Orange Almond Blueberry Muffins

I’m finally posting a recipe with a photo! I was flipping through my cookbooks, looking for something I’ve never made before when I remembered my Baked baking book. Oh yeah! The Baked Brownie recipe isn’t the only recipe in there! I remembered when I made the Baked recipe for Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins and how good those turned out so I decided to search the book for another muffin recipe. I also just got a new muffin pan from Williams-Sonoma (thanks boyfriend!) after my roommate took hers after moving out. What kind of food blogger would I be if I didn’t test it out!? The pan is awesome. Sturdy, simple, and cooked the muffins evenly.

Now onto the muffins. Much like the Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins, this muffin recipe has an unusually long name. The muffins turned out unusually good, however, so the name is fine with me. This recipe calls for a lot of prep-work (juicing and zesting oranges, separating eggs, melting butter, blanching almonds, grinding almonds, toasted almonds, rinsing frozen blueberries) so I don’t think it will go into my regular recipe rotation but it is definitely a perfect breakfast treat. The flavors of the orange, almond, and blueberry compliment each other well, and not one flavor is too overpowering. My muffins ended up being moist, light, bright, and flavorful. Yet another winner from Baked!

By the way, I used 2% milk because that was what I had on hand. I didn’t notice any sort of textual issues because of this, but I did notice these muffins were a little less indulgent Now I don’t feel so bad for eating these for breakfast! (Shh don’t remind me about the 1/2 stick of butter…)

Orange Almond Blueberry Muffins
From Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

Note: If you use frozen blueberries, make sure to rinse them in a sieve until the water runs clear. Pat them dry and toss them in some flour before adding them to the batter. This will prevent your muffins from turning that icky greenish color and will keep the berries suspended in the muffin mix.
Note #2: To finely grind almonds, put them in the bowl of a food processor and keep pulsing in very short bursts until powdered. Be careful not to over-pulse the almonds, or they will become pastelike.

• Grated zest of 1 orange (about 1 tablespoon)
• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 2 large egg whites
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1/4 cup sliced, blanched almonds, finely ground
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup blueberries
• handful of sliced almonds for decoration

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine the orange zest, orange juice, milk, egg whites, and butter. Whisk until combined.

In another medium bowl, combine the ground almonds, flour, sugar, toasted sliced almonds, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the well, and stir until just combined. Fold in the blueberries.

Fill each muffin cup about three-quarters full, and arrange 3 or 4 sliced almonds on top of the batter in a floral decoration. Bake in the center of the oven for 15 minutes, or until the edges are brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Move the muffin pan to a wire rack, and let cool for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove the muffins from the pan and let them finish cooling on the rack.

The muffins can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.