What is a super-fruit?
When you hear the word Cranberry what comes to your mind? An Irish rock band formed in Limerick in 1989? An initially white berry, that turns deep red on ripening, bounces like a miniature ball and floats in water? a very tart little berry, also known as ‘bitter berry, American berry or bear berry’ but considered an all star food and one of the most unique fruits in the world? A fruit that was used by sailors as a source of vitamin C to prevent scurvy, a gum & skin disease? a fruit, found primarily in North America, grown in bogs, and related to blueberry, buckberry, huckleberry, and bilberry? or are you just thinking of 100% Cranberry juice?
I am not thinking about the band, although I love the song Dream by The Cranberries. I am thinking about the tart little berry, used to produce 100% cranberry juice and other juice blends and also sold frozen, sweetened dried, concentrated, as a sauce or powdered. The one that is consumed in large amounts during ‘Thanksgiving Week‘, about 80 million pounds are consumed in the US alone.
If you’ve been drinking Cranberry Juice Cocktail, then beware, because according to Wikipedia there is one teaspoon of sugar per ounce of cranberry juice cocktail. This means, it’s more highly sweetened than soda drinks and has been linked to obesity. So why is cranberry called a super-fruit? It has got high levels of vitamins C, K and E, fibre, manganese and is also an excellent source of anti-oxidants. A lot of research is undergoing to confirm anti-inflammatory and cardiovascular benefits amongst other documented benefits.
Today I want to share the recipe for Cranberry Chocolate Chip Muffins, made using sweetened dried cranberries, and baked at temperatures above 400°F (204°C) so don’t expect any vitamin C in the muffins, but you can buy the fresh fruits during fall season and keep them for up to 20 days in your fridge or freeze them for several years, so there will be no “it’s–a-seasonal-fruit” excuse. You can use the frozen one’s during off-season. I really enjoyed eating the muffins. The blend of tarty and sweet was awesome. Hope you’ll enjoy them too!
Please remember to always assemble all ingredients before you start.
Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl.
Stir in sugar, chocolate chips and cranberries, into the flour.
Make a well in the centre of the mixture.
Combine melted butter, milk and egg
into a bowl
And add the mixture to the well, all at once
Mix lightly, until just combined (do not over mix). The batter should look quite lumpy.
Spoon mixture evenly, into prepared tin. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden at 410°F (210°C). I baked the muffins at 425°F (220°C) for 22 minutes. It depends on your oven!
Set aside for 5 minutes, then loosen muffins with a flat bladed knife or spatula and transfer onto a wire rack to cool.
I really enjoyed eating the muffins. And the kids at children’s school enjoyed them too!
I had mine with a cup of lemon tea. Not iced but just regular, hot lemon tea, with real lemon.
They were so delicious…hope you enjoy them too?
Cranberry Chocolate Chip Muffins
Preparation time: 15 minutes; Baking time: 20-25 minutes; Makes: 14 muffins
Ingredients
- 300g (2¼ cups, 10oz) all-purpose (plain) flour
- 4 level teaspoons baking powder
- 185g (1 cup, 5oz) soft brown sugar
- 150g (1 cup, 5½) chocolate chips
- 60g (½ cup, 2½oz) sweetened dried cranberries, chopped
- 150g (½ cup + 2tbsp, 5oz, 1¼ sticks + 1 tablespoon) butter, melted
- 300ml (1¼ cup, 10floz) milk
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 410°F (210°C). Brush a medium, 12-hole muffin tin with melted butter or oil or use paper cases, if preferred.
- Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl. Stir in sugar, chocolate chips and cranberries. Make a well in the centre of the mixture.
- Combine butter, milk and egg and add to the well, all at once. Mix lightly, until just combined (do not over mix). The batter should look quite lumpy.
- Spoon mixture evenly, into prepared tin. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden. Set aside for 5 minutes, then loosen muffins with a flat bladed knife or spatula and transfer onto a wire rack to cool.
- Variations: other dried fruits, a punnet of blueberries, sliced fresh strawberries, mashed banana. I leave it to your imagination.
- **I weigh the flour and butter, I do not use cup measures as the weight of a cup of flour tends to vary based on individual interpretation or publication or size of the cup, (from 125g to 130g to 155g per cup).
- Flour cup conversions based on 1 cup = 125g flour so that would be the US cup of 240ml, not the Australian Cups.
Points to Note
- Please note that oven temperatures are given as a guideline only. You may need to add or reduce the suggested temperature depending on your oven. I baked the muffins at 425°F (220°C) for 22 minutes.
