Orange Muffins with Dark Berry Pecan Crumbs :)

Still working through this big box of oranges from my work, and experimenting with different flavor combos so get used to seeing a few more orange related recipes :) On Sunday I did an orange poppy seed, yesterday I decided to do orange berry, based off the popular lemon blueberry bars or muffins.

I really like to take a simple recipe as a base for more complex creations. I actually have a book where I write down "ratios" essentially. Each type of dessert has different ratios for flour to fat to sugar to egg and such. Cakes and cupcakes need a batter that is higher in liquids than cookies for example in order to rise and be light and fluffy. Cookies need less liquid and more flour in order to hold their round shape while baking. Now I am grossly over simplifying this, so i'll expand more on this later in a separate post, but you get the idea :) ANYWAYS so on to my point, I used my basic "white cake" recipe and added some ingredients and free handed the crumb topping and they turned out quite well. Every once in a while these experiments don't turn out as well as I would hope, so if you are feeling adventurous and your endeavor doesn't turn out that well, I hope you can find comfort in the fact that I've had baking fails as well :)

Check out that fresh squeezed orange juice on the right. Have you ever had fresh squeezed orange juice in the mornings with your breakfast? Cause let me tell you that it is such a lovely simple pleasure. Or orange carrot juice which is my favorite and I highly recommend it if you have a juicer. Or orange carrot pineapple...

On the left is the orange juice with coconut milk, the real stuff! From a can! (it would come directly from a coconut if I had access to that) Don't use coconut milk from a carton. Just please don't do it. I mean I guess if you are in a pinch go ahead and use it. But no one needs all of the added sugars and artificial sweeteners and "nutrients". Coconut is sweet naturally, the less sugar you eat the more you can taste that. So go for canned coconut  milk. It is only 99 cents where I live, how can you beat that price? So moving on, there is something so appealing to my taste buds about orange and cream together. It reminds me of those orange creamsicle ice cream bars that our grade school would give out for "ice cream Fridays" if our class completed all of our homework or if we were well behaved and what not. Ah nostalgia. 

I mentioned it on my last post, but when you are using any sort of citrus fruit in a recipe that calls for zest and juice from said fruit, always zest first! And zest the shit out of it too. You can never have too much zest. Except in key lime pie, then you can certainly have too much zest. I happened to use all the zest in the picture above, and that's about two oranges worth. I like to get into the pith when I zest, not just the initial layer on the outside. Pith, for those of you who don't know is the white stuff on the peel in oranges, lemons, and limes. It has lots of nutrients and sounds like a kid with a lisp saying 'piss' which I find amusing :) And another thing about nutrition and such. BUY FREE RANGE EGGS. Or cage free, or open air. Whatever they are listed as in your neck of the woods. I'm talking about the eggs that come from chickens that are not factory farmed. Chickens that are free to eat the bugs naturally found in their environment and have enough space to roam without bumping into one another and that are not fed hormones and antibiotics. The nice thing about living in Portland is that even though it is a city, there are several families who raise chickens and sell their chicken eggs to other residents in town. For cheap too! These eggs taste better, and you can actually taste the difference. You can feel it as well, the egg shells are much harder to crack. Alright though, enough life advice for how to buy your eggs...haha. 

Printable Recipe :)

Orange Muffins:

Dry:

3 cups almond flour

1 cup tapioca starch

1.5 tablespoons of baking powder

a pinch of sea salt

Wet:

1 cup organic raw sugar

6 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

4 eggs

4 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup canned organic coconut milk

zest from two oranges

juice from two oranges.

Dark Berry Crumb Topping:

2 cups frozen berries (I used an organic 'northwest' mix from my grocery store that included blue berries, black berries and raspberries)

1/2 cup tapioca starch

1 cup crushed pecans

1/2 cup almond flour

1/2 cup (or less) raw organic brown sugar (demerara)

1/2 cup creamed coconut. AKA coconut butter. Softened but not melted. 

Directions!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, grease two muffin pans.

1. Stir all dry ingredients together in a bowl.
2. In a separate bowl add melted coconut oil and sugar. Stir until grainy like the picture to the right.
3. Add eggs one at a time, followed by vanilla, coconut milk, and orange juice.
4. Combine the liquid and flour mixture, stir until well combined.
5. Here is everyone's favorite part (unless you're freaked out by raw eggs) taste the batter. Just a small dip. Get a sense for how much orange flavor you taste. If you want a lot more orange flavor add all of the zest. If you want a more subtle flavor add half the zest and continue to add and taste until you reach your desired flavor :)
6. Fill muffin cups half full.
7. Prepare the berry mixture by melting the frozen berries until they are soft. Squish them with a fork. Add the tapioca starch until you reach a 'gel' type consistency. 
8. Dribble the berry mix onto the surface of the muffins.
9. In a small bowl stir the pecans, flour, and sugar. Then cut in the creamed coconut like you would for butter in a pie crust. 
10. Sprinkle the crumble ix on top of each of the muffins and then place in the oven! 
11. Cook for roughly 15 minutes. 

Gooey hidden berry center of deliciousness :)