Kelsey of Apple A Day gave me a wonderful cookbook recently (Sharing the Table at Garland's Lodge) and today I took advantage of some free time to try out a recipe! With some leftover cranberry orange relish, I made these muffins using the cookbook's recipe for Sour Cream Muffins:


Base muffin recipe:
2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour (all purpose flour)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup canola oil
1 + 1/2 cups sour cream

Add ins:
1 cup cranberry orange relish (dried cranberries, plumped in orange juice, then drained)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
(1 teaspoon grated orange rind)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder and set aside. In another bowl, beat the egg and oil together. Stir in the sour cream.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and mix in the wet ingredients until the batter coheres. The consistency should be closer to that of biscuit dough than batter. Be careful not to overmix.

Fold in any additional ingredients gently. Spook into muffin tins that have been sprayed well with vegetable oil. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Some other variations noted in the cookbook:

Maple Bran Muffins - Add 1./2 cup bran flakes and substitute 1/2 cup maple syrup for the sugar.

Corn Muffins - Add to the basic recipe 2/3 cup cornmeal, 1/3 cup frozen corn kernels, 1/3 cup sugar, and 1/4 cup additional sour cream.

Lemon Blueberry Muffins - Add 1 cup blueberries and 1 to 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind.

Sour Cream Peach or Apricot Muffins - Add 1 cup chopped fresh or drained canned fruit, plys a dash of nutmeg if desired.