These are addictive.  Like, eat-half-the-batter-and-three-muffins-before-dinner addictive.

One of my favorite things about being home is the easy access to cooking materials and ingredients.  Muffin pans, cookie sheets, flour, sugar, yogurt, eggs, baking soda, fruits, vegetables, OH MY!

It’s wonderful.

With nothing to do this afternoon, I perused a few of my favorite blogs for some cooking or baking inspiration.  When I saw this recipe on averiecooks.com, I knew muffins were exactly what I wanted to make.

Buuuuuut, we didn’t have sour cream OR blueberries.  Hmph.  Bummer.  I didn’t feel like going to the store, so I loosely followed this recipe and subbed what I had in the refrigerator.  The outcome are beautifully moist and fluffy muffins that are sweet with little pops of tartness from the cranberries.

The recipe is super easy, coming together in just 15 minutes + 30 minutes of baking time. Flour, baking powder, and a pinch of salt are whisked together.  Then, in a separate bowl, a whisked egg is combined with a little sugar, butter and vanilla.  The cranberries are tossed in the flour mixture to prevent sinking during baking, and then the wet and dry are mixed until the dough is formed.  I added a couple tablespoons of milk to get everything together.

32 minutes later, soft, fluffy muffins were cooling on the stove.

These taste great as snacks, or will make a quick grab-n-go breakfast, toasted with a smear of butter.

These muffins are not very sweet, and the tartness of the cranberries is definitely noticeable.  If you are someone that prefers a sweeter muffin, try adding an extra 1/2 cup of sugar than the recipe calls for, or use a sweeter fruit, such as frozen blueberries or frozen raspberries (or a blend!).

Cranberry-Lemon Muffins– Makes 15-17 muffins

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbs baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2.5 Tbs unsalted butter- melted and then cooled
• 1 1/4 cup full-fat Paquea Farms Lemon Yogurt (or similar variety)
• 1 3/4 cup cranberries

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350*F. Grease a muffin pan with butter or vegetable oil.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Whisk and set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg and then add the sugar.  Mix until egg and sugar are evenly mixed.
4. In a small, microwave-safe bowl, microwave the butter until melted (about 45 seconds) and then set aside for 2 minutes to cool.
5. Slowly add the butter to the egg-sugar mixture.  Be sure to continue to whisk as you add the butter.
6. Add vanilla to the butter-sugar-egg mixture and whisk to combine.
7. Add the yogurt to the wet mixture and whisk to combine.
8. Add cranberries to the flour mixture and toss the cranberries so they are lightly coated in flour.
9. Slowly add the wet mixture to the flour mixture with the cranberries and fold it with a spatula until the cranberries are evenly distributed and the wet and dry mixture form a thick dough.  I needed to add 2 Tbs of milk to get the last bit of flour incorporated.  I imagine you could also use orange juice.
10. Spoon the dough into the greased muffin pan, filling about half of each muffin compartment.
11. Pop in the oven for 30-35 minutes, but be sure to keep an eye on them.  Mine were nicely browned and a toothpick came out clean after 32 minutes.

Let me know if you give them a try, and of course, enjoy!

*Special shout-out to my BFF, Christine, for being on the phone with me while I made these.  😉  You da best.