- I always weigh ingredients, especially the flour and butter. You can use cup measures, but please note if you scoop flour directly from the bag you will end up with 150-185 g of flour instead of the recommended 125g. I suggest you spoon the flour into the cup, heaping it up over the top, then slide a knife across the top to level off the extra. Be careful not to shake or tap the cup to settle down the flour or you will have more than you need. You can also sift the flour first then scoop. My best advice: please use a weighing scale.
- Be careful, brown sugar tends to form lumps, if it sits for too long in your pantry (cupboard).
- These muffins are not too sugary. If you prefer more sugar, add as appropriate to suit your palate.
myfavouritepastime.com
My Favourite Pastime 
I want one, too. And I want it now. Yummy.
Reblogged this on simplyvegetarian777.
Simply wow. Combining 2 extreme flavors. Have to try. Reblogging
I’ve never thought of using chocolate and cranberry together. But I’ve been mixing a lot more chocolate and fruits lately. These look like a great option for trying it out!
Definitely, I love sweet and sour-chewy-sweet combo. It’s vey nice. You should try it sometime. Thanks so much for liking so many of my posts. My dashboard is yellow right now. Have a lovely evening and I hope you enjoy the rest of the week.
These muffins of yours, Liz, have my mouth watering. I’m not much of a breakfast person but a nice muffin — or two — is perfect. And just think, I’ve got 2 bags of cranberries languishing in a freezer. 🙂
Hi John,
Thanks for being here so many times this week. I really appreciate. Those muffins tasted really nice, while they lasted. I am not much of a sugar person either but I have learnt how to eat sugary things slowly and surely, and in moderation. I do love muffins though (homemade). Everybody seems to have some miracle bag of cranberries sitting in a freezer corner, I tend to keep dried ones, because I know I can snack on them as I please or throw them in my salad. I wish you a wonderful week. Hope the temperatures are better and I read about the small mishap at your house, and saw the photos. It was quite rude of me not to say sorry…but I hope everything is now okay. Sorry for babbling too much I guess I am in a talkative mood today. Best wishes!
I love cranberries! We use the dried ones in muffins, cookies, on salad, in trail mix… I stock up on fresh ones in the fall and freeze them to use throughout the year. Theses muffins look so yummy, chocolate and cranberries are always great together!
Mama D1xx4xy
I have just come back from your herb garden and am still visualizing all the herbs I saw in your backyard, you are so lucky. This fall I shall make sure I stock lots of cranberries to take me through 2014. I absolutely agree about chocolate and cranberries. Thanks for being here many times and hope you’ll manage to find great things to do with the boys. XOXO to them! Liz
I know I would love these tangy, chocolatey muffins! I do like the “Cranberries” too!
I know you’d love them. I have just come back from my blogosphere sojourn. Seen really great things out there including the tiny white cottage. I love Cranberries, dried ones, coz I can snack on them at any time!!! Have a great week!!
These look amazing! I haven’t had muffins in so long. These make me want to get back in my kitchen right away!
You should make them. Muffins are so easy to make. I’m making chocolate chip banana muffins right now, they’ll be ready in minutes. Thanks for stopping here and have a wonderful day!
These look very morish! I am becoming a bit of a muffin fan and I think I have some dried cranberries lurking in the back of a cupboard along with the remains of some white chocolate. Clearly another bake for the to do list!
I think you can pick one for your afternoon tea. I have always been a muffin fan because I am lazy and muffins require the smallest effort. Enjoy, the muffins if you do make them. thanks for popping by and have a great day!!!
Thank you all for liking my posts. If you visit my blog, I would like to visit yours in return, if only you could provide a link to your blog on your Gravatar page. If I didn’t visit your blog it’s because there was no link in your Gravatar page. Thank you all for supporting and visiting my blog. You are the reason why I continue posting…hope you all have a wonderful week full of happiness and laughter!
They look delicious. Cranberries always make me think of Christmas. Lovely tea cup.
That cup should know how much it’s loved. Cranberries make me think of Thanksgiving. I see you have been making some soft cheese omelette. I think I’ll have an omelette right now for breakfast. I enjoy your dinner ventures. Have a lovely day and a wonderful week!
It should have it’s own post!
Enjoy your omelette and have a lovely day & week yourself.
Okay ladies and gents; and the next post is titled “The daffodil tea cup” thats a good one. Thanks!!!
I look forward to it.
