Easy Almond Orange Muffins. A mix of flour and ground almonds, cane sugar, vegetable oil, egg, orange juice and zest make these muffins a delectable morning treat or afternoon snack. The scent is beautiful, the crumb is soft and flavorful. Easy and fast to make, they are going to bring a smile to your face and liveliness to your day.
Song of the day: Under Pressure - Queen
When faced with hard times, I turn to bake as my therapy. It keeps my mind off heavy thoughts; it keeps me away from the news talking over and over about the spreading of the virus that is "conquering" the world one country at a time. Our life has changed and shaped into a series of worries and rules to follow. Let's forget about it for half an hour, come with me in the kitchen and let's bake some muffins!
And making muffins helps?? I hear you asking. Yes, it does. We've been asked to change our daily lives, for the time being, to stay home, avoid public places, work from home. Schools, universities, cinemas, theatres, museums, sport and recreation centers are closed. Spend some time in the kitchen with your kids, make it a playful time, bake, cook, don't worry about the mess, there are bigger worries at the moment. Laugh, turn the music on and sing, bring positive vibes to this world that so much needs it right now.
Let's make muffins
For these Easy Almond Orange Muffins, I used: bright 'yellow' oranges (Arancia gialla), Sicilian almonds, cane sugar, peanut oil, organic egg, type 0 flour, the usual pinch of salt, and baking powder.
The steps of the preparation:
- In a small bowl beat the egg with the sugar until foamy.
- Add the vegetable oil slowly, and stir to combine.
- Grate the orange zest in;
- then add the orange juice and mix to combine.
- In a large bowl, sift the flour with the baking powder and a pinch of salt, add the ground almonds and stir.
- Then, pour the wet ingredients in the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon just until combined. Do not overmix.
- Add a couple of tablespoons of batter into each muffin liner.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until nice and golden and a wooden pick (or cake tester) inserted in the middle comes out clean.
What an aroma!
As soon as you take them out of the oven, the aroma will lift your spirits. It must be the combination of almond and orange, it is divine! Just the time to let them cool slightly in the pan, then I move them onto a rack. Well, my parents' idea of a rack: a rustic hand-woven wicker trivet, lol.
Dust with powdered sugar (almost every Italian dessert has it!) and enjoy one muffin right away ????.
In the end, it always makes me feel good to bake something wholesome and delicious for my family, whether muffins, cakes, loaves, cookies. My motto is "Spread the love!" and I've always shared my baked goods also with friends, neighbors, coworkers. These muffins will be enjoyed only by my family, and I have to tell you, they loved the first one they tried! The soft and light crumb, the slight crunch from the almonds, the lovely orange flavor, the mild sweetness reinforced by the sugar dust on top. All together they contribute into some delectable muffins, perfect for breakfast, afternoon snack, or even after-dinner treat.
Be safe and enjoy!
Song of the day: Under Pressure - Queen
PrintEasy Almond Orange Muffins
Easy Almond Orange Muffins. A mix of flour and ground almonds, cane sugar, vegetable oil, egg, orange juice and zest make these muffins a delectable treat.
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 8 muffins 1x
Ingredients
- 50 g almonds, coarsely ground
- 50 g cane sugar
- 1 egg
- 40 g peanut oil (or any other vegetable oil)
- 1 organic orange, the zest and juice
- 100 g type 0 flour
- 6 g baking powder
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180° C (355° F) and line a muffin pan with 8 muffin liners.
- Grind the almonds in a mixer with a teaspoon of sugar taken from the total (I like to keep a fairly coarse ground for texture, you can choose to grind them finer).
- In a small bowl beat the egg with the sugar until foamy.
- Add the vegetable oil, slowly, and stir to combine.
- Grate the orange zest in, then add the orange juice. Mix to combine.
- In a large bowl, sift the flour with the baking powder and pinch of salt. Add the ground almonds and stir.
- Pour the wet ingredients in the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon just until combine. Do not overmix.
