Muffin Top

Spring in Colorado is like a tug of war every year. Winter thrashes around and reluctantly releases her hold, finger by finger. One day might be blissfully sunny, tanks tops and sunburn, and the next day has us curled up inside with a cup of tea and a heating pad on our laps.

Chloe spotted the first robin of spring this year. He was sitting on a snow covered branch with feathers fluffed against the cold, announcing with his presence that spring was coming. Chloe gasped with delight, and we were late getting her to school because it was a stop and take a picture sort of moment.

Yesterday I tried to combat the chill (and celebrate the end of Lent) by baking muffins. They were so scrumptious that I made them twice, because the first batch barely lasted past breakfast. I had to hide a lonely muffin away to save for my hard working hubby.



Here's the recipe, adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins
(the original recipe calls for ricotta cheese instead of yogurt, but this last time, I was out of the ingredients to make ricotta so I used full fat yogurt and it was just as beautiful)

2 c flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c sugar
Zest of two clementines
1/2 c butter at room temp
1 c plain yogurt (I used Brown Cow with the cream on top)
1 egg
Juice from the clementines
1 tsp vanilla
Mini chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin cups with liners or grease

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a small bowl mix together zest and sugar.

3. Beat butter, sugar, and orange zest together until light and fluffy. Add yogurt and mix until smooth. Beat in egg, orange juice, and vanilla extract.

4. Add dry ingredients and mix until just blended. Divide between 12 muffin cups.

5. Bake for about 18-20 minutes until tops are dry.

6. Make some tea or coffee with a bit of cardamom. Eat muffins and think happy thoughts.