Muffin Monday will soon be taking you on a joyride that only the best holiday muffins can provide. We’ll be doing a countdown to Christmas and will feature easy recipes that you can bake for the holidays. And while I’ve only started weighing the flour, you can help me pick the rest of the ingredients. Tell me what is your favorite holiday muffin and we’ll add it to the list.
But before I get blamed for adding inches to your waistline, I thought we could do a round of healthy muffins this week.
I’m featuring one of Giada De Laurentiis’ classic recipes: Olive Oil Muffins. The original recipe calls for all-purpose flour but I’ve substituted that with whole wheat flours. Add some dried cranberries that compliment the lime zest, and you’re good to go!
| Muffin Monday: Cranberry Lime Olive Oil Muffins |
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
- 2 teaspoons lime zest
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons whole milk
- 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted
- 3/4 cup chopped dried cranberries
- Powdered sugar, for sifting
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Place paper liners in a 12-cup muffin tin.
- In a medium bowl, blend together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Using an electric mixer beat the sugar, eggs, and zests in a large bowl until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the vinegar and milk. Gradually beat in the oil. Add the flour mixture and stir just until blended.
- Crush the almonds with your hands as you add them to the batter and stir in the dried cranberries until mixed. Fill the muffin tin almost to the top of the paper liners.
- Bake until golden on top and a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 20 to 25 minutes.
- Transfer to a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes. Remove the muffins onto a platter and let cool for 5 more minutes. Sift powdered sugar over the muffins and serve.
Muffin Monday: Round Up
Don’t forget to check out what my fabulous Muffin Monday bakers are bringing to the table (literally!) this week. Each one is unique and delicious.
Maya | Food Diva
Marta | Princess Misia
Anita | Slice Of My Life
Barbie | Miss Adventure
Bianca | South Bay Rants N Raves
Elena | 3 Green Onions
Kate | Food Babbles
Jasmine | Cook That Book
Nastassia | Let Me Eat Cake
Kristen | Mind Your Bees and Trees
You used lime too! Yaay… Totally loved this recipe. Your tops looked smoother too, maybe it’s the whole wheat flour and the fact that your zests and almonds were finer. Mine were chunky, as you saw ;-). Going to check the other muffins out now!
This is fabulous! This has the most eggs I have seen on Muffin Mondays! I love olive oil in baked goods. I’ll catch up with the rest tomorrow.
Hmm, gotta try the lime with this, maybe it will make it more tropical. Thank you SOOOO much for the recipe. We love it!
What a great idea, who dosen’t like muffins? I hear no answers and thats how it should be :)
Take care…
Love your additions of lime and cranberry! That sounds fantastic!!
Lime and Cranberry – how wonderful! A wonderful round up. These muffins are my personal favourite , An. Fantastic recipe. Thanks for sharing.
that sounds fun! I am not a sweet tooth person but I have pick a favorite .. it would be chocolate with some nuts may be and may be a hint of cinnamon in it :)
I love Giada and all her recipes are so simple .. this is one of my fav !
O I love lime in just about anything. And interesting too to use olive oil in these muffins. Delicious!!
THx for unearthing another great recipe A:) We loved these and your version sounds very refreshing:) Can’t wait to dive into the holiday muffins:)
I thought about substituting lime zest for the lemon as well, but wasn’t sure how it would come out. I’m glad to see that it was a hit–I’ll definitely try that next time!
I love cranberry muffins and I love olive oil in cakes – I should be doing this more often. But the citrus zest and the balsamic vinegar have me intrigued! I would love to taste these! Easy muffin recipes are perfect for the holiday season. Or a lazy Sunday morning.
Lime and cranberry, what a great favor pairing :) sad I missed muffin Monday this week, let me go check the rest of this week’s muffins. Xoxo
Another great looking muffin this week! Looking forward to your holiday muffin posts :) Have a great week.
Your site has been open all morning with me meaning to leave you a comment. You are a well of muffin ideas An and I love each and every one of them. Cranberries just in time as we are approaching here Thanksgiving!! Great jon as usual my girl!
meant *job* this deer situation is distracting me & lousy typing skills.
That looks wonderful.
I’ve yet to bake with olive oil, but these muffins sound super yummy! Can’t wait for all the holiday muffins as well!
Looks Perfect!!!!
Muffins… we all love them right.
Love the deliciousness in these, will try them soon.
What an interesting muffin! I really like cranberry and lime! Great combination
this is such a unique muffin blend. i wonder what it tastes like. :) sending some #muffinmonday love to ya!
I love how your muffins look — smooth and nice and yellow! :D
Thanks for the lovely recipe, A!
Wow! I love the idea of an olive oil muffin! …and cranberries are a favorite of mine! In fact, my favorite muffin is a cranberry orange muffin with sparkly sanding sugar on the top….since you’re asking!
Beautifully done and thanks for sharing!
What a fun feast of flavors on this muffin! Love it! Miss you guys. Will join back next week or so. Happy Mon.!
Mmm these look great. I love cranberry and lime but would never have thought to combine them in a muffin.
Cranberries and lime would be such a great flavour combination to use with this recipe! Now let’s bring on the holiday muffins…can’t wait ;)
Your muffins look great! So sorry I had to miss out this week. :(
I’ve never had olive oil muffins but what a great idea. They sound lovely with the cranberries added too!
What interesting flavors. Sounds delicious!
Very different recipe, and I like it!