Cranberry Muffins with Orange Crumble Topping

Whether you'll be hosting a holiday brunch buffet for a crowd or cooking up a Christmas breakfast for your family, make it easy on yourself and whip up a batch or several batches of these scrumptious sweet and tart muffins a week or so ahead of time. Freeze them now, thaw them the morning you need them, and then set them on the buffet. Easy. Peasy.

  

Cranberry Muffins with Orange Crumble Topping
Makes 1 dozen

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
2 large eggs
½ cup butter, melted and cooled
½ cup milk
½ cup sour cream

Topping
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons grated orange zest
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Heat oven to 400 F. Grease and sugar a 12-cup muffin pan; set aside.

Prepare topping. In a small bowl, combine sugar, flour, orange zest and cinnamon. Add melted butter, stirring until crumbly. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add cranberries, stirring to combine.

In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, butter, milk and sour cream. Add egg mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. (Batter will be lumpy; do not over mix.) Evenly divide batter among muffin cups. Evenly divide topping over the batter. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. (Recipe adapted from Christmas Cottage 2011)

Enjoy!