Blood Orange Muffin
intro
Tender, bright citrus muffins studded with zesty blood orange flecks, topped with a tangy sweet glaze, ideal for cozy winter breakfasts and holiday baking spreads.
Ingredients
Steps
Preheat your oven to 190°C (375°F) with a rack positioned in the middle. Line a 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper baking liners, or lightly coat each cup with non-stick cooking spray; set the prepared tin aside.
In a large glass mixing bowl, whisk together 240g spooned-and-leveled all-purpose flour, 150g granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt for 30 seconds until evenly combined, with no visible clumps of baking powder left.
Zest 3 medium blood oranges to collect 2 tablespoons of deep red-orange zest, then squeeze the zested fruit to collect 120ml of fresh juice; set 60ml of the juice aside for the glaze. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together 2 lightly beaten room-temperature large eggs, 160ml room-temperature whole milk, 57g cooled melted unsalted butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 tablespoons blood orange zest, and the remaining 60ml blood orange juice until completely smooth.
Pour the entire wet ingredient mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients, and fold gently with a silicone spatula just until no dry flour streaks remain; do not overmix (a few small lumps in the batter are normal and desirable for tender muffins). Use a 1/4-cup scoop to portion batter into each lined muffin cup, filling each cup exactly 2/3 full to leave space for rising during baking.
Place the filled muffin tin on the middle oven rack and bake for 18–20 minutes at 190°C (375°F). Test for doneness at the 18-minute mark by inserting a wooden toothpick into the center of the middle muffin: it should come out with 1–2 moist crumbs attached, not coated in wet batter. Once baked, transfer the tin to a wire cooling rack and let muffins rest in the tin for 7 minutes.
While the muffins cool slightly, whisk 120g powdered sugar with the reserved 60ml blood orange juice in a small bowl until completely smooth, with no powdered sugar lumps. Remove the warm muffins from the tin, set them directly on the wire rack, and drizzle 1 teaspoon of glaze over the top of each muffin; let the glaze set for 5 minutes before serving.
Tips
2.Avoid opening the oven door for the first 15 minutes of baking: sudden drops in oven temperature will cause the rising muffins to collapse before their structure sets.
3.Zest blood oranges immediately before adding to the batter: citrus zest loses its bright, aromatic oils quickly when exposed to air, so fresh zest gives the best, brightest flavor.
OMG these are SO good! I made them for my kid’s soccer team snack this weekend and every single parent asked for the recipe. The blood orange glaze is tangy and not too sweet, perfect balance. I didn’t even have to run to the grocery store because I had all the ingredients already, super easy!
Total beginner baker here, and these turned out perfect first try! I was worried I’d mess up the glaze but it came together in 2 minutes flat. Cook time was exactly as written, no guesswork. 10/10 will make again for my office brunch next week.
These are my new go-to meal prep breakfast! I bake a batch on Sunday, wrap them individually, and grab one on my way to work all week. They stay moist for days, which I feel like is impossible to find in a muffin recipe. The blood orange flavor is bright enough to wake me up before my first coffee, ha!
Okay, I have a confession: I used regular navel oranges because my grocery store was out of blood oranges, and these were still insane. Don’t sleep on this recipe even if you can’t find the exact fruit! The glaze consistency is chef’s kiss, no running all over the place like other muffin glazes I’ve tried.
Wait, has anyone tried freezing these? I want to make a big batch for my post-partum meal train for my sister, but I don’t want them to get dried out in the freezer. They look so perfect for a quick middle of the night snack!
Made these for my family dinner last night to go with our chili spread (weird combo I know, don’t @ me) and everyone loved the sweet/tart contrast. My partner ate three muffins before we even sat down for the main course. Worth every minute of prep, which was basically nothing anyway.
Only giving 4 stars because I wish there was a little more blood orange flavor in the actual muffin, not just the glaze! Don’t get me wrong, these are delicious, I just wanted that citrus punch to come through in every bite, not just the top. Any tips?
Game changer alert! I brought these to my office potluck and they were gone in 10 minutes. People were hovering over the platter asking who made them. I added a few white chocolate chips to half the batch per my roommate’s request and that was a chef’s kiss addition too.
As someone who always manages to overbake muffins into dry little hockey pucks, I was shocked how moist these stayed even when I accidentally left them in the oven 3 minutes extra. The sour cream in the batter is no joke, that’s the secret for sure. My roommate thought I bought them from the fancy bakery downtown!
Can I substitute the all purpose flour for whole wheat pastry flour? I’m trying to use up what I have in my pantry without running to the store, and I hate buying a whole new bag of flour for one recipe.
My kids loved it! I was worried the tangy glaze would be too much for their picky palates, but they begged for seconds before they even finished their first muffin. I let them help stir the glaze and sprinkle extra orange zest on top, which made them feel like master chefs. Perfect weekend baking activity with the family.
Wait, 45 minutes total time? That’s way faster than any other muffin recipe I’ve tried lately! I knocked these out before work this morning and still had time to eat one while it was warm and catch my train. The glaze set up so fast too, no sticky mess on my commute.
These were so good, but my glaze turned out super runny? I followed the measurements exactly, I think maybe my oranges were extra juicy? What did I do wrong? I still ate three muffins so it wasn’t a total loss, ha!
Made these for my girlfriend’s birthday brunch and she said they were better than the muffins we got on our trip to Italy last year. High praise! I topped them with a little candied blood orange slice for extra flair and it looked so fancy, no one believed they were homemade from a quick online recipe.
SO good! I’ve been on a huge blood orange kick this winter and these hit every single craving. I’ve made them three times in the last two weeks, and my roommate is already begging me to make another batch. The only problem is I can’t stop eating them straight off the cooling rack.
Quick question: do these work in a jumbo muffin tin? I have a big tin I love using for breakfast muffins, just trying to figure out how to adjust the cook time if I do that.
I was looking for an easy, impressive treat to bring to my neighbor’s holiday party and these were perfect. I got so many compliments, and multiple people asked if I’d taken a baking class recently. Little did they know I can barely make toast without burning it most days, ha!
Took a chance on these because blood oranges were on sale at the grocery store this week, and wow, I’m so glad I did. The moistness is no joke—most muffin recipes are so dry and crumbly, but these are tender and flavorful even two days after baking. The glaze is the perfect amount of sweet without being cloying.