I love winter for all sorts of reasons but one of the reasons why I love this time of year is because my navel orange tree gets full of ripe, juicy sweet oranges. I wanted to make some baked goodies with lots of oranges and decided on whole wheat orange muffins that my family can have for breakfast.
Featured Tableware
Pieces featured here are none other than Burleigh’s Asiatic Pheasants. My favorite piece here is the 32oz breakfast cup that is perfect for someone like me who drinks lots of coffee in the morning.
Burleigh also makes all of their pieces in functional size, and even if I initially think some pieces are quite small, like the sandwich tray, I always find a perfect use for them. This tray was just the right size to serve my warm muffins.
How to Make Candied Oranges
Before you get started on the muffins, you need to make a nice batch of candied oranges. Be sure to use organic oranges when you’re making this because you will be incorporating orange peels in your muffin. To make mine, I used four small oranges and used two navel and two blood oranges for contrasting colors and sliced them about 5 mm thick.
In a medium pan, add sugar and water and stir over low heat, then fill your pan with your orange slices. To soften the oranges quickly, I placed a piece of parchment paper over the oranges. In about 8-10 minutes, you get candied oranges soaking in refreshing orange infused syrup.
I like to make sure I get refreshing orange flavor with every bite, so when the candied oranges are cooled off, leave 12 slices in the pan and rough chop the rest. Chopped oranges will be incorporated in the muffin batter and you’ll place orange slice on top of each muffin and bake them in the oven.
Fluffy and Pretty Whole Wheat Orange Muffins
Even though whole wheat is healthier, I know sometimes whole wheat baked goods can be bit dense and dry. To make sure you get moist muffins, add plain Greek yogurt, which is my favorite ingredient to add extra moisture to cakes and savory dishes.
After you stir in the wet ingredients, then gradually stir in your dry ingredients until you get a smooth batter. To avoid gummy doughy muffins, be gentle, stir quickly and do not over mix the batter.
Fill your standard size muffin tin with the batter and don’t forget to place your candied orange slice on top of your muffin before you place them in the oven.
I didn’t grease my muffin tin by the way. There’s already 1/2 cup of butter in this, so I don’t think additional butter was necessary. In case you’re wondering about muffins sticking to the tin, these muffins came right out of the tin without any problems.
If you want additional sweetness to your muffins, you can drizzle some orange syrup on top before serving.
My family had some for breakfast and there’s nothing like fresh baked muffins with steaming cup of fresh coffee in the morning.
Whole Wheat Orange Muffins
Ingredients
Candied Orange Slices
- 4 small organic oranges, sliced 5mm thick
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup cane sugar
Orange Muffins
- Candied oranges (12 orange slices and chopped oranges)
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup greek yogurt
- 1¾ cups organic wheat flour
- ¾ cups cane sugar
- 2½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
To Make Candied Oranges
- Heat medium sized pan over low heat, add water and sugar and stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Add orange slices to the pan and place piece of parchment paper on top of orange slices, place cover on the pot and simmer for 8-10 minutes under low heat. When orange slices become soft, turn off heat and set it aside.
- Once orange slices are cooled, leave 12 orange slices in the pan and chop the rest and set it aside.
Orange Muffins
- Turn on the oven to 375°. Combine and sift together flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl and set it aside.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla extract, greek yogurt and chopped candied oranges.
- Gradually stir in the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl using a silicone spatula or a wooden spoon and do not to overmix. Fill each muffin tin with the batter and place one slice of candied orange on top of each muffin.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of muffin comes out clean. Let the muffins cool, then remove from muffin tin and cool on wire rack. Drizzle extra orange syrup on top of muffins before serving.
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