Christmas Eve Muffins

Santa will definitely be heading down your chimney first with the smell of this sweet treat wafting from your kitchen! Christmas Eve Muffins will be a grand reminder of golden days long past and a promise for golden days yet to come. Loaded with tart cranberries and crunchy pecans, these moist muffins have a citrus orange zest about them that make them simply irresistible. We aren’t sure if you’ve been naughty or nice, but we do know that you won’t be able to eat just one of these Christmas Eve Muffins. Just please make sure you leave a couple out for the Big Guy!

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons orange zest
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups cranberries, coarsely chopped
• 1 1/2 cups pecans, chopped

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Directions

Step 1 –Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Step 2 –Line an 18-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

Step 3 –In a large bowl, add the flour, the sugar, the baking powder, the nutmeg, the cinnamon, the baking soda, the ginger, the salt, and the orange zest and stir to combine.

Step 4 –Add the shortening to the flour mixture and cut it in until the mixture is crumbly.

Step 5 –In a small bowl, add the orange juice, the beaten eggs, and the vanilla extract and whisk to combine.

Step 6 –Add the orange juice mixture to the flour mixture and stir until it is just moistened.

Step 7 –Add the cranberries and the pecans to the muffin mixture and fold to combine.

Step 8 –Transfer the muffin mixture into the prepared muffins tin, filling each cup about 2/3 full.

Step 9 –Bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the muffins comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes.

Step 10 –Transfer the baked muffins from the oven to a wire rack and let them cool in the muffin tin, about 10 minutes.

Step 11 –Transfer the cooled muffins from the muffin tin directly to the wire rack.

Step 12 –Serve warm