Orange Pecan Muffins - Citrus Blog Hop

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

Preheat oven to 400F.  Grease or line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners.

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

A Little Bit of Everything ~ Roxana ~ @RoxanaGreenGirl
Astig Vegan ~ Richgail ~ @AstigVegan

Baker Street ~ Anuradha ~ @bakerstreet29

BigFatBaker ~ Erin ~ @BigFatBaker

CafeTerraBlog ~ Terra ~ @CafeTerraBlog

Cake Duchess ~ Lora ~ @cakeduchess

Cakeballs, Cookies and More ~ Sue

Easily Good Eats

Elephant Eats ~ Amy

Georgiecakes ~ Georgie ~ @georgiecakes

Hobby And More ~ Richa ~ @betit19

Mike's Baking ~ Mike ~ @mikesbaking

Mis Pensamientos ~ Junia ~ @juniakk

No One Likes Crumbley Cookies ~ TR ~ @TRCrumbley

Oh Cake ~ Jessica ~ @jesshose

Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives ~ Lisa ~ @parsleynsage

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 

Teaspoon of Spice ~ Serena ~ @tspcurry
That Skinny Chick Can Bake ~ Liz ~ @Thatskinnychick

The Art of Cooking Real Food ~ Laura ~ @TAofCRF

The More Than Occasional Baker ~ Ros ~ @bakingaddict

The Spicy RD ~ EA ~ @thespicyrd  

The Wimpy Vegetarian ~ Susan ~ @wimpyvegetarian

Vegan Yack Attack! ~ Jackie ~ @veganyackattack

Vegetarian Mamma  ~ Cindy ~ @VegetarianMamma

You Made That? ~  Suzanne ~ @YouMadeThatblog

Banana Walnut Muffins

Quick breads and muffins aren't really that difficult to build.  We need some heft (flour), some flavor (fruit/vegetable/spices), a riser (usually baking powder) and some glue (an egg).  Easy, right?  Well, a lot of muffin recipes call for sugar.  White sugar.  Processed sugar.  And I don't understand.

It's been a long time since I've used white sugar as anything other than a decoration, if I even care to use it for that much.  As far as sweeteners go, if the fruit itself isn't enough to spread around, I tend to rely on the most natural of all sweeteners; honey.

For as much as I love and use honey, I have to say I have a soft spot for maple syrup.

My grandfather tapped the trees on his land, harvested the sap, and cooked it down to that sweet, delicate, thin liquid we poured on our pancakes and waffles.  I even dipped my bacon or sausage it, and it was good.  Darn good.

But guess what.  Maple syrup isn't just for breakfast anymore.

When my children were born, I started playing around with different natural sweeteners so I could avoid giving those new and perfect little bodies straight up processed white sugar.  Local raw honey and local maple syrup worked as a great substitute in nearly every recipe I tried them.

In your search for real maple syrup (please don't waste your money on "pancake syrup" or amost-but-not-quite maple syrup - read your labels!), look locally.  If you absolutely can't find any within a decent drive-able radius, get online and buy from as close to home as possible.  If you do have to drive far, it's a good idea to stock up.

Here is a favorite muffin recipe using maple syrup from a local source.  They are super moist and just sweet enough to let the flavor of the banana be the star. I hope you like them.

Banana Walnut Muffins

• 1 c whole wheat flour
• 3/4 c rolled oats (not quick cooking)   
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 c chopped walnuts
• 1/4 c canola, olive, or coconut oil
• 1/2 c pure maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 3 large, ripe bananas
• 
  
• Preheat oven to 375F. Grease or line 12 muffin tins.
• In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and nuts. Make a well in the middle.
• In another bowl, combine oil, maple syrup, vanilla, and egg. Using your hands or the back of a fork, gently squash the bananas (don't "mash" them, keep some chunks), and add to the wet ingredients. Stir well.
• Pour the banana mixture into the flour and oat mixture. Stir until just combined.
• Divide batter evenly among the 12 prepared muffin tins. Bake 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.