Saturday, January 31, 2009

January m.o.m. - Clementine Oat Muffins

One of the things I gave my mother for Christmas was "muffin of the month" (m.o.m.) - a dozen muffins delivered to her each month. December's muffin flavor was gingerbread. In January, clementine recipes jumped out at me from every side, and with one of those boxes of clementines languishing in my fridge, I knew clementine muffins would be just the thing. Dan Lepard has a recipe for Clementine Oat Muffins that sounded perfect.

n.o.e. notes:

- The recipe calls for caster sugar, which is a superfine sugar. I had no superfine sugar and was low on caster sugar, so I used approximately 1/3 each of the following: caster sugar, golden bakers sugar (a superfine golden sugar that was in my baking drawer) and made up the difference with regular granulated sugar whirled in mini food processor.

- I baked 1 1/2 recipe, which yielded 12 large-ish muffins in my silicone muffin tins.

- When measuring the AP flour, I added a generous spoonful of oat flour. The recipe also calls for oats.

- I ended up with plenty of juice from the clementines, and added some additional clementine pulp.

- When measuring out the oil, I first put about 1/3 nonfat Greek yogurt in bottom of the measuring cup, then filled the rest with canola oil (I didn't have sunflower oil).

- These muffins straddle the muffin/cupcake line. Dan's muffins have a luscious-sounding clementine glaze on top. I wanted mine more muffin-y so I skipped the glaze.


the verdict

Warm from the oven, the muffins tasted tender and sweet and very much contain the essence of clementine. They have a solid citrus scent but true to the sweet nature of clementines, the taste did not have the tang of other citrus baked goods. The muffins dried just a bit with time, though, so I'd recommend keeping an eye on them and covering them right after they are cool.

These muffins are a great choice for using clementines, especially where you might want a refined, rather than rustic, muffin. With the glaze they'd be a special tea-time treat. I'd definitely make these again.

15 comments:

Audrey said...

Lucky m.o.m.! I love clementines... and I love the idea (I want to IMPLEMENT the idea) of having a baking drawer that just happens to be filled with golden baking sugar and a tablespoon of oat flour! Great post (as always!)
Audrey

Steph said...

What a great gift idea, Nancy! Clemintine muffins sound delicious. I should use citrus zest in my baking more often considering how yummy it was in the dimply plum cake

natalia said...

Ciao Nancy ! It's great to receive muffins every month and differently flavored !! We baked clementine christmas muffins with Sweet and Simple Bakes last month and their perfume was great !

Anonymous said...

What a nice gift for your mom! And a nice way to use some clementines. I can only get them by the box and it can be a challenge to eat them all while they're still fresh.

Di said...

Those sound really yummy. I love baking citrus-y things this time of year.

The Food Librarian said...

Looks great! Citrus and muffins are a nice breakfast mix.

Cathy said...

Muffin of the month -- what a great idea!! I might have to steal it. These look really wonderful -- the perfect breakfast or tea time treat! And it looks like the recipe provides an opportunity for us bakers to keep our brains sharp with some old-fashioned gram/milliliter conversion work.

Maria said...

Clementines are my fav!! The muffins look amazing!! What a great way to use citrus!

Karen said...

Love the idea of m.o.m.! What a nice treat that will be.

Reeni said...

Clementines are so good and so naturally sweet! I bet these muffins were amazing!! Yummy!

Anonymous said...

I love the M.O.M. idea. What a great gift. The clementine muffins sound yummy.

Katrina said...

Those looks great!

Sara said...

These look so good, what a great way to take advantage of the delicious citrus we've had this winter!

NKP said...

I do like Dan Lepard's recipes.
Clementine oat muffins sound awesome!

Matt's Kitchen said...

I love citrus in baked goods. It just makes them seem so fresh and fragrant.

Muffin of the Month... what a great gift! Except I would want Muffins of the month because the first dozen would be gone in two days. Maybe Muffin of the Week?