I have tried a healthier low fat version of these muffins by using half quantity of whole wheat flour and oil instead of butter; they come out really good and taste awesome.
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 egg
3/4 cup orange juice
1/3 cup veg oil
1/2 cup milk
3/4-1 cup craisins (packed dried cranberries)
1-2 tsp orange zest (I used 1 clementine)
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line the standard muffin pan with cupcake liners and lightly grease it with PAM. Sieve the flour first. Then sieve the whole wheat flour twice. Doing this process will ensure some air incorporation in the batter to make the muffins lighter which otherwise will be a little dense due to the use of whole wheat flour. In a large bowl, take both the flours, sugar, baking powder and baking soda and mix it. In another bowl, mix the egg, orange juice, and the oil. To this add the craisins and orange zest. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and fold the mixture just until moist. Dont overbeat,just mix in. To this add the milk and just mix in lightly again. Pour the batter with the help of an icecream scoop or a spoon into the prepared muffin pan. Fill each liner about 3/4th full. Bake at 400 degrees F for 12-15 min or until the tops are a little golden brown in color. (The oven time varies but it wont take more than 20 minutes for sure). I made 12 muffins of standard size with this batter.
TIPS:
1. You can use fresh/frozen cranberries but the taste will be more tart. You can add around 1/4 cup sugar to the cranberries and put the mixture on the stove and create a sauce and add this to the batter when cool.
2. You can adjust the zest as per your taste, I have read that people have used zest of upto 1 orange for the recipe and still found it okay.
3. You can fully omit the whole wheat flour and use all all-purpose flour instead.
