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Orange Date Muffins

BLENDER WHOLE ORANGE DATE MUFFINS

So delicious and easy. Wouldn’t Mom love these as part of your breakfast in bed you’re serving her?!

Make up to a day ahead. Keep wrapped at room temperature. I like to make this with natural fruits found in Jill Denton’s Natural Food aisles. Try and use Rumford’s baking powder here, as it contains no aluminum. Using organic ingredients from Natural Foods assures you of good, healthy muffins.

1 juice orange, about 8 oz, with peel, washed and dried
½ cup orange juice
½ cup chopped dates
1 egg
½ cup (1 stick) butter, cut up and softened
1-3/4 cup flour
¾ cup sugar
1 teaspoon each: baking powder and soda
½ teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 400. Cut orange into 8 pieces and remove seeds. Put orange pieces, juice and dates in blender. Puree. Add egg and butter and blend. Set aside. In large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt. Pour orange mixture over top and stir gently to combine. Pour into sprayed muffin tins, filling about 2/3 full, and bake 15-20 minutes, until top springs back when pushed with finger. Don’t overbake. Makes 12 muffins, or about 18 mini-muffins. (If making mini-muffins, check after about 10 minutes).


Why this recipe is good for you:
• Oranges contain vitamin C and there is a tremendous amount of nutrients in the peel and white “pith.”

• Egg yolks contain Omega 3’s and B vitamins.

• Dried fruit is a terrific snack on its own, but cooks also use it in everything from muffins to stews. Drying has the obvious advantage of letting us enjoy our favorite fruit when it's out of season, but it also serves to concentrate the fruit's flavor and sugar. Since high concentrations of sugar ward off bacteria, dried fruit can last up to a year without refrigeration.

• Sulfur dioxide is sometimes added to the fruit to improve its shelf life and color. If you're allergic to it, you can find unsulfured dried fruit in the Natural Food Section. If you are in a pinch, you can remove some of the sulfur by boiling treated dried fruit for a minute or so, then draining off the liquid.

 

Orange Date Muffins

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