Cranberry-Lemon Buttermilk Muffins

I recently posted a blog about breakfast and brunch foods that are easy to make ahead for Christmas morning. Lest any of my readers doubt that I practice what I preach, below are step-by-step instructions and photos for making the cranberry-lemon muffins described in that blog. I asked my family to review both that blog entry and last year's similarly-themed post, and then asked if they had any request for this year's Christmas breakfast. My kids have been on an egg kick lately, so it was no surprise that the requested the Egg Puffs from this year's list, and my husband was in favor, as well. But being the carb fanatic that I am, I wanted to include some kind of bread or muffin as well, and since I had a half a bag of cranberries and a bottle of buttermilk left over from Thanksgiving, this was the perfect recipe.

The complete recipe is posted at the bottom, but here are my step-by-step instructions. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours!

The first step is, of course, to gather all your ingredients: sugar, lemon (or lemon zest), flour, butter, vanilla, baking powder, salt, buttermilk, an egg, and cranberries.

Next, line a dozen standard-sized muffin cups with paper liners. If you don't want to use liners, I don't see any reason you couldn't just grease the muffin tins. But if you want to freeze the muffins, the liners are probably a good idea to keep them stable.

In a small bowl, combine 3/4 cup sugar with 2 teaspoons lemon zest. I didn't feel like measuring, so I just zested my lemon until it felt right. You don't usually get to guesstimate in baking, but this is really an adjust to taste" situation. Also, don't use too small of  a bowl, because you'll be reusing it shortly.

 Using a fork, whisk the zest into the sugar until it all seems to be evenly distributed.

Set aside 1/2 cup of the mix.

To the remaining 1/4 cup of lemon sugar, add 1/4 cup flour and whisk together with a fork (this is why you don't want your bowl to be too small.) 

Add two tablespoons of cold butter and cut in with a pastry blender, fork, or two knives.

I prefer using two knives like scissor blades to cut in the butter initially, then I find it works best to just get in there with (clean, dry!) fingers and mix until everything is evenly crumbly. This is the streusel to top the muffins.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 2 cups flour, the remaining 1/2 cup of lemon sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup buttermilk (at room temperature), 6 tablespoons melted butter, 1 egg (also at room temperature), and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

 Whisk it all together until there are no streaks of butter or egg.

Pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture and gently fold it in until combined. Make sure to scoop all the way under the center of the batter to mix in any pockets of flour. The resulting batter will be quite thick, halfway between batter and dough.

Fold in the cranberries until evenly distributed.

Distribute batter evenly among the 12 prepared muffin cups. The batter will pretty much fill the cups.

Top each muffin with a generous amount of streusel. Really heap it on, there's plenty.

Pop them in the oven at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes.

 Take them out when the tops just start to get golden brown.

I let the muffins cool in the tins for a few minutes, then popped them out with a butter knife just in case the streusel stuck to the tins as it cooled. But there was very little spillover, and sticking was not a problem at all.

 I let them finish cooling on a wire rack.

Gorgeous and festive! Happy eating!

Full recipe:

3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
2 1/4 cups flour, divided
1/2 cup butter, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk, warmed to room temperature
6 tablespoons melted butter
1 egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

Line a 12- cup muffin pan with paper cups.

In a small bowl, blend together the sugar and the lemon peel. Set aside 1/2 cup of the mixture.

Add 1/4 cup flour to the remaining 1/4 cup lemon-sugar and whisk together. With a fork or pastry blender, cut in 2 tablespoons of cold butter until the mixture is crumbly.

In a large bowl, whisk together 2 cups flour, the remaining 1/2 cup lemon-sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Melt the remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a small bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, melted butter, egg, and vanilla. Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour. Stir until just combined. Fold in the cranberries. Use a cookie scoop or spoon to divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins generously with the reserved crumb mixture. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden and spring back when lightly touched.

Once completely cooled, muffins can be stored in an airtight container, or frozen in freezer bags. Frozen muffins may be reheated individually in microwave or bake the entire batch in a 350-degree oven for 10-15 minutes.