It's such a cold, gray day outside this morning, but these Orange Pecan Muffins remind me of a sunny summer morning, eating breakfast outside, listening to the birds chirp, leisurely reading a book or the newspaper...
Made with creamy yogurt, these moist muffins are bursting with bright orange flavor, complimented by lovely pecans and cinnamon, and just enough honey to sweeten. The optional streusel on top is made not from brown sugar, but rather, from date sugar. While the muffins definitely hold their own without, if you choose to use the streusel, you can easily make your own date "sugar" by grinding dried dates in a coffee grinder until very finely ground; the immediate texture is more moist than purchased date sugar, but the baked results are quite similar.
January and February are prime citrus months in the warmer climates of our country. All manner of fresh oranges, grapefruit, lemons and limes are readily available at this time of the year, and you will find a plethora of fantastic citrus themed recipes all month long by visiting my blog (and checking for new additions to the blog hop listed below this recipe) as well as the blogs of all my fantastic #citruslove bloghop co-hosts.
Enjoy these fresh tasting muffins with a nice, hot, steaming mug of tea, while dreaming about the summer to come. At least, that's what I did; it was heavenly. I think I'm going to go do it again.
Orange Pecan Muffins
makes 12
- 1 c unbleached all purpose flour
- 3/4 whole wheat flour
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1/2 raw honey
- 1/3 c butter, melted
- zest of 1 organic orange (about 2 Tbs)
- 1 Tbs fresh orange juice (from zested orange)
- 1 egg
- 1/2 chopped pecans
For Struesel (optional)
- 2 Tbs date sugar
- 2 Tbs finely chopped pecans
- 1 Tbs unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 Tbs butter, melted
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
In a small bowl, mix together all the ingredients for the streusel, if using, making sure to crumble any clumps of sticky dates. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine flours, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Mix well. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine yogurt, honey, butter, orange zest, orange juice, and egg with a hand held blender for about 15- 20 seconds, or until well mixed.
Pour yogurt mixture into the flour mixture; mix with a spoon just until combined (batter will be thick). Stir in the pecans.
Evenly fill 12 muffin cups (each will be nearly filled to the top).
Sprinkle streusel topping over each.
Bake in preheated oven 16-18 minutes, or until muffins are lightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the center emerges clean.
Cool on wire racks. *The longer the muffins are allowed to set, the sweeter they will become.
Please join in on the #citruslove fun by linking up any citrus recipe from the month of January 2012. Don't forget to link back to this post so that your readers know to stop by the #citruslove event! The twitter hashtag is #citruslove.
Citruslove Blog Hop Co-Hosts
Baker Street ~ Anuradha ~ @bakerstreet29
BigFatBaker ~ Erin ~ @BigFatBaker
CafeTerraBlog ~ Terra ~ @CafeTerraBlog
Cake Duchess ~ Lora ~ @cakeduchess
Elephant Eats ~ Amy
Georgiecakes ~ Georgie ~ @georgiecakes
Hobby And More ~ Richa ~ @betit19
Mike's Baking ~ Mike ~ @mikesbaking
Mis Pensamientos ~ Junia ~ @juniakk
Peaches and Donuts ~ Sylvia ~ @PeachesandDonut
Savoring Every Bite ~ Linda ~ @Spicegirlfla
Simply Reem ~ Reem ~ @simplyreem
Smart Food and Fit ~ Lisa ~ @LisaNutrition
Soni's Food for Thought ~ Soni ~ @sonisfood
The Art of Cooking Real Food ~ Laura ~ @TAofCRF
The Spicy RD ~ EA ~ @thespicyrd
The Wimpy Vegetarian ~ Susan ~ @wimpyvegetarian
Vegan Yack Attack! ~ Jackie ~ @veganyackattack
Vegetarian Mamma ~ Cindy ~ @VegetarianMamma
You Made That? ~ Suzanne ~ @YouMadeThatblog
