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Cranberry Banana Muffins

“The tang of the cranberries is softened by the subtleness of the banana and the hint of nutmeg in this recipe.” - ~mystery book~, p. 218

For holiday cookies, our minds usually go to sugar cookies, gingerbread, and maybe the odd biscotti thrown in for fun. But, if you’re looking for a change up in your typical festive treats, look no further than these delicious cranberry banana muffins!

The sharpness of the cranberries is tamed by the accompanying ingredients and substituting the regular milk for coconut milk adds a whole new dimension of flavour. Not only that, but the grated nutmeg and orange zest makes your whole kitchen smell like instant Christmas while baking!

Consider baking these with the Earl Grey Cookies for an additional change up!

(This recipe is an adaptation from a cookbook my grandmother has tucked away. However, I don’t have the title of the book and I can’t find her copy anymore so it’s of ~mystery origin~.)

Prep: 15 mins               Cook: 1h               Overall: 1h 15 mins

Ingredients*:

2 ripe bananas

1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 ½ cups (350 ml) coconut milk**

⅔ cup (151 g) butter, melted

2 tbsp. grated orange zest (about 1 large orange)

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tsp. kosher salt

3 cups (330 g) fresh or frozen cranberries

* Makes enough for 24 large size muffins. You can make 12 muffins by halving all of the ingredients, but you’ll have to waste half a can of coconut milk.

** Use both the coconut cream and milk from the can. Freely replace the coconut milk with regular milk if you need to.

First, preheat the oven to 400℉ (204℃) and either grease, or use large muffin cups to line two muffin pans.

Then, in a large bowl, mash the bananas.

Add the sugar, eggs, coconut milk, melted butter, and orange zest and stir to combine well.

TIP: When measuring the coconut milk, pour the whole can into a glass measuring cup. Use a fork to whisk together the cream and milk until it’s mostly combined. Then, use a slotted spoon to remove any remaining larger cream pieces from the measuring cup. This should get you to ~1 ½ cups (350 ml) of coconut milk.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt.

Add the dry ingredients to the liquid ingredients and stir until the batter is just moistened.

Before adding the cranberries, sprinkle ~1 tsp. flour over the cranberries and stir gently to coat (top-left). This will prevent the cranberries from sinking to the bottom of the muffins as they cook.

Gently fold the cranberries into the batter.

Spoon enough batter to fill each muffin cup about ¾ of the way full (top-left).

Bake for 20 to 23 minutes, rotating the pans 180 degrees halfway through, or until the tops turn golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean (top-right).

Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Overall, I would give these muffins a 5/5. These are AMAZING when served warm with salted butter! I wanted to try something a little different for holiday cookies a few years back and I’m so glad I gave these a go. The blend of flavours really brings home the holidays in a way you don’t expect.

I highly recommend using coconut milk instead of regular milk if it’s available to you; it provides such a depth and richness of flavour without making the muffin feel heavy. Also, although I haven’t tried it with almond milk yet, I imagine that would also yield some tasty results!