Orange Muffins

What's breakfast in this country without orange juice? So, I decided to make a breakfast that includes my juice. These orange muffins taste bright and tangy, and I read somewhere recently that the ideal breakfast totals around 250 calories. Without doing the math, I'd venture a guess that these beauties come pretty close to that mark. (Granted, I probably should swap the sugar in these for protein or whole grains, but I definitely could do worse.)

The original recipe came from one of my favorite cookbooks - "750 Best Muffin Recipes" - which I bought when a local bookstore went out of business. I guess I'm the old fashioned sort, with a preference for hand-me-down cookbooks with smudges, dog-eared pages and notes in the margins. But, also being frugally minded, I rarely indulge in printed cookbooks these days. I'm glad, however, that I made an exception and bought this one.

I discovered at baking time that I was missing an ingredient, whole-milk plain yogurt. I did have, however, a tub of light sour cream that needed using, so I swapped it in. Honestly, I doubt you could tell the difference. My muffins are missing a few probiotics, I suppose, but they're tasty nonetheless! Also, I skipped the glaze, since I didn't see the need for the added calories.

Here's how I made them:

Zest of 2 oranges (about ¼ cup)
2-3 Tbsp orange juice, freshly squeezed
½ cup sugar, divided in half
2 cups flour
1½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 eggs
⅓ cup extra-virgin or light tasting olive oil
1½ cups low-fat sour cream

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Combine the orange zest, juice and ¼ cup of the sugar in a small saucepan and  simmer over medium heat till the sugar dissolves. Let cool slightly.

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, blend together the orange syrup, eggs, remaining ¼ cup of sugar, oil and sour cream. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just till combined.

Divide the batter between 12-16 regular sized muffin cups and bake for 18-20 minutes till golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

Cook's Note: If you decide to glaze them, whisk together 1 cup confectioners' sugar, 1 tsp orange zest and 2 Tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice. Drizzle the glaze over the warm muffins and let cool.