Lime Cranberry Muffins

When my grandma got a packet of dried cranberries from the US, I had a huge dilemma. Since cranberries are not accessible in India and I love them, I wanted to make something perfect (and infallible) so that the fruit wouldn’t get wasted in a batch of failed baked goods! So I scoured the internet and found this recipe for lemon raspberry muffins. And my, they were as lip-smacking as they sounded. Sure, I had to change a few things (like raspberries!) around due to a lack of available ingredients but they were still yummy.

But wait a minute. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that this is just some sweet innocent vanilla muffin that has a lime flavor. There is nothing innocent about this muffin. This will hit you in the face and kick your ***, mistah. Slightly bitter, intense and tangy all at once! 

The last time I had made these they were a little bitter for my taste, so this time I added 1/8^th of a cup of sugar. I also added a few drops of lime juice. This recipe called for buttermilk but I substituted it for a cup of well stirred yoghurt. Buttermilk is the slightly sour liquid that remains after butter is churned. It cannot be found in India but the good news is that you can substitute a cup of buttermilk with a cup of yoghurt or a cup of milk that has 2 teaspoonfuls of lime juice. See homecooking for some ideas on buttermilk substitutions.

Oh, and the bottom becomes all brown and crispy after baking. I wouldn’t worry about it being burnt – it isn’t and just thinking about this makes me miss them (they got over as soon as they were out of the oven).

Lime Cranberry Muffins

Adapted from smitten kitchen

Makes 10

125 gms sugar (powdered)

125 gms flour

125 gms yoghurt

1 egg

60 gms salted butter

2 tsp finely grated lime peel
A few drops of lime juice

1 1/4^th baking powder

1 tsp vanilla essence

30 – 40 gms cranberries (I used the dried ones)  

1.Preheat oven to 375°F/ 190 degrees celcius. Line 10 standard muffin cups with paper liners.

2. Mash 1/8 cup sugar, lemon juice and lemon peel in small bowl until sugar is slightly moist.

Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl to blend.

3. Using electric mixer, beat remaining 1 cup sugar and butter in large bowl until smooth.

4. Beat in egg. Beat in buttermilk, then vanilla and lemon sugar.

5. Beat in flour mixture.

6. Fold in cranberries.

7. Divide batter among muffin cups (the 2/3-3/4 level worked well for me). Top each large muffin with 1 cranberry.

8. Bake muffins until lightly browned on top and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 35 minutes.

9. Eat hot from the oven!