Humpastry Day - Cranberry Muffins

Cranberry Muffins

I had half a bag of fresh cranberries left over from Thanksgiving just starring at me every time I opened the refrigerator.  I hate waisting food, so I thought about making more of my cranberry sauce extraordinaire that I made for Thanksgiving, but then I realized that I could probably use them in some type of Humpastry day recipe!  Now, I'm not a huge fan of fresh cranberries because they always seem to be a little too bitter to me, but I wanted to try them out in muffins.  I wasn't sure how this recipe would end up, but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised!  Although the cranberries were still a little bitter, the rest of the ingredients complemented them nicely and made for a pretty good muffin!

Ingredients:
This batter made a lot of muffins!  I filled up my 12 big muffin tins, but still had tons of batter left over, so I made 20 mini muffins.  I figured my boys would get a kick out of the mini muffins! :)

*  1/2C unsweetened applesauce
*  1/2C white sugar
*  1/2C brown sugar
*  2 flax eggs (2Tbl. ground flax mixed with 6Tbl. warm water)
*  1tsp. vanilla extract
*  1C vanilla yogurt (you can also use sour cream or plan yogurt)
*  1/4C orange juice
*  1C all-purpose flour
*  1C whole wheat flour
*  1tsp. baking powder
*  1/2tsp. baking soda
*  1/2tsp. cinnamon
*  1/4tsp. nutmeg
*  1/4tsp. salt
* 1 1/2C chopped fresh or frozen cranberries (I just cut the cranberries in half)

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease a muffin tin **Note:  I used muffin liners and the muffins totally stuck to the paper! Ugh...total FAIL!  So, for this recipe, I would suggest lightly greasing the tin.  
2.  Prepare flax eggs and set aside
3.  In a mixing bowl, mix together the sugar and applesauce.
4.  Add the vanilla extract and flax eggs and mix well.
5.  Fold in the yogurt.
6.  In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Gradually add the mixture into the wet mixture until just combined.
7.  Fold in the cranberries.
8.  Fill the muffin tins 2/3rds full of batter.
9.  Bake in the oven for 15-20minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
10.  Let cool in the muffin tins for a couple of minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
11.  Enjoy!