Cranberry sauce muffins (with cranberry sauce recipe)

I volunteered to bring the cranberry sauce to thanksgiving this year. I had actually never had cranberry sauce before and my only memories of it is the gelatinous red stuff on a plate that has indentations from the can still on it.. and it grossed me the heck out. It always sounded pretty good so I looked up a few homemade recipes and gave it a go. It was delicious with my tofu and mashed potatoes and I got many compliments. Tangy, and sweet with a good hint of orange.





Cranberry sauce
12 ounces cranberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup orange juice

In a medium sized saucepan over medium heat, dissolve the sugar in the orange juice. Stir in the cranberries and cook until the cranberries start to pop (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat and place sauce in a bowl. Cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools.



But like most people I had an enormous amount left over. I stuck it in the freezer to bake it up in something for another day. So last week while my husband was in Germany, I was looking for a comfort breakfast food that wouldn't leave me sluggish for the rest of the day. I pulled the cranberry sauce out of the freezer and made some muffins. And they were SO. GOOD! Healthy enough as a breakfast food, but sweet enough for dessert too. I would make cranberry sauce any time of year to eat these.



1 cup flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup oats
1 cup brown sugar (or 1/2 c white, 1/2 c brown)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups of leftover cranberry sauce
1/2 cup skim milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg

Heat oven to 400°F. Line muffin tin with paper baking cups.
In a large bowl, combine flours, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt; mix well. In medium bowl, combine milk, oil, cranberry sauce and egg; blend well. Fold into dry ingredients all at once; stir until dry ingredients are moistened.

Fill muffin cups about three-quarters full.

Bake 20 to 22 minutes or until golden brown.