Muffin Monday: Creme de Cassis and Cranberry Muffins

When Anuradha sent me the recipe for Rum and Raisin Muffins for this week’s Muffin Monday, I paused briefly and immediately after, I opened the pantry.  Rum and raisin are two things I enjoy separately but not necessarily together.  I love to snack on raisins, but raisins in cookies is a completely different thing.  Then on the dark rum, somehow I break out in hives upon consumption.  I keep the clear Bacardi in stock though.

Then there are the dried cranberries.  I like them in salads, and occasionally in cookies with white chocolate chunks, but NEVER as a snack item on their own.  They will give color to the muffins, I thought, plus the tartness will give the mini treats a little zing.  I had to try something out of the ordinary:  Creme de Cassis sounded interesting enough, and I have a bottle in stock.  Just because .  This is how I roll.

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Notes from joy of baking

1. Self-Rising flour has 8-9% protein and contains flour plus baking powder and salt.
2. I do not use this type of flour because I prefer to add my own baking powder and salt. Also, if the flour is stored too long, the baking powder will lose some of its strength and your baked goods will not rise properly.
3. If you want to make your own, add 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt per cup (130 grams) of all-purpose flour.

Ingredients

• 245 grams cups self-rising flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup Creme de Cassis
• 1 egg, lightly beatean
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup butter, melted

Directions

1. Soak dried cranberries in liqueur for a couple of hours.  Start a load of laundry and catch up on blog-reading.  Walk the dogs.
2. Preheat oven to 390F and grease muffin tray if not using paper liners.
3. Sift dry ingredients together.
4. In a medium bowl, lightly beat an egg, and add the remaining wet ingredients including the cranberries and what’s left of the liqueur.
5. Fold in wet ingredients into the dry mixture.  Do not over mix.
6. Use an ice cream scoop to fill the muffin tray.  Bake for 14 minutes.  This  recipe made 1 and 1/3 trays of mini muffins.

Thank you for stopping by!  Please say hello to all Muffin Monday Bakers!