Glazed Blood Orange and Chocolate Chip Muffins

A few weeks ago I purchased blood oranges. They aren’t all that common here in Minnesota, so I wanted to take advantage of the rare sighting. Then came the process of determining what I was going to make with them. Eventually, I settled on blood orange and chocolate chip muffins with a citrus glaze, but the process of getting there was a bit more convoluted.

I asked for a recommendation on recipes, and boy did I get it. Maria from Two Peas in Their Pod sent me the recipe for her Pink Grapefruit Yogurt Cake. Yum. I instantly decided I’d add chocolate chips and set about rounding up the ingredients. But when I finally went to make it, I was missing a few things, specifically, more than a cup of white flour. Pathetic? Yes.

In my defense, I’d been baking all day at that point and had already made 4 loaves of banana bread, which accounted for most of that. So, I improvised, keeping the Greek yogurt, turning them into muffins by adding whole wheat flour and some flax to the mix and adjusting the rest of the ingredients. And then to get my cake fix, I ended up with grapefruit while I was restocking my flour. It was delicious, and my muffins? Devoured.

Start with the Greek yogurt. I can’t get enough of this stuff. Incidentally, eating it on its own, I like mine with fruit. Or granola. Or fruit and granola.

Zest the blush right off of your blood oranges. You know, if your blood oranges have it. Mine had a lot of it, but not all have such a red hue to the rind.

Why is it brown? Brown sugar, which I didn’t photograph. Oops.

Juice two of the three oranges. The third one has other plans.

Eggs get added to the mix.

And a small amount of milk in my measuring cup that I went all the way to Sonoma to buy, even though the Target less than a mile away has them. (I can’t walk into Sign of the Bear without buying something. I also got my kids forks that look like trucks.)

Add some melted butter to the mix.

As for dry ingredients, I went with the all-purpose I had available (1 cup) to 3/4 cup of whole wheat. I also added some ground flax. It adds a certain nuttiness to the mix. Baking powder, soda and salt joined in too.

Whisk together the dry ingredients before adding them to the wet ingredients.

Add in the chocolate chips and stir just until combined. Be careful not to over-mix your muffins.

A large scoop is a good size for muffins, but you can just fill them 2/3 of the way full. Incidentally, without a scoop, I’m terrible at filling the muffin cups. I always put in much more batter than is necessary.


And then they’re ready for the oven. 20 to 25 minutes at 350° F is about right.

For the glaze (optional), use the juice of the remaining blood orange.

Slowly add powdered sugar one tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.

I used just over 1/2 cup for mine.

Dip warm muffins into the glaze.

Ole said I should keep this post until Valentine’s Day. Um. No.

They look pretty pink from the juice at first, but it only takes a short while for the glaze to settle, and then the pink fades quite a bit.

The result is a moist muffin with a punch of citrus and teeny bits of chocolate because, honestly, breakfast is always better when chocolate is involved. We’ve been eating ours this week and loving them.

And I didn’t get more than four pictures shot when a small hand suddenly snatched my muffin right off the plate. I didn’t even hear him come into the room.

He most definitely approved.

In other news, I was recently included on Babble’s Top 50 Mom Food Blogs. Honored. Delighted. Humbled. Take a look at the full list of truly amazing women, and if you feel so inclined, you can “like” me and let them know you approve. I wouldn’t be there without all of you, so thank you.