Healthy Cranberry Oat Muffins are delicious, filling and perfect for folks wanting low-fat muffin recipes.  I've baked up a few batches for Charlie and myself, the kids won't touch'em.  These muffins are way too healthy for them. ;D

The addition of regular rolled oats gives these muffins a heartier chew for your carbs.  And using whole dried cranberries makes for little sugar explosions between the healthy bites.  Cinnamon and vanilla add to the idea of a sweeter muffin without the extra calories.  Give them a try and tell me what you think.  Don't make up your mind about them until you've eaten your third one.  I'll be honest. The first one I ate, I didn't like.  The second one, I knew what to expect and looked for the positive attributes.  By the third muffin, I was digging them.  Now, I like eating one along side a scrambled egg for breakfast.  I enjoyed them, also, as an afternoon snack.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

Makes 12 muffins

• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup natural applesauce

• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 3 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup dried whole cranberries
• 1/2 cup rolled oats

Heat oven to 400ºF.

Grease bottom of 12 muffin cups with oil.

In a large mixing bowl, beat egg, milk, vanilla and applesauce together.

In another bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.  Stir in cranberries and rolled oats.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients.  Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula.  Do not stir.  Fold until the flour is just moisten and batter is lumpy.

Use a tablespoon or 2-inch scooper to divide batter and fill muffin cups 2/3 full.

Bake until lightly golden, 18 to 20 minutes.  Immediately remove muffins from pan.

Now, there's a million biscuit recipes on the internet. But I haven't come across one yet that tells how to make them like a descent Southern buttermilk biscuit ought to be.  This buttermilk biscuit recipe makes a moist bread that you can enjoy for 2 to 3 days, depending on whether your family makes snacks out of them or not.  AND they won't fall apart like other dry recipes tend to do. I hate making up a batch of biscuits only to have them crumble when I'm trying to smear on my favorite jelly.  You won't get that mess with this recipe.

The first thing you will notice when reading this recipe is that it actually calls for plain yogurt instead of buttermilk.  That's because I always keep plain yogurt on hand, and rarely buttermilk.  So why did I call this recipe "Buttermilk Biscuits"?  Cuz I know how to add just enough milk to the plain yogurt to give it the same consistency of buttermilk, that's why.  If you keep buttermilk on hand, then go right ahead and use 2 cups buttermilk in this recipe.  You'll get the very same awesome results I get with the yogurt.  I promise.

The trick to making moist biscuits is to have a moist, sticky dough.  Oh yea, it's messy, but it's worth it.  And don't over knead the dough.  I only handle the dough enough to pat it out and get it ready for cutting up into biscuits.  I use plenty of flour to keep me separated from the dough, but I never try to add extra flour into the dough.  Keep that dough moist and sticky.

After I have all the biscuits cut and laying in the generously buttered pan, I brush the tops with buttermilk or yogurt.  This gives them a golden, moist top. Don't go too heavy with the moisture or it will not brown up like you want it to.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

Makes about 15 to 17 biscuits

• 2 sticks (1 cup) cold butter, cut into cubes
• 4 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1  1/2 cups plain yogurt + 1/2 cup whole milk (stirred together) OR 2 cups buttermilk

HEAT OVEN to 450ºF.

Borrow a smidge of butter from the recipe to grease a 13-inch by 9-inch baking pan, plus a 8-inch by 8-inch pan.

Stir all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  Add in the cubed butter.  Using your hands, yes your hands, squeeze or press the butter into the dry mix until it looks course and clumpy.  Try not to leave any big clumps of butter in the bowl.

Pour in the buttermilk or yogurt/milk mix (save back about 2 tablespoons for brushing the tops of the biscuits).  Using a wooden spoon, stir and fold the dough until it comes together and there's no more dry flour in the bowl.

Using a plastic cutting board or a clean counter top, generously flour a 13-inch by 9-inch work surface.  Transfer the dough to the work space.  Shape the dough into a 13-inch by 9-inch oval about 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick.  Dust with flour as you work to keep yourself from sticking to the dough, but try not to add flour to the dough.

Use a 2-inch biscuit cutter to cut out biscuits.  Place biscuits close together in the baking pan so they will have soft sides after baking.  Brush the tops with buttermilk using a pastry brush or basting brush.

BAKE FOR 12 to 14 MINUTES, depending on the age of your oven.  Start watching at 12 minutes for the tops to become lightly golden.

As you see from the photo above, I have one really big biscuit in the loaf pan.  That's the one made from all the dough scraps.  You ought to see that bad boy cut in half and smothered in gravy.  Yea, it's good!

Need a good gravy recipe to go with these biscuits?

GOOD GRAVY RECIPE
makes 2 cups

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 2 cups warmed milk

Melt butter over low heat; add flour, salt and pepper; stir until well blended.  Cook flour mixture for 2 minutes. Gradually stir or whisk in milk and return to heat.  Cook, stirring constantly, until thick and smooth.  Takes almost a minute to thicken up.  Remove from heat and pour over biscuits.  Gravy will continue to thicken as it cools down

This gravy recipe is great on mashed potatoes, too.

If you have leftover over gravy, store with plastic wrap touching the top to prevent a skin from forming on top.  Reheat on low heat on the stove top or in the microwave, adding a tablespoon of  milk or two to thin out the gravy.

For more sauce recipes that really work for all occasions go to:

WHITE SAUCE RECIPES and MORE

The best way to bake a moist cornbread recipe is by using a cast iron skillet.  I don't know what it is about that iron pan, but it sure puts an extra groan in every bite.  I've made moist cornbread muffins plenty of times and they've been great for making individual servings that are easy to grab.  However, nothing beats the easiness and down home feeling of biting into a triangular slice of hot, moist cornbread, especially when it's topped with soft, creamy butter.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

Heat oven  450ºF. degrees

• 1 1/2 cups cornmeal
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted & cooled
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 2 eggs, beaten

• 1 tablespoon for the iron skillet

Get your oven heating up first.

