5 & 6: Greek yogurt and mixed berry muffins & orange cranberry muffins

We are well on our way to fulfilling our twelve treats of Christmas this season! I'm enjoying my Christmas break so far (since Thursday at 2:45), and it's been lovely to have Hubby home so we can just chill and enjoy the Christmas season doing what we love: being together at home and cooking/baking!

Hubby likes when I make him breakfast for work. That is, when I make something that can be easily taken "on-the-go", so I took advantage of his plea and dove into two delicious muffins for not only him, but for two spots in the treats of Christmas treats lineup. One was more for me: Greek yogurt and mixed berry muffins.

I loved the idea of Greek yogurt in a muffin. How fun! I love the thickness of Greek yogurt, so I thought the texture and moisture it would add to a muffin would be nothing short of scrumptious. I was 90% correct on that presumption. I adore these muffins because I was able to use my frozen mixed berry blend of blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries (I could eat those three every day and never get tired of them)  and the last cup of Greek yogurt I had in my fridge.

While these are really yummy, there was a bit of a road block. These were delicious, but just a tad dense. However, this ends up being a blessing in disguise when you need a quick breakfast that will fill you up until lunch time. I can't stand having a measly granola bar at 8:00am just to hear my tummy grumble at 10:30am. What the heck!? So, all in all, a very successful treat! I really enjoy the burst of blackberry especially when you take a bite. The little explosions of fruit are just what this heavier muffin need. The timing was off; our oven is either super-powered or Eva's oven is puny, because I checked these 10 minutes early and they were already browned. Hence, the done-ness. So I would watch the color as they cook!


Want to make these? Follow Eva Bakes' recipe here: Blueberry Muffins with Greek Yogurt


Now, on to Hubby's request: cranberry orange. All I can say is…yuck. I love orange flavored anything. For whatever reason though, the thought of orange muffins with chewy, dried cranberries makes me my tummy toss and turn. Nevertheless, these were for Ken and his work breakfast, so I forged onward.

The fun part of these muffins was the simmering of the dried cranberries in the fresh orange juice! I gotta hand it to this recipe, they went all the way with the legit ingredients. I had three old oranges left from Trader Joe's. That's another story; the oranges were horribly disappointing as a snack, so they came in handy for this recipe. The cranberries absorbed the fresh orange juice, and my-oh-my, the apartment smelled glorious. Granted, that's about as much of the recipe I liked, but it was a really fun process! I wasn't too bad a party pooper; I did try a piece of muffin. The verdict? Eh, let's just say Ken was their biggest fan. I'm happy to report we were able to pawn off a good amount of these muffins to   his coworkers. He reported they were eaten and enjoyed which made me happy! I even had a compliment on the S'mores cupcakes I sent in back in October. For those S'mores cupcakes, read here:  Happy Halloween with S'mores Cupcakes!























Craving this recipe? Follow the Food Network's instructions, and your kitchen will be smelling de-lish in no time! Food Network's Cranberry Orange Muffins

 Ken was happy with these so that's what counts! For anyone who likes the cranberry/orange combo, I would recommend these muffins based on his recommendation :) Me? I'll stick with my mixed berry.

Greek yogurt and berries! Mmmmm!!

These look messy, but it's only because I forgot to take a picture of the originals out of the oven! These are leftovers from a batch that were eaten; hence the crumbs.