Extremely Orange, Orange Muffins

[Sugarella]

Muffin update...this just in.

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I'm not going to chime in anymore on this one. I can't get behind the notion of fake colouring these albino muffins when you had perfectly orange, orange muffins the first go around....

[RodneyCk]

LOL... Hey, it is an obsession with a coffee house muffin. I am sure THAT is more disturbing than artificially coloring baked goods,

merstar, it borderlines on a cake, but the crust was more muffin like, a bit harder in shell, but the insides were definitely cake-like. I have to figure out how to get some of the qualities of each.

Thanks for the recipe though, I will look it over.

[rooftop1000]

If you find a good cakey recipe that doesnt have the right crusty top, try sugaring the tops before baking.

otis spunkmeyer orange muffins ...truly evil

tracey

[Sarah Phillips]

RodneyCK,

I would try different recipes, and there are some good suggestions here. A recipe is a formula and if you add this and that, sometimes you have to subtract something else. I have posted some suggestions for you on http://www.baking911.com/asksarahbb/index.php?showtopic=269 I hope all of your experiments work out for you and yield something that you enjoy!

Edited July 1, 2006 by Sarah Phillips (log)

[MGLloyd]

I am following this thread closely, since I can think of few things better than a nice muffin with an intense orange flavor. I will be most interested to see the final recipe. Color and crumb are of less concern to me than flavor.

[RodneyCk]

MGLloyd, I am not all that concerned with coloring myself, but since I am mimicing the original coffee house orange muffin, which was very orange, I want to come as close as possible.

Currently, Sarah Phillips of baking911.com found this thread and is currently helping me get on track on her forum. She is a wonderful baker and author and someone I respect greatly because she knows a lot about the science behind baking. I love reading her forum, there is a lot of information there and she is always willing to help.

So, she has given me one of her muffin recipes from her book which I am going to alter the flavor, replacing with orange zest and extract and use as a base. I plan to bake these off over this long weekend hopefully and will report back with my results, so stay tuned!!!

[Sarah Phillips]

I am following this thread closely, since I can think of few things better than a nice muffin with an intense orange flavor.  I will be most interested to see the final recipe.  Color and crumb are of less concern to me than flavor.

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Hi,

Crust and crumb, to me, have a lot to do with flavor! I always strive to obtain an excellent texture and mouthfeel, with my eye on flavor, because both usually go hand-in-hand.

Besides, to me, flavor comes from proper crust and crumb -- from sugar caramelization, the flour itself, the proper balance of ingredients, just enough baking soda so the recipe isn't soapy, moisture content, grains or seeds used, etc. Color in a chocolate recipe, for example, can be altered through baking powder and baking soda, as well as texture and flavor, too. To me, when I develop recipes, extra flavor from extracts, citrus peel and extracts are always the last to add, because they are merely enhancements to the ingredients already in the recipe. Ingredients and their manipulation, create the texture and flavor.

I believe that if you don't get the texture right, then you can't get the flavor to come across from the added extracts, citrus peel, etc. If you have a gummy muffin texture, then how is one supposed to get across a good flavor? Or, if the muffin is dry and crumbly, the flavor gets lost!

To me, recipe development is an art, plus science. It's combining ingredients in such a way to get the right texture, mouthfeel and outcome. Flavorings should enhance what's already there.

Edited July 4, 2006 by Sarah Phillips (log)

[RodneyCk]

You thought I forgot about the orange muffins, didn't you? Hah!

New update, new recipe, a step closer. You really do learn more from mistakes than anything else. Sure, getting it right the first time would be a cinch and cause less stress and loose bowels. But where is the fun in that?

I baked off a new batch with a modified recipe from Sarah Phillips. (This recipe is a revision of her "Lemon Blueberry Cake Muffins," available here at baking911.com.) Copyright laws and all that dictate that I can list the amounts and ingredients, but I need to change the recipe into my own words, which is fine, so here is what I am working from...

Extremely Orange, Orange Muffins, Take 3

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour; spoon into dry measuring cup and level to top

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

M

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon orange extract

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Zest and juice from 2 oranges (use the juice in the dunking glaze, so place in separate bowl)

2 large eggs

1/2 cup whole or 2% milk

1/2 cup sugar

The recipe this is based of off said to use a hand mixer. I used a KA and it worked out fine. Heat oven to 350F and grease a muffin pan or two with oil.

Mix together in a medium bowl the first three ingredients and set aside.

In a KA or hand mixer, cream the butter for a bit until smooth, then drizzle in sugar, then add the extracts and zest; continue to mix for about 2 minutes.

