Mini Orange Raisin Muffins - Part 1

 Mini Orange Raisin Muffins

Petunia blogged about how good the Orange Raisin Muffins at Coffeebean were. And how they were never going to make them again.

Well, I really wanted to try them.. they sound so.. new yearish.

So I went to my good friend Google and did a quick search. This particular recipe seemed good. Many of the folks said their muffins turned out great. And it looked so easy too.

So I decided to try make some muffins for breakfast this morning. I did a couple of adjustments to the original recipe..

Ingredients
* 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 3 teaspoons baking powder
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 cup white sugar
* 1 egg, beaten
* 1 whole navel orange, zested
* 1/4 cup orange juice
* 1/2 cup milk
* 1/3 cup vegetable oil
* 1/2 cup raisins

What I did
1. Soak raisins in hot water and then drain dry before use
2. Preheat oven to 200 deg C
3. In a large bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients.
3. In a separate bowl, combine egg, orange zest, orange juice, milk and vegetable oil.
4. Stir egg mixture into flour mixture just until moistened.
5. Fold in raisins.
6. Spoon batter into mini disposable muffin cups. Top with some orange zest and chocolate chips (optional).
7. Bake in preheated oven for approx 18 - 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

The cake batter smelled really good when I was mixing it.. and baking it. It's the orange zest, I think.

Well, I never tried the Orange Raisin muffins from Coffeebean... but I found these ones I made pretty good - fluffy and moist (The Husband and I had 2 each at a go).

But the orange taste didn't come out too strongly in spite of the smell, so I'd try with orange juice concentrate next time around. And I'd also lower the amount of salt a bit.. I think the recipe could do with less salt... and maybe a little more sugar (Which is pretty strange because I've never had to add sugar to a US recipe..)

I had some mini chocolate chips which I put on some of my muffins.. and those turned out really great! Orange and chocolate really goes well together.

 The muffins were fluffy and moist. I'd try this recipe once more 

with some adjustments.. and then try out another recipe I've found.