips together with the back of a fork or a pastry cutter until crumbled. Stir in the chocolate chips and set aside.

2. Combine chia seeds with water and set aside. Melt vegan butter in a medium pan over medium high heat. Set aside to cool.

4. Whisk flours, baking soda, baking powder and sea salt.

5. Once butter is cooled stir in sugar until well combined. Whisk in chia mixture, milk, and extract. Add bananas and stir to combine.

6.   Slowly stir in flour mixture just until combined.

7. Spoon the batter into donut pan until it’s about half full, then sprinkle some of topping and repeat, adding more batter and another layer of the topping.

8. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Allow to cool completely. Loosen edges of each donut with a butter knife and carefully invert. Serve or store in a container for up to 4 days.

-Jessica