Add the eggs, one at a time, on low; beating for 20 seconds after each addition, then stop the mixer. Scrape the sides.

On low, add the flour in thirds and the milk in two portions, beginning and ending with the flour. I like to add 2/3 of the flour in the first addition. Scrape the bowl in a folding motion, and then continue on lowest setting to beat for 30 seconds.

Place equal portions in the muffin tins, about 1/2 to 2/3 full. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown and a tooth pick comes out with a few crumbs, but no wet batter. Meanwhile, prepare dunking glaze.

For the dunking glaze: combine 1/2 cup sugar with strained orange juice of 2 oranges in a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 minute, then remove and let cool to room temperature.

Place muffins on wire rack and let sit for 5 minutes, then turn out on rack.

When muffins have slightly cooled for handling, dunk either muffin top or all of muffin briefly in glaze to saturate. Place on rack to continue to cool.

What does that give us? For starters, a very nicely shaped muffin, one of the best looking I have had so far. The coned muffin top was perfect. Other nice qualities were the browning of the outside, perfect crust, not to tough, but supportive, lots of flavor. The top was firm but soft to break through, nice.

Now the problems…

The taste, not so orange, which really surprises me and which begs the question, how do I get more orange into this muffin?

Possible solutions:

1. Add orange oil - more concentrated and intense flavor.

2. Add more orange extract. I like the 2 1/2 teaspoons in the previous muffin.

3. Perfect the dunking glaze technique. See next note.

More on the texture and dunking glaze:

The texture was a bit off. It was very cornmeal like, a bit dry on the back of the throat, probably a true muffin. Again, I want a hybrid muffin/cupcake. This was before adding the dunking glaze. Once I added the glaze it got better, more orange flavor and very moist. I accidentally broke a muffin in two, causing it to land and really soak in the liquid. I fished it out and placed the broken pieces on the rack. I tasted it after letting sit for a minute. It was awesome, a totally different texture and VERY CLOSE to what I remember. I think this is the key.

Solution for moisture and flavor: Maybe letting the muffins sit after a first dunk, and then dunking again. Need more testing here.

Solution for texture: I had two problems with texture; one listed above was the cornmeal muffin tooth. I think trying half all-purpose and half cake flour next may be the solution here. The other problem was that half of my muffins stuck to the pan causing them to tear. I used pan release (oil and flour spray), so maybe I did not use enough or I need to really grease with shortening. I will work on this, but very disappointing.

All in all, a good try I am making progress. I will rework the recipe later and repost for the next try. I also want to score some orange oil and tangerine oil which may take a week or so since I have to order online.

BTW, the original muffin had tangerine in it, at least partially if not all of it. Tangerines are out of season here, so I have been looking everywhere. Hopefully I will find some soon.

Feedback is welcome as always...

Best,

Rodney

[SweetTraditionsNY]

I just stumbled across this thread... I'm new here and haven't had a lot of time to look around. I do have two suggestions for you though. First, you might be looking for a muffin made with sour cream or with cream cheese. I have supplied muffins to a few various places locally, and the recipe I use has sour cream. No one picks up on the sour cream taste, but they're SO moist. Also, I would suggest using Tang mix to get some more pumped-up orange taste. It's already fairly concentrated orange flavor, and it's already sweetened and non-bitter. I can't speak from personal experience here as I've never made an orange muffin, but that's my best guess. You just never know what those coffee house people will sneak into a muffin when you're not looking! Good luck!

[ohev'ochel]

Hi Rodney -- this may sound wierd but what about a small amount of orange KoolAid for colouring? The dyes in it may provide you with the right colour you are after. I also agree with SweetTraditionsNY, cream cheese may make a difference in terms of the crumb texture. Good luck!

Edited July 13, 2006 by ohev'ochel (log)

[Sarah Phillips]

The recipe 's texture is not cornbread-like. It is cakelike. So, something must have happened when it was mixed and or altered from its original recipe. The photo of the texture posted here does not look right to me. The crumb is too loose and is not as fine as it should be, even made with all-purpose flour.

A cakelike muffin is not a cake. It is a muffin with a cakelike texture, and uses all-purpose flour - that's the definition of a muffin or quick-bread recipe. Perhaps you need a cake recipe baked as cupcakes. That's when you use cake flour.

Or, if you create your own hybrid, you can mix cake and all-purpose flour.

Orange oil will give you the most consistent and intense orange flavor, by the way! Not all oranges are created equal in flavor.....

