Orange Muffins

I got this recipe from San Antonio Magazine. It immediately looked good to me; it wasn’t until the day I made them that I realized there is probably a mistake in the baking time. I mean, who bakes muffins at 375 °F for 40 minutes? I reduced the cooking time in the recipe below; 15 minutes was enough for me. I made a few more changes to make these lactose-free and to clarify instructions. I really loved how these turned out, and I can already see variations with blood orange or pink grapefruit. Do use freshly squeezed orange juice! Two oranges will do for this recipe.

This yielded 24 muffins for me, even though the original recipe said 20 muffins.

For the muffins
½ lb. margarine (or butter)
1 lb. 2 oz. flour
1 cup sugar
1 ½ Tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 cup lactose-free milk
½ cup orange juice
½ cup lactose-free sour cream (I used plain Greek yogurt instead)
2 extra large eggs or 3 medium sized eggs
zest of one orange

For the glaze (optional)
1 ½ cups powdered sugar, sifted
orange juice
orange zest, for decorating

Preheat oven to 375 °F. Grease two standard muffin pans.

Melt margarine and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, orange juice, sour cream, eggs and margarine.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones and mix until just combined; fold in orange zest.

Fill muffin cups about halfway with batter. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in tins before unmolding.

To make the glaze, mix the powdered sugar with enough orange juice until consistency is thick. Pour on muffins and add orange zest on top if desired.