Enjoy reading through your recipes… Here’s a Shine-On-Award!
http://bandhnakaur.wordpress.com/2013/06/03/my-first-award-shine-on-award/
Thank you for shining an award on me. I shall read more about it. And thanks for enjoying reading through the recipes, I am supposed to be enticing you to cook, and so reading through a recipe is a good sign that you will start using the recipe. Have a good day and a wonderful week!
Hi Liz, I loved this line: “An initially white berry, that turns deep red on ripening, bounces like a miniature ball and floats in water.” I think I will now always refer to cranberries that way! Thanks 🙂
Welcome back after being in hibernation for so long. It’s great to see you. Oh yes I loved the phrases and decided to coin them into one sentence. Thanks for stoping by. Have a pleasant day and enjoy your week!
Me WANT, Me Want NOW mmmm 🙂
Hey thanks for wanting, how many can I give you? Have a pleasant day and thanks for making a brief stop!
I have noticed the tea cup also because I have a similar one that was my mother’s.
Sometimes I can find fresh cranberries in a larger supermarket, after Thanksgiving. It’s as if they send us the left-overs. I put some in the freezer.
Thanks so much for stopping here, This tea cup should know how much it’s being noticed and appreciated, Almost 95% of the cranberries produced in North America is turned into juice and other products. Only 5% is available for fresh sales so you can imagine how much attention they get, hence they look like left overs. I read that they can last in the freezer for several years so you are good to go. I am still dreaming about your lovely oven and fresh bakes. I must make a stop-over and see what’s cooking. Have a pleasant day and enjoy the week ahead!!!
How much knowledge I can acquire, reading your posts.
Hi thanks for stopping here to get the little knowledge I have. I really appreciate your interaction with me. Have a pleasant day and a wonderful week!!!
Loved your photos very artistic would definitely try these muffins
Thanks for loving my photos. The muffins are very easy to make. Enjoy them if you do make them!!! Have a wonderful week!
These sound awesome!
Hi how have you been. I shall visit you tomorrow. It’s well past midnight now. Have a great week and thanks for always being here!!!
When I think of the word cranberry, very tasty lemon cranberry scones that my husband makes occasionally for weekend breakfasts come to mind…yum. I’ll have to photograph and share that recipe sometime. These muffins look delicious and I love your tea cup too. 🙂
Hi Beth,
Can I please have that tasty Lemon Cranberry Scones your husband makes. I have got lots of sweetened dried cranberries and I am looking for recipes. Thanks for liking the muffins and the tea-cup, I love both too. Have a pleasant week! Thanks for stopping here
Liz
Hi Liz,
Here is the recipe:
http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipes/classic-lemon-cranberry-scones-with-lemon-glaze/recipe.html?dishid=12741
*To lower calories my husband replaces the whipping cream with either buttermilk if I have it on hand or a combination of yoghurt and skim milk, you can’t taste the difference.
Beth
Thanks so much for giving me the link. I shall make it tomorrow and see how it goes. Thanks so much for stopping here, for liking my post and for joining the conversation. All the best and hope to see you again!!!
I have never weighed recipe ingredients….did not know there was a difference! I’m learning so much from your recipes and tips! Thank you Liz! Ohhh, Ginger Oat cookies…..can’t wait! You certainly have an artists eye for displaying your foods. I just love them.
For the best results in baking you need to weigh and Canadian Tire always has beautiful and dainty digital scales for just $9 during sales. I think it’s a worthwhile investment because a medium pizza costs more than $9 and you eat it within a few minutes. My mother taught me to weigh ingredients so many years ago, I have never used cup measures except when measuring liquids. I am still learning photography but I must say I am now starting to see good progress. Thanks for stopping by and have a good night and a lovely week!!
Thanks for that….new purchase….1 small scale! Didn’t realize they were that inexpensive!
They are mostly less expensive than your regular bathroom scale. Have a pleasant day. We have a very pleasant day in Ontario today, soft sunshine and no gusty winds. I am walking around in a tee-shirt. Yesterday was so cold. Thanks for your friendship. Liz
These look beautiful! And I love your teacup too 🙂
Ha ha thanks for noticing my tea cup. I love it too, so colourful. You’ve been so quiet or is it me who has been so quiet? thanks for liking and commenting on my post. have a lovely week!
Yes I have been quiet! Been having some very busy weeks at work 😦 But your gorgeous photo has inspired me to sit down with a cuppa and take a little breather before tackling my afternoon, so thank you! 🙂
Just seen some lovely looking Ginger Oats Cookies with all my favourite ingredients. I shall try my level best to make them. I can imagine how they taste!!! Thanks and enjoy your cuppa