Edited July 13, 2006 by Sarah Phillips (log)

[CanadianBakin']

Rodney, I have an amazing muffin recipe from one of this years Fine Cooking magazines. It has sourcream in it which would help enhance the tanginess as suggested by some of the others. These are called Bake Shop muffins and I don't think they'll disappoint you. They don't list an orange variation but it would be very easy to adapt. Just add the flavourings as you did with your recipe. I would also suggest using a very fine grater to zest an orange and rub it with your fingers into the sugar to release the oils. The smell will amaze you! To get more glaze into the muffins I would suggest getting a marinade injector or a needle from your local vet and injecting some of the glaze into the muffins. I do this with my lemon loaf and it really helps saturate the flavour.

Bake Shop muffins

16 oz all-purpose flour

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

9-3/8 oz white sugar

5 oz butter, melted and slightly cooled

8-1/2 oz whole milk, at room temp

8-1/2 oz sour cream, at room temp

2 large eggs, at room temp

1 large egg yolk, at room temp

In large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, butter, milk, sour cream, eggs and egg yolk until well combined.

Pour wet into dry and fold gently just till ingredients are combined. Don't over mix.

Thoroughly grease a 12-cup muffin pan, cups as well as the top. (I just use a heavy coating of pan spray) Using a 4-oz disher, scoop batter into pan. The batter will mound higher than the pan. Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 30 - 35 minutes. Test with a toothpick. Cool in muffin pan for 15 - 20 minutes then transfer to rack.

Based on the last recipe you listed I would add 2 tsp orange extract and 1/2 tsp vanilla. Rub the zest of one orange into the sugar before combining with other ingredients. Use the same glaze but inject it as well as pouring it over.

Hope this helps!

[RodneyCk]

Hi Rodney -- this may sound wierd but what about a small amount of orange KoolAid for colouring?  The dyes in it may provide you with the right colour you are after.  I also agree with SweetTraditionsNY, cream cheese may make a difference in terms of the crumb texture.  Good luck!

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Good suggestions from both you and SweetTraditionsNY. I am not sure about the Tang though, as it has a very off orange taste from what I remember, lol. That stuff always scared me. I do like the cream cheese idea.

I have a recipe for cake that uses any flavor of Kool-aid. This is interestings. It would take care of the color issue, just not sure if it would come across as too artificial tasting. I will test this theory, thanks.

[RodneyCk]

The recipe 's texture is not cornbread-like. It is cakelike. So, something must have happened when it was mixed and or altered from its original recipe. The photo of the texture posted here does not look right to me.  The crumb is too loose and is not as fine as it should be, even made with all-purpose flour. 

A cakelike muffin is not a cake. It is a muffin with a cakelike texture, and uses all-purpose flour - that's the definition of a muffin or quick-bread recipe. Perhaps you need a cake recipe baked as cupcakes. That's when you use cake flour.

Or, if you create your own hybrid, you can mix cake and all-purpose flour.

Orange oil will give you the most consistent and intense orange flavor, by the way! Not all oranges are created equal in flavor.....

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Thanks Sarah for the feedback! Maybe it was because I used the KitchenAid instead of the hand mixer. It was not a bad cornmeal texture, nothing like the first muffin I made above, just a slightly dry aftertaste.

I like it with the dunking glaze, like I said, it altered it to a more cake like texture, which makes me think that it needs more moisture, which also makes me think that cream cheese, as some are pointing to, might be the ticket.

One quick question, would taking out the blueberries in your recipe take away some of the moisture they excrete, and thus result in the slight dry texture?

I know what you mean about the orange varieties. I was using the cheap ones for testing, but will try different varieties when I get the texture and moisture down. A lot of chefs use the Valencia oranges in higher-end cakes, so these might be worth trying.

[RodneyCk]

Rodney, I have an amazing muffin recipe from one of this years Fine Cooking magazines. It has sourcream in it which would help enhance the tanginess as suggested by some of the others. These are called Bake Shop muffins and I don't think they'll disappoint you. They don't list an orange variation but it would be very easy to adapt. Just add the flavourings as you did with your recipe. I would also suggest using a very fine grater to zest an orange and rub it with your fingers into the sugar to release the oils. The smell will amaze you! To get more glaze into the muffins I would suggest getting a marinade injector or a needle from your local vet and injecting some of the glaze into the muffins. I do this with my lemon loaf and it really helps saturate the flavour.

Bake Shop muffins

16 oz all-purpose flour

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

9-3/8 oz white sugar

5 oz butter, melted and slightly cooled

8-1/2 oz whole milk, at room temp

8-1/2 oz sour cream, at room temp

2 large eggs, at room temp

1 large egg yolk, at room temp

In large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, butter, milk, sour cream, eggs and egg yolk until well combined.