- Add a couple of tablespoons of batter in each muffin liner.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until nice and golden and a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Let cool slightly in the muffin pan, then finish cooling on a rack.
- Dust with powdered (icing) sugar and enjoy one right away 🙂 .
Notes
I used peanut oil, you can use any vegetable oil you like or a light olive oil.
You can use almond flour but I like the coarser texture of the ground almonds.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Muffins
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Italian
Keywords: almonds, orange, muffins, breakfast, vegetable oil, egg, healthy, homebaking, brunch, snack
I love baking and kneading dough because it takes me to a happy place in my soul.
Margaret@Kitchen Frau says
Thinking of you and your family in Italy, Nicoletta, and hoping you stay safe. What a horrible situation, and who knows what's coming our way yet? If feels like the whole world is tilted on its axis just a bit and everything is just a bit crazy. The worst part is all the fear mongering. I hope this whole Corona situation blows over quickly. In the meantime, your solution sounds deliciously calming and grounding. The kitchen is always a safe place. A real way to spread love.
Hi Margaret, thank you for your thoughts. It's horrible and crazy. I cannot believe what I'm seeing. I just wish I can leave to come back to Loreto, hoping that the situation there remains safe. The kitchen is always my happy place.
Aleta says
These Almond Orange Muffins look incredibly delicious! I use almond flour quite a bit and love the flavour, the flour and orange are a perfect combination!
★★★★★
Thanks! Almond and orange are truly great together. I prefer to grind my almonds to have a coarser texture, but almond flour is good too 🙂 .
Bernice Hill says
Ah yes...stress baking. I've been known to do it!! In fact I'm feeling the urge just looking at these muffins. I hope you are doing well, thinking of you and your family in Italy right now.
★★★★★
Thank you! I wish I stayed into the sress baking moment, because now I feel like I'm going towards a depressive state where I don't want to bake anything... Thank you, Bernice, appreciate that.
Marwin Brown says
Hope you guys are safe and your family is well! The muffins look tasty, and I can almost smell the scent or fresh oranges.
Thanks so much! We are separated at this hard time, I am in Italy and my husband is in Canada. That adds to the stress. The orange fragrance is magnificent in there.
Paige says
These look super yummy and moist and also easy to prepare...YUM. Going to bookmark this,.
★★★★★
Thanks! They are really easy and fast. And sooo delicious!
LaKita says
These almond orange muffins look so good and love the use of fresh orange. Be safe during this time of uncertainty.
★★★★★
Thank you! The orange fragrance is sooo nice in these muffins!
Jo says
I love the flavor combination here. Orange and almond is so wonderful in a muffins. It sure looks delicious!
★★★★★
Thanks! It's a really great combo!
Daniela says
These almond orange muffins sound delish and I love all your images! Especially the one with the hand holding the muffin at the bottom... it's such a precious shot!
Thanks! That muffin went right into mouth after 😉
Kacey Perez says
I love a good, healthy recipe that I can make for the family to eat throughout our busy week! Saving this one for sure!
★★★★★
Thanks! Yes, this is a pretty wholesome recipe, delicious, and quite easy.
Jim Delaney says
Ciao cara Nicoletta, We're thinking of you and hope you and family are keeping well in this crazy time. Thank you for your great recipes! You and Loreto are an inspiration, much appreciated, and such great photos. This one looks delicious so we'll be trying it soon, as we happen to be doing an unusual amount of baking and cooking at home these days! Cal made some raspberry sour cream muffins the other day and they were pretty good. So I'll get him on this recipe molto presto 🙂 Ti stiamo inviando grandi abbracci da Edmonton!
★★★★★
What a lovely surprise, Jim! Thank you for your words, we are doing good, but yes this is a crazy time indeed. Cal is wonderful, give him a big hug. Enjoy all the baking/cooking of these days at home. Hope to see you soon! Ciao, un abbraccio da Roma!
Laura says
Hello!
Could I use all-purpose instead of type 0 flour?
Thanks!
Yes, of course! Happy baking!