Sunshine in the form of muffins, that is what these are. The inspiration for these comes from amazing sunshine corn cakes from Clementine. They are delicate, crumbly and have a bit of a crunch from the gritty corn. They have a sweet zesty touch from thick bits of orange throughout the muffin and a lovely thin slice of orange baked on top. Those are sunshine corn cakes.
Inspired by these delicious beauties I picked up some super sweet blood oranges from the farmers market this weekend. Blood orange plus corn meal and flour make a perfect muffin. My muffins use blood oranges rather than regular oranges. Let pulp, more juice and zest. They are bright, sweet and bring a little sunshine to your morning!
recipe below…
Blood Orange Corn Muffins
recipe adapted from Joy the Baker
makes 12 muffins
Ingredients:
1 cup AP flour
1 cup cornmeal
6 tablespoons sugar
zest of two blood oranges
¼ cup blood orange juice (just squeeze the oranges your zest)
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 tablespoons corn oil
1 large egg
½ cup corn kernels (fresh frozen or canned)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter or spray muffin pan.
Using a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl whisk together buttermilk, melted butter, oil, egg and blood orange juice and zest. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and with a rubber spatula gently stir ingredients together until just combined. Divide batter evenly among muffin pan. Bake in oven for 15 to 18 minutes or until tops are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean. Remove muffins from oven and allow to cool completely.
banana wonder
February 5, 2013what a delightful combination! LOve the cornmeal contrast!
Gastronomer
February 5, 2013I’m lovin’ the top shot, Nastassia. Gorgeous color and composition! And yummy, of course 😉
marissa @ the boot
February 25, 2013i love blood oranges! these must be amazing!
Kate | Food Babbles
February 27, 2013These muffins are lovely! I haven’t ever tried corn muffins with citrus and the blood oranges are so appealing here. Absolutely gorgeous and so creative.
ashley - baker by nature
March 16, 2013Mmmmm, these muffins look bangin! LOVE love LOVE blood orange anything.
Heather Tanji
July 24, 2013That. Looks. Delicious.
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I just bought some blood oranges the other day. And I know what I’m using them for now… 🙂