Sunrise Ruby

Lots of cooking going on around here recently. Here’re a couple of recipes:

Cranberry Pecan Bread  (based on a recipe on the back of a package of Ocean Spray cranberries)

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 ¹⁄₂ tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• ¹⁄₂ tsp. baking soda
• ³⁄₄ cup juice (orange or cranberry)
• 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 tsp. grated orange peel
• 1 egg, well beaten
• 1 ¹⁄₂ cups fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped
• ¹⁄₂ (+) cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9 × 5 in. loaf pan. Mix together dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Stir in juice, oil, orange peel, and egg and mix until well blended. Stir in cranberries and pecans. Spread mixture evenly in loaf pan. Bake for 55 min., or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on rack for 15 min. Remove from pan to cool completely.

Corn Muffins

• 1 cup corn meal
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ¹⁄₃ cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• ¹⁄₂ tsp. salt
• 1 egg, beaten
• ¹⁄₄ cup canola or vegetable oil
• 1 cup milk

Mix the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Then add the egg, oil, and milk. Stir until just combined—some lumps are better than over-mixing. Pour the batter into a greased muffin pan and bake at 400 degrees for 15–20 minutes.

This is a very good basic muffin recipe. I haven’t experimented much with it yet, but I think it could be dressed up in a variety of ways. Like adding ¹⁄₄ to ¹⁄₂ cup sour cream to make the muffins a little moister. Or adding a little more sugar and a splash of vanilla extract for sweeter muffins. Adding cheese and jalapeño is probably also an option.