Don’t you love this time of year? Besides it being the holiday season, there’s so many creative, inspiring and delicious food and decor for the holidays. With newsletter updates, magazines and blogs that are followed, I feel full without even having made or tasted all the holiday season’s fare!
I was both surprised and saddened to learn that the Martha Stewart magazine, Everyday Food, has been discontinued and that the December issue will be its last in print. It was a great magazine, a quick read with valuable cooking and baking tidbits and tasty doable recipes. A sign of the times or could the explosion of food blogs and online magazine recipe access be the ultimate detriment to some of our most favorite and treasured publications? It’s both a touchy and controversial subject to many.
So how about these Cranberries, Chocolate & Walnut muffins…
Cranberries, White Chocolate & Walnut Muffins
Tis the season to incorporate bright and tart cranberries into your baked goods. Besides eating them, they make beautiful decorations on the holiday table too! Scones, muffins, breads, cookies, appetizers, cocktails…these cranberries are versatile and full of healthful benefits. While fresh cranberries are at their peak in the markets and they’re reasonably priced for the season, pick up an extra bag or two to freeze so you’ll have your own stock into next year (and you can avoid paying inflated prices when cranberries are not in season).
In these muffins, the stars are the cranberries with their beautiful, rich, red color and firm texture that hold up well. Paired with white chocolate to offset the tartness and the woodsiness that are walnuts, they’re great coffee house type muffin to serve anytime of the day.
Also, it’s Meyer Lemon season so use those precious lemons in this recipe that calls for 2 teaspoons of lemon zest!
On another note, someone that I care for and love very much recently made some bold new changes in their life and upped and moved to a place that will be too far to come home for the holidays this year. I’m assembling a holiday care package in the next few days and will be including some basic, baking classics that will pack and ship well. I’m looking forward to some holiday baking and at the same time, making some doughs ahead of time to freeze now and use later to save time. Stay tuned… 🙂
You may also enjoy:
- Cranberry Upside-Down Cake with Walnuts & Red Currant Jelly
- Banana-Walnut Chocolate-Chunk and Cranberries Cookies
- Classic Cranberry Sauce
- Honey, Pecan and Cranberry Granola
- Meyer Lemon and Cranberry Scones
- Cranberry Harvest Muffins with Figs
- Cranberry-Orange with Coconut Muffins
- If you don’t have whole wheat flour, substitute the 1 cup of whole wheat flour with all-purpose flour.
- For a nice texture on top of the muffins, sprinkle the tops with raw/turbinado sugar.
- Watch baking time towards the end and take care not to overbake.
Makes 12 Muffins
1 cup all-purpose floour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Using paper baking liners, line pan(s) for 12 muffins.
In a large bowl, whisk the flours, baking powder, and salt.
In another bowl, whisk the sugar, egg, milk, butter, zest, and vanilla until blended.
Add the egg/milk mixture to the flour/dry ingredients and mix until well blended. Fold in the walnuts and chocolate chips. Gently fold in the cranberries.
Distribute batter evenly among the prepared muffin liners.
Bake for 18-22 minutes OR until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Let muffins cool on a wire rack.
Store leftovers in an airtight container.
Gil Dantas says
Lovely and stunning post! It could not be more perfect, my favourite ingredients are all there: cranberry, walnuts, and chocolate!
Cristina says
Thanks Gil. Yes, the perfect combos…cranberries, walnuts and chocolate (any kind of chocolate to offset that tartness). 🙂
Melissa@EyesBigger says
These look so festive! Cranberries make everything so much more CHEERFUL (as do lemons – lemon cheeriness is what gets me through January!). I confess I cram cranberries into pretty much anything. My little neck of the woods is one of N. America’s biggest producers of cranberries and I love watching them harvest in the fall – flooding the fields so they become cranberry lakes. It also means that cranberries are super cheap here and I am happy to take advantage of that!
Cristina says
That must be a sight to see, cranberry lakes. One of the many great things about the cranberry is that it lasts a long time in the fridge and freezes well. Thanks Melissa! 🙂
Joy says
The muffin looks lovely,
Cristina says
Thank you Joy!! 🙂
wok with ray says
Call me old fashion but print publications are still my preference over screen publication especially when it comes to recipes. These muffins look very festive and ready for the holidays. Merry Christmas to you and loved ones, Cristina and thank you for sharing all of these gorgeous goodies. 🙂
Cristina says
I’m with you on that, Ray…still need printed publications. Haven’t been able to transition to the Nook/Kindles yet. I love my books and magazines! 🙂
RKM says
These look delicious. Love the cranberries, can taste it now with a hot cup of coffee.
Cristina says
I’m sure you can taste these delicious cranberry muffins…literally! 🙂
Nessa says
Love the combination of the sweetness from the chocolate, the tartness from the cranberries, and the crunch from the walnuts. These muffins look delicious! Love the beautiful photos, as always. Gorgeous colors!
On another note, I was so surprised and sad to read that Everyday Food Magazine was discontinued. I also love this magazine, and I’ve bought several issues over the years.
Cristina says
Thanks Nessa. Yes, they’re pretty with the spots of red from the cranberries and bits of white chocolate peeking through. 😉
I know, huh? So sad about Everyday Food. 🙁 I could think of some other publications that I wouldn’t miss – it’s too bad this one got the axe.