Whole Wheat, Fat-Free Fresh Cranberry-Orange Muffins Recipe

Written by Lindsay Nixon

Every year I buy fresh cranberries as soon as I see them... and then they hang out in my freezer for weeks. Eventually, I start feeling wasteful and use them to make a relish or sauce - even though I'm not really a fan of either (we all have our preferences, right?). Like clockwork, I bought a bag of cranberries about 3 weeks ago and they've been hanging out in my crisper ever since. I checked on them this morning and noticed some of the berries had shriveled up and died. I felt too guilty moving them to the freezer, so I heated up the oven, grabbed a few oranges and came up with this great muffin recipe.

Per Serving: 123 calories, fat 0g, cholesterol 0mg, carbohydrates 28g, protein 2g, fiber 3g

Cran-Orange Muffins Recipe

Servings: 12

Description:

A tangy muffin that uses up leftover fresh cranberries.

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
½ cup raw sugar
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
⅔ cups orange juice, fresh
6 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
2 tsp orange zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ whole banana, mashed
1 cup cranberries, fresh

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly spray muffin tin or paper cups to prevent sticking and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together and set aside. Mash the banana really well using a fork or potato masher and set aside. Juice oranges (about 4 small oranges) and zest one of the rinds. Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in all remaining ingredients. Stir until just combined. Spoon batter into cups 3/4 full and bake 15-25 minutes, until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean (bake time varies on cranberry size and their natural moisture). Immediately transfer muffins to a wire rack and allow to cool.

Posted on November 25, 2008