Olive Oil Muffins Recipes

CRANBERRY AND OLIVE OIL CORN MUFFINS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray.
• For the cranberry sauce (see Cook's Note): Stir together the cranberries, sugar, orange juice and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan and cook, covered, over medium heat for 5 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook until the cranberries have broken down into a chunky sauce, about 2 minutes. Set aside to cool.
• Meanwhile, make the batter: Whisk together the sugar and eggs in a large bowl. Add the olive oil and yogurt and whisk to combine. Add the lemon juice, lemon zest and reserved orange zest and whisk until combined. Whisk in the vanilla extract.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and 1 teaspoon salt. Add to the wet ingredients and fold with a rubber spatula until just combined.
• Scoop the batter into each well of the prepared muffin tin, 3/4 of the way full, with a cookie scoop or 1/2-cup measuring cup. Top each muffin with 1 tablespoon of the cranberry sauce and swirl into the batter with a toothpick; cover with any remaining batter. If desired, top each with 1 fresh cranberry and sprinkle with sugar.
• Bake for 5 minutes. Without opening the oven door, reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees F and continue to bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Immediately after baking, gently turn the muffins out of the tin and let them cool, bottoms up, to avoid soggy bottoms. Serve or store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
• Enjoy!

OLIVE OIL MUFFINS

Steps:

• Position rack in the center of the oven; preheat oven to 400°.
• Spray muffin tin indentations and rims with nonstick cooking spray.
• In a bowl, whisk flour, semolina, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until uniform; set aside.
• In another bowl, whisk eggs, milk, and Marsala until smooth; whisk in the olive oil and lemon zest; stir into the prepared flour mixture using a wooden spoon until moistened.
• Fill the prepared muffin tins ¾ full; bake 20 minutes or until the muffins are lightly browned with rounded, lightly cracked tops; a pick should come out with a few moist crumbs attached.
• Place pan on a wire rack; cool for 10 minutes; gently rock each muffin back and forth to release and remove it from the tin.
• Cool muffins 5 minutes on the rack before serving.
• *Herbed Goat Cheese Olive Oil Muffins: crumble ½ cup herbed goat cheese into the batter just before adding the prepared flour mixture; proceed as directed.
• *Olive Rosemary Muffins: mix ½ cup chopped pitted green or black olives and 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary into the batter just before adding the prepared flour mixture; proceed as directed.
• *Pesto Muffins: mix ¼ cup finely chopped fresh basil, 1 clove minced fresh garlic, and 2 tablespoons chopped pine nuts into the batter just before adding the prepared flour mixture; proceed as directed.
• *Sun-Dried Tomato Olive Oil Muffins: mix 1/3 cup marinated sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped, into the batter just before adding the prepared flour mixture; proceed as directed.

ORANGE-SCENTED ALMOND AND OLIVE OIL MUFFINS

Steps:

• Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line an 18 muffin cup pan with paper liners. Set aside.
• Using a hand mixer on medium speed, in a medium bowl, beat the sugar and eggs together until pale and thick, about 2 minutes. Beat in the orange juice, olive oil, yogurt, vanilla extract, almond extract, and orange zest.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, and salt.
• In batches, stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just blended. Stir in the almonds. Fill the cups with batter, 1/3 of the way full. Bake until golden on top and a tester inserted into the center of the muffins comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 20 minutes. Place on a wire rack and cool for 20 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar and serve.