Orange and Cardamom Muffins ~ delicately fragrant muffins flavored with bright orange zest and warm, spicy cardamom, this easy muffin recipe is unique and delicious!
For a quick, easy, comforting breakfast, nothing beats my homemade orange and cardamom muffin recipe!
Is anybody making muffins anymore? It seems like they’ve totally gone out of fashion, right? But every time I make a batch I’m reminded of why I love them. These orange and cardamom muffins bake up so nice and tall, with a sugary crust on top, how could you resist? I don’t know why I thought of combining citrus with cardamom, I don’t think I’ve done it on the blog before, but boy, it’s so perfect. Neither taste is overpowering but they blend beautifully. The aroma is especially great when they’re just out of the oven, Definitely going to use this combo again!
You know I love my one bowl no-mixer recipes
They make baking from scratch so much more do-able. There’s less mess, and less lag time between the inspiration to bake and your first bite. Just grab your bowl and a whisk and you’re off to the races.
A plain muffin needs a little something something on the top, right?
I used my favorite Sparkling Sugarto add a little glitz and a sweet crunch. Less homey, more coffee shop. You could use regular sugar if that’s all you’ve got, but sparkling sugar has a bigger crystal and a great texture. I recommend picking some up from Amazon.
Muffins are nice to have around because they’re already pre-portioned and they keep well. Pop day old muffins in the micro for 20 seconds to revive that amazing aroma. They’re special enough for office potluck parties, especially in winter when a cozy muffin is everything.
One of the saving graces of deep winter is all the juicy citrus that comes into season.
It’s surprising how many different ways you can incorporate citrus into baking. In this recipe I use the juice and zest of the orange, but it’s the zest that really brings the orange flavor home. The outer orange colored part of the peel, or the zest, contains the flavor and aroma oils, which provide the true essence of the fruit flavor. The more you use, the more flavor payoff you’ll get.
How to zest an orange
The zest of citrus fruit is the very outer part of the peel…the part that is colored.
When you zest citrus fruit you are looking to remove just that outer colored part, with as little as possible of the white part underneath, which is bitter.
I highly recommend using a citrus zester, which is a tool specifically created to do the job.
Be sure to zest your fruit before cutting or juicing!
Zest your fruit as close to adding it to your recipe as possible, because the oils start to dissipate quickly.
Orange and Cardamom Muffins ~ delicately fragrant muffins flavored with bright orange zest and warm, spicy cardamom, this easy muffin recipe is unique and delicious!
Preheat oven to 350F and butter a muffin tin, or line with muffin tin liners.
Whisk together all the wet ingredients well.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, then add to the wet ingredients and fold everything together until there are no dry bits of flour left.
Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tins, and top with a sprinkling of the sparkling sugar.
Bake for 20-22 minutes until risen and starting to turn golden brown around the edges. A toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin should come out without wet batter clinging to it.
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Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although The View from Great Island attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
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Ground cardamom: One of the more pungent spices in Mediterranean cooking, cardamom is a fairly warm spice with subtle lemony undertones that pair beautifully with orange. Eggs: Help provide structure to the cake. Orange: Both orange zest and orange juice are used for an utterly irresistible recipe.
The idea here is to start the muffins in a very hot oven for just a short amount of time. This activates the baking powder and allows the muffins to shoot up in height quickly. We then turn the heat down and continue to cook for longer. This is done to avoid over-browning and overbaking.
Baking soda is most commonly used in cookie and muffin recipes. Baking powder, however, already contains an acid and a base and has a more neutral taste, which works great when baking cakes and bread.
In cooking and baking, the combination of cardamom and citrus creates a unique and delicious flavour profile. Firstly, the aromatic spice of cardamom warms and deepens the dish. Secondly, the refreshing and tangy taste of citrus adds a bright touch.
Cinnamon: Our pure cinnamon lends a warm, sweet aroma to everything from morning toast to cookies, and it also has a savory side, with earthy, mahogany-colored flavors. Coriander: Intensely light, lemony flavor that makes Indian and Middle Eastern curries and couscous sing.
Using oil as a substitute for butter in muffins can result in a lighter and more tender crumb, but it may also produce a slightly different flavor, depending on the type of oil used. Applesauce can also be used as a substitute for butter in muffins, as it provides moisture and can help to keep the muffins tender.
Choosing vegetable oil is the best option for baking moist, delicious baked goods. Canola oil, the most common vegetable oil used in baking, doesn't add a strong flavor. It allows your cake's flavor will shine through while still achieving a moist texture.
If there isn't enough egg, your batter or dough may not be able to hold its structure or could end up overly dry or dense. On the other hand, if there is too much egg, your baked goods could lose their shape due to excess liquid, or have a rubbery (or even overly cakey) texture depending on the recipe.
The best bakery-style crumb muffins start with cake flour
Cake flour is more finely ground and has less protein, which leaves the muffins with a fine, light crumb and soft texture. Using cake flour is an easy way to avoid heavy, dense muffins even if you end up stirring just a bit too much. What is this?
Quickbreads and muffins are hydrating batters, which means the flour absorbs the liquid over time, resulting in a very moist muffin, and improving the flavor. So let your muffin batter rest, up to 24 hours if possible.
According to O. Corriher, the way to get a perfectly puffed up dome on your muffins is to increase your oven heat. She says that 400° should do it, no matter what the recipe says. The higher baking temperature means that the the outside edges of the muffin will set while the middle is still liquidy.
Baking soda is a leavening agent used in baked goods like muffins, which allows them to rise and become light and fluffy. Formally known as sodium bicarbonate, it's a white crystalline powder that is naturally alkaline. Hence, if we omit baking soda from a recipe then it will not rise.
However, if you're in a pinch, the substitution is one teaspoon baking soda equals three teaspoons baking powder. Baking soda is also much stronger than baking powder and, by trying to provide enough leavening, you may wind up with an unpleasant metallic, salty taste in the final baked product.
Cardamom Sweet, bitter apples, oranges, pears, legumes, sweet potatoes and other root vegetables, yogurt caraway, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin, ginger Seed pods will keep for a year or more in an airtight jar.
Whether you are creating your own essential oil diffuser blend, or looking for the best companion for Cardamom, consider using Cinnamon, Clove, Ginger, Cedarwood, Sandalwood, Vetiver, Fennel, Patchouli, Ylang Ylang, or citrus essential oils.
Introduction: My name is Terrell Hackett, I am a gleaming, brainy, courageous, helpful, healthy, cooperative, graceful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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