Orange-Cranberry-Banana-everything I can think of Muffins

I have discovered there are a million and one recipes for muffins on the internet. For a beginner like me, its a little overwhelming. So, what the logical thing to do? Add one more of course!

I honestly don't know that much about baking. My husband, who spent some years in the restaurant biz a few years back, does. Obviously he was going to play a roll in this recipe :) I know that everyone tells me that baking is exact, and the measurements must be correct or nothing good will come about, so that always makes me a bit nervous because I forgot lots of stuff a lot of the time.

My base recipe was adapted from Serious Eats: Orange Cranberry Muffins (so I could get the basics ratios!)

FYI: This makes 16 muffins - I didn't realize that until I was ready to pour. Oops :)

After adding a little of this, and a little of that, this is what we finally came up with:

Orange-Cranberry-Banana Muffins

2 cups flour

1 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon, divided

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup orange juice

8 oz can mandarin oranges (save the juice for a later step)

1/4 cup canola oil

1 large egg, lightly beaten (we used 1/4 cup egg beaters)

1 cup dried cranberries

1 ripe banana

Cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

2. Pour juice from mandarin oranges over the dried cranberries and let sit until ready to mix. (or you could do this overnight).

3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 2 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Make an indentation in the middle.

4. In a large glass measuring cup, mix orange juice***, oil and egg. Pour mixture into flour indentation and stir until everything is just combined.

4. In a small bowl mash banana and mandarin oranges, stir in cranberries. Stir into batter.

5. Divide batter evenly among muffin tins. Sprinkle with reserved 1 tablespoon sugar. Bake 15 minutes. Remove from tins and cool on a wire rack.

***We actually thought that the little bit of juice left over from mandarin oranges would be enough, but it wasn't and we added about 3/4 cup water. I'm going to add 3/4 cup orange juice to this recipe, as the original had, that would probably work much better, haha!

These turned out really good. Our daughter, who doesn't really like fruity muffins, loved it! Not bad for my first time I think :) Thanks to the hubby I'm sure!

They definitely have my mind rolling about different items to toss into the batter :) I just happen to have some blackberries and ripe banana left...hmmm... ;)

Nutrition Facts(from caloriecount.com)

Serving Size: 1 muffin

Amount Per Serving

Calories

164

Total Fat

3.9g

Cholesterol

13mg

Sodium

192mg

Carbohydrates

30.5g

Sugars

16.8g