In a large bowl, mixed together the cornmeal, flour, melted butter, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda.

In a small mixing bowl, beat together the buttermilk and eggs.  Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients, stir until all the dry ingredients are moistened.

Place that lone tablespoon of butter in the iron skillet and put the skillet in the oven. Allow the skillet to get hot BEFORE BEFORE BEFORE adding the cornbread batter.  After 3 to 4 minutes, check butter in skillet.  It should have melted and got all bubbly.  Careful not to let the butter brown in the pan.  Using oven mitts, carefully remove the hot iron skillet from the oven.  Swirl the butter around until the bottom of the pan is coated.

Quickly pour all the batter into the hot iron skillet. Use a rubber spatula to scrap the bowl clean and even out the batter in the pan.  Grab your oven mitts, again, (I can't tell you how many times I've forgotten the pan was still hot.) and return the iron skillet to the hot oven.  Bake 20-25 minutes.

The edges should come out browned and have a lightly golden top.  Careful not to overcook the bread or it will come out dry and crumbly.  It's better to under bake by a few minutes and be assured of moist cornbread success.  Trust me on that one.

This banana muffin recipe goes out to Cassie McBride and her sweet family.  Cassie and I were talking the other day about the Fresh Blueberry Muffins recipe and she asked if I had one with banana and nuts.  Her sweet kids totally gobbled up the blueberry muffins and she needed more fuel.  This is an oldie but goodie.  I, honestly, can't tell you why I haven't posted this recipe before today.  It's been living in my cookbook binder for some 14 years.

The texture of these banana muffins is lighter than a dense muffin, denser than a cupcake.  It can easily be served up for breakfast, a tea party, an afternoon snack or a light, sweet dessert.  You can add 2/3 cups of finely chopped pecans, if you like.  And even a 1/3 cup coconut flakes.  I left them out this time, because my daughter is so picky.  She drives me crazy.  If I hadn't witnessed her come out of my body, I'd swear they gave me the wrong kid at the hospital.  ANYHOO.
This recipe takes messing up a couple of bowls and a muffin pan, but it easily comes together without ever dragging out the heavy mixer.  So, grab your best whisk and rubber spatula and let's get cooking.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

Makes 15 yummy muffins.

• 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt

• 3 small ripe bananas, mashed (1 to 1 1/2 cups)
• 2/3 cup canola oil or melted unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 3 eggs

HEAT OVEN TO 350ºF. Grease muffin pan with oil.

Sift all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

Whisk all the wet ingredients in a medium bowl.  Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture.  Fold together with a rubber spatula until all the dry ingredients are absorbed.  Try not to over mix the batter.  Using a 2-inch scooper, scoop out enough batter to fill each muffin cup 2/3 full.

Bake 17 to 20 minutes, until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  The tops should be light golden with darker golden edges.

BE SURE TO LET ME KNOW HOW THESE WORK OUT FOR YOU

Have you seen my moment of genius about greasing muffin pans? Watch this video.

Orange Tea Muffins are a lightly sweetened bread with a finer-grained cakelike texture.  We taste tested them at breakfast and completely gobbled them up.  I couldn't help but think that this simple muffin recipe was intended to be served at brunch or an afternoon tea party.  Hence the name, Orange TEA Muffins.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

Makes 12 small-sized muffins

wet ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter, softened but NOT melted
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup fresh milk
• 2 tablespoons orange zest, finely grated
• 1/2 cup orange juice

dry ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoons salt

Heat oven to 400ºF. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan well with butter.  Butter is the best for pop-right-out muffins.

Using an electric mixer (not a stand mixer), cream butter in a medium-size bowl.  Gradually add sugar; continually beating until light and fluffy.  Add egg and beat in well.  Stir in milk, orange zest and juice.

For the dry ingredients, sift flour then measure out 2 cups into another small bowl.  Add baking powder, and salt; sift again.  Add flour mixture to the wet mixture and stir just enough to moisten the dry ingredients.  DO NOT BEAT.

Fill greased muffin pans 2/3 full and bake for 11 to 14 minutes. Remove muffins immediately from pan.  Can be served hot or at room temperature.

Here in East Texas, the opportunity to have fresh picked blueberries straight from the farm can easily be missed if you're not paying attention.  You have to be connected to the right folks to know which week to go.  Harvest time is only a two to three weeks long, IF we got enough rain in the Spring.

Thankfully, the blueberries from last Summer kept very well in my freezer and I was able to make them last the whole year long.  I still have just enough to make a good cobbler or pie, if I was feelin' the need.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

wet ingredients

• 3/4 cup fresh milk
• 1/2 cup melted butter, applesauce OR oil
• 1 fresh egg

dry ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cup fresh blueberries

Heat oven to 400ºF.  Butter bottoms of a 12-muffin cup pan.

Beat milk, butter and egg in a medium bowl.  Add in flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt, all at once.  Stir until flour is just moistened; batter will be lumpy.  Fold in blueberries. Do not over stir the batter.

Use a large cookie dough scooper to fill muffin cups 3/4 full.  Bake until golden brown, 16 to 20 minutes.  Immediately remove from pan.

Store cooled muffins in a container with a loose fitting lid and enjoy them later on in your day.  I like to use recycled plastic containers for bread storage.

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Nutrition Facts for One Moist Blueberry Muffin:

Calories: 207
Total Fat: 9g (Sat Fat 5g, Trans Fat 0)
Cholesterol: 37mg
Sodium: 326mg
Total Carbohydrates: 30g
Dietary Fiber: 1g
Sugars: 13g
Proteins: 3g