Orange Pecan Muffins

I have been taking the a quilting class now for the past 14 years with the same teacher and almost the same group of women. Some of us might miss a semester here or there because life is complicated but we all seem to come together at one point or another. To say we just quilt would not be accurate at all. We share our lives. When I have to miss a class or take a semester off because of "life" I am very sad. These ladies make me smile and make feel like I am part of something special.

One week our instructor Joan brought in this recipe and all of us were surprised to hear the technique used to make these delicious muffins. "You put a whole orange in the blender- minus the seeds" she says. We were all very curious to try our hand at making them. 

My friend Janet made some and was generous enough to bring them in for the whole class. I made them too but my husband and I gobbled them very quickly. 

The muffins are so good that I knew I wanted to share them with you. Now Joan says this was her best friend Norma's recipe originally so I must give credit where it is due. Thanks Norma for a really tasty treat. I hope you all can get a chance to try them. It's a really easy recipe.

Orange Pecan Muffins

1 1/2 cups of flour

3/4 cup of sugar plus 1 TBLS.

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. salt

1 orange, scrubbed, seeded and cut into 8 parts

1/2 cup orange juice

1/ 2 cup chopped dates or raisins or craisins

1 egg

1/2 cup butter, room temperature 

1/4 cup chopped pecans

18 whole pecan halves

• Preheat oven to 350
• Line 18 muffin cups with cupcake liners.
• In a large bowl mix flour, 3/4 cup sugar,baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
• Place cut up orange in a blender along with the dates if you are adding them and orange juice- pulse.
• Add butter and egg to blender and blend. (I used a food processor instead because I like the quicker and smoother result)
• Add orange mixture to flour mixture and stir to combine. Add raisins and/or craisins at this point if you are using them.
• Pour into muffin tins.
• Mix chopped pecans with the 1 tablespoon of sugar and sprinkle on top of batter.
• Place one pecan half in center of each muffin.
• Bake for 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Vera