Cara Cara Orange Muffins

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I went through a blood orange phase this winter and simply could not get enough of them. I used these delicious, vibrant colored oranges in a number of recipes, and ate at least one as a snack daily. Sadly, blood oranges are no longer available, so I had to find an alternative.

I saw Cara Cara oranges in our local grocery store, and having never tried them before, I was curious to experiment. Cara Cara oranges, are a type of navel orange grown in California’s San Joaquin Valley and are available December through April. From the outside, Cara Cara oranges look like any other navel orange, but their interior is a distinctive pinkish red, similar to a red grapefruit. These oranges have a sweet flavor with a tangy zing, and best of all, they’re seedless.

I have been enjoying my new ingredient find thoroughly the past few weeks, often simply savoring the lush fruit as an afternoon snack. This weekend however, I had some time on my hands as my husband was in Augusta Georgia attending the Master’s golf tournament, so I decided to do some baking.

I made a simple muffin recipe using both the juice and flesh of my Cara Cara oranges, and used nutritious oat flour in place of all-purpose flour. To make my muffins a little healthier, I replaced some of the oil with fat-free Greek yogurt. I topped my muffins with a combination of zest from the rind of my Cara Cara oranges along with sugar that I rubbed together. This added a crispy top with an extra pop of orange flavor.

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Buon Appetito!
Deborah Mele 

Cara Cara Orange Muffins

Cara Cara Orange Muffins

Yield: Makes 12 Muffins
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 17 minutes
Total Time: 32 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 Cups Oat Flour
  • 1 Cup Sugar
  • 3/4 Teaspoon Salt
  • 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1 Cup Peeled, Diced Cara Cara Orange Flesh
  • 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 1/3 Cup Olive Oil
  • 1/2 Cup Cara Cara Juice
  • 1/2 Cup Fat Free Greek Yogurt
  • 1 Egg

Topping:

  • Zest from 1 Cara Cara Orange
  • 1/2 Cup Sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. and line a muffin tin with papers.
  2. In one bowl, stir together the oat flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
  3. In another bowl, whisk together the vanilla extract, olive oil, orange juice, yogurt, and egg.
  4. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry, and mix with a wooden spoon just until blended.
  5. Stir in the diced orange flesh.
  6. Divide the batter between the 12 muffin cups.
  7. In a small bowl, rub the zest with the sugar.
  8. Sprinkle the sugar mixture equally over the muffins, then bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out cleans.

Did you make this recipe?

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One Comment

  1. I made these this morning. SO DELICIOUS!!! Super moist and very easy to make. Instead of evoo, I used combo of avocado oil and applesauce, egg whites only, vanilla fat free yogurt & 3/4 cup raw sugar. Also, added dried cranberries instead of orange segments. YUMMY!!! I’ll be using the same base recipe to make lemon blueberry muffins this weekend. Thanks so much for this recipe.

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