SpouseLink really lucked out! Over the holidays, we came across something fun at a used bookstore: The Military Wives’ Cookbook, by Carolyn Quick Tillery. In it she discusses military family “traditions, recipes, and remembrances” from Colonial times to today. How perfect!
So we glanced through the pages and found some really fun quotes, stories and… yes… delicious recipes. We thought we’d share a few with you, starting with this one we found in the section entitled “Midwinter Tea with Friends”. We hope you like it… and that you enjoy it with a cup of hot tea and good friends! It would also be a wonderful warm breakfast treat on a Sunday morning. (We are also imagining it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top… Yum.)
Yields: 12 muffins
Ingredients
Topping:
1/2-cup, firmly packed brown sugar
1/4-cup, all-purpose flour
1/4-cup, butter (cut into small pieces)
1 tsp, ground cinnamon
1/8-tsp, ground allspice
Muffin Mix:
2-1/2 cups, all-purpose flour
4 tsp, baking powder
1/4-tsp, baking soda
1/2-tsp, salt
1/4-tsp, ground allspice
1/4-tsp, ground cinnamon
1/4-cup, butter (softened)
1/3-cup, sugar
1/4-tsp, lemon extract
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp, grated orange zest
1 cup, half and half
1/2-cup, juice from 1 large orange
1 cup, fresh or frozen cranberries (halved)
Tools:
Small mixing bowl
Medium mixing bowl
Large mixing bowl
Pastry blender
12-cup muffin pan
Paper liners
Electric mixer
Method
- In the small mixing bowl, combine the topping ingredients. Cut with the pastry blender until crumbly. Refrigerate for later use.
- Preheat the oven to 375°. Line muffin cups with the paper liners.
- In the medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, allspice and cinnamon.
- In the large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with the electric mixer, approximately 2 minutes or until fluffy. Add the lemon extract. Beat in the egg and zest.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, alternating with the half and half and orange juice. Fold in the cranberries. The batter should be thick.
- Spoon 3 heaping tsp of batter into each muffin cup. Sprinkle each muffin with 1 tbsp of topping. Spoon the remaining batter equally on top of each muffin. Sprinkle the remaining topping onto each muffin.
- Bake for 26 minutes or until a tester inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean.
- Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing the muffins and placing them on a cooling rack.
Enjoy!
Have a favorite teatime recipe you’d like to share? Tell us about it by commenting below, or tell your story.
