I finally have a muffin/cupcake pan! The only question was, where to begin?! Muffins and cupcakes are equally delicious, but I decided to start with a muffin since I had the ingredients for something so delectably delicious…….
One of the highlighted ingredients in these muffins are clementines, often sold under the brand name, “Cuties”. Clementines are a citrus fruit that originate either from Father Clement Rodier’s garden in Algeria as a mandarin hybrid, or from a very close variety (the Canton mandarin) found in certain provinces of China. They are essentially a cross between a sweet orange and a mandarin. Whatever the origin, these beautiful babies are like oranges but super easy to peel, seedless, oh-so-sweet and juicy, and small enough to fit into the palm of your hand.
Clementines are a winter citrus, so my husband and I have to wait until November through January to eat them, and we tend to go through an insane amount. They are just so easy to peel and snack on! Like other citrus, they are high in Vitamin C, which is a particularly important immune boosting vitamin during flu season. Vitamin C is also a natural antihistamine and an antioxidant.
Chocolate Chip Cutie Muffins
Ingredients:
Dry:
-2 cups all purpose flour
-2 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp cinnamon
-1 tsp ground ginger
-1/4 tsp salt
-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (more or less depending on how spicy you want it)
Wet:
-3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (other mild tasting nondairy milks will do too)
-1/3 cup grapeseed oil (or canola)
-1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp agave nectar
-2 Tbsp lemon juice
-5 clementines (juice 3, dice 2)
-2 tsp clementine zest
-1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine dry ingredients in one bowl and wet in another.
2. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry until smooth and well combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
3. Pour batter into greased muffin tins and bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
