Muffin Monday Dried Plum, Date, Citrus Muffins

Ahhh the perks of writing a muffin blog! pianogirl88, one of my followers, recently was kind enough to give me a cookbook called A Reader’s Cookbook by Judith Choate. Today’s recipe was inspired by the Cranberry Nut Bread recipe found in the book. As usual, I changed things up considerably. No longer do the muffins have cranberries or nuts.

Dried Plum, Date, Citrus Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of dried chopped Dates

• 1 cup of water
  

• 1/2 cup chopped Died Plums
  

• 2 cups of Flour
  

• 1 cup of regular Sugar
  

• 1 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder

• 1/2 teaspoon of Baking Soda

• 1/2 teaspoon of Salt
  

• 1/4 cup of butter, melted
  

• 1 egg
  

• 3/4 cup Orange Juice
  

• 2 teaspoons Lemon Peel
  

Directions:

1. Combine the chopped Dates and the hot water and let sit for 5 minutes.

2. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

3. Combine the Flour, Sugar, Baking Power, Baking Soda, Salt, Lemon Peel in a large bowl.

4. Add the melted butter to the dry mixture and combine until you have a crumbly mixture.

5. Combine the Egg and the Orange Juice in a liquid measuring cup (stir until Egg is well broken and incorporated into the Orange Juice.)

6. Add Wet  to the dry and mix until smooth.

7. Add the chopped dry plums.

8. DRAIN the dates and add to the batter.

9. Prep muffin cups by spraying lightly with cooking spray.

10. Fill muffin cups , distributing eveningly.

These are my awesome new silicone muffin cups.

11. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.  Test with the toothpick test.

12. Cool for 5 minutes before releasing from muffin cups and enjoying.

Recipe tasters agree, these muffins are a hit. Maggie S. liked “the kick of sweetness the dried plums brought to the muffin”, while Andrew S. commented that “The muffin had a great consistency–soft and crumbly without entering the realm of the glorified cupcakes that are common these days, and always maintaining structural integrity.  The plums were gooey even after the muffin had cooled down, and it had an excellent level of sweetness overall…”

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