Saturday, December 03, 2011

tip #15 cranberry cardamom muffins


Cranberry Cardamom Muffins


1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 1/2 cups chopped fresh or frozen cranberries
¼ cup white sugar

3 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup ground flax seeds (optional)--grind in blender
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cardamom

1/2 cup butter room temperature
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
½ tsp vanilla

Sugar-in-the-raw to sprinkle on top

Directions
1. In a bowl, toss cranberries and nuts with 1/4 cup sugar; set aside. In another bowl combine flour, flax, baking powder, salt and cardamom. Set aside.
2. Mix butter and second two sugars. Add eggs and milk; stir in flour mixture just until moistened. Fold in nuts and cranberries. It will be a stiff batter. Fill greased muffin tins two-thirds full. I like to sprinkle each with sugar-in-the-raw before baking.
3. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until muffins test done. Makes 24 muffins

I developed this recipe to use some of the flaxseed my Dad gave us for Christmas. I think I use the flax quite often, but I feel like the widow of Zarephath as the jar never empties—in fact, it looks like I’ve hardly used any at all.
The ground flaxseed gives these muffins a great texture. I do not use muffin papers so the outsides have a nice crust to them too.
They are great with cream cheese.

Tip: cardamom is very expensive--$10 a jar--because I use it seasonally, I store it in the freezer to keep it fresh. My neighbors borrow from me so they don't have to invest in a jar for just a few teaspoons a year. We do this with more things. Good neighbors!

3 comments:

sophie said...

At one of the grocery chains here, you can scoop your own spices--it makes all kinds of sense for me for stuff like cardamom that I need infrequently .... I have some leftover from a recent purchase and I am going to use it to make your muffins :-)

regan said...

This sounds yummy! There is a market in town that has spices you can buy as much, or as little, as you need. You bring your own containers or baggies, and it's weighed out what you take! I love that! I think I will be going for flaxseed and cardamom on Monday! Thanks for the recipe!

Y said...

MMM, this sounds Yummy! I think I have to try this one, I like muffins;)
Grettings from Yvonne