I find that the best thing for me to do during a blizzard is bake.
Shovel? Rescue my car? Nah.
Bake tasty muffins? Wrap presents? Listen to Christmas music? That’s more my style.
We woke up to a blanket of white. Or, several thick blankets. We are expecting up to 16 inches here in Minnesota. Take a peek.
Because I like to bake on Saturdays, and because we were pretty much stuck in the house, and because we had an unexpected overnight guest as a result of the weather… I searched the kitchen high and low for anything that could be used to create a last-minute breakfast. When I came across a lonely pomegranate, the light bulb came on: Pomegranate Orange Muffins.
I grabbed an orange and started zesting. The pomegranate was seeded, leaving its usual stains around the kitchen and on my clothing. Out came the sugar, flour (I barely had enough), eggs, and the butter. Wait… no butter.
Oil? Wait… no oil, either.
Bad luck. I was stranded with no chance to get to the store (not like I really wanted to) and the fate of our breakfast was on the line. So I once again started scavenging for any kind of butter replacement.
And, to my great joy, what did I find in the fridge but one little snack pack of applesauce. Hallelujah!
I didn’t plan on these being low fat, but I’m not complaining. They were dense, sweet little nuggets of bright color. A dusting of powdered sugar on top, and that was that.
Pomegranate Orange Muffins
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 14 1x
Description
The recipe for pomegranate orange muffins is super simple and makes the perfect winter breakfast.
Ingredients
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 cup apple/orange juice
- 1/2 cup boiling water
- 1/2 cup applesauce (or typically, butter)
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pomegranate (seeds only)
- 1–2 tablespoons orange zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin pans.
- In a small bowl soak oats in orange juice and water for 15 minutes.
- In a large bowl cream together butter, vanilla, and sugars. Beat in eggs and oat mixture.
- In a separate bowl, blend flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and nutmeg. Stir into batter. Stir in pomegranate seeds and orange zest. Spoon batter into prepared muffin pans, filling almost to the top.
- Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) until golden brown, about 20 minutes. 1 muffin has 140 calories and 3g fat.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Breakfast
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: pomegranate orange muffins, orange muffins, pomegranate muffins
I think we all felt an obligation to eat several muffins, to store up our carb and sugar reserves. This blizzard could last for days, you know…
Speaking of blizzard, WOW.
This is what the tops of our bushes look like… and there’s no bush in that mountain of white. That’s all snow!
And this… This would be our road.
Can’t see it? Now you know why we have an unexpected overnight guest.
I’m seriously putting off addressing this issue.
As for the boys, they have braved the blizzard – on foot – to get some burritos. Desperate times call for desperate measures.