Pour wet into dry and fold gently just till ingredients are combined. Don't over mix.

Thoroughly grease a 12-cup muffin pan, cups as well as the top. (I just use a heavy coating of pan spray) Using a 4-oz disher, scoop batter into pan. The batter will mound higher than the pan. Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 30 - 35 minutes. Test with a toothpick. Cool in muffin pan for 15 - 20 minutes then transfer to rack.

Based on the last recipe you listed I would add 2 tsp orange extract and 1/2 tsp vanilla. Rub the zest of one orange into the sugar before combining with other ingredients. Use the same glaze but inject it as well as pouring it over.

Hope this helps!

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Perfect CanadianBakin, I was just going to ask anyone for a good sour cream muffin recipe to test. I like the fact they are bake house muffins, that sounds promising.

My chocolate cake recipe I developed uses sour cream as one of the secret ingredients. Thanks again.

[MGLloyd]

I have not forgotten this thread. I am still watching the recipe development with interest. Based on my previous experience, I am wondering about sour cream and orange oil myself. I think that orange oil gives a more intense and true flavor than extract. But zest is important, too.

[RodneyCk]

CanadianBakin', getting back to the issue of injecting the glaze/syrup inside… I really like this idea. I tasted the muffins again this morning and they are better once they have cooled down completely, texture-wise. I tasted the part that had been dunked in the syrup and it contained more orange flavor, very moist and almost perfect. My friend who remembers the coffee house muffin said, "oh my gosh, you are getting there." It really does change the texture.

Sarah's muffins are great btw, I hope my posts do not suggest otherwise. My intent is just for something slightly different, so my criticisms must be absorbed with this in mind. For any other muffin than the original coffee house muffin I am trying to mimic, her recipe is spot on, perfection even.

So, back to the syrup… When dunking in the glaze, I lost a couple because they are tender and tore apart due to the initial impact of the liquid. So, I want to develop this method where the baker will not be on pins and needles trying to douse carefully. I like the injection method idea. Then I could brush on the outside as well, as the original was saturated. I was also thinking about a spray bottle, but this could get really messy or create a room air freshener, lol, a two-in-one.

The one thing texture-wise I am missing was remembering a slight oiliness (probably with the addition of orange/tangerine oil), but I will wait until I play more with the dunking glaze to determine if there is a means of using oils, as in vegetable oils or otherwise, as a glaze. It may not even be needed.

[RodneyCk]

I have not forgotten this thread.  I am still watching the recipe development with interest.  Based on my previous experience, I am wondering about sour cream and orange oil myself.  I think that orange oil gives a more intense and true flavor than extract.  But zest is important, too.

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Yes, that is next on the agenda, trying the cream cheese recipe while my oils are being delivered. I also want to bake off a batch of the kool-aid added muffins just for fun, to see what flavors and colorings are introduced.

I need to set up a cupcake stand outside my door to get rid of them, lol.

[RodneyCk]

I had some time today to test another recipe. I wanted to try the sour cream recipe, but did not have any on hand and really did not feel like going to the supermarket. So, I decided to fiddle around with a recipe listed above by Cadbury. I modified it for one important reason, a lesson learned in my first attempt above, orange juice in the batter imparts very little flavor. Sarah Phillips confirmed this for me and I believe told me that milk is a much better choice, giving up some fat along with it.

I also modified my dunking liquid. Having done my research, I found a recipe that actually dunked the whole muffin in melted butter (remember that oily orange texture I was after.) So, I decided to try including a bit, more on this later.

Here is the recipe I used, modified;

Extremely Orange, Orange Muffins, take 4

2 oranges

13 tablespoons melted butter

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons orange extract

1/2 cup milk – whole

1 package of Kool-aid Orange Drink Mix

3 large eggs

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350F and grease muffin tins.

Prepare the oranges:

Chop off the ends of to remove the pith of one orange. Extract the juice from the two halves through a strainer/sieve over a bowl. Place the orange pieces into a food processor. Zest the second orange and add to the food processor. Extract the juice again through a sieve over the same bowl from the two halves. Discard this rind.

Process in the food processor until ground, no large bits showing.

Add the packet of Kool-aid and extract to the milk and stir to combine, and then add to the processor, along with the eggs, melted butter, and sugar. Then add the dry ingredients.

Process until well combined but do not over-mix. Spoon the batter into muffin tins, about 2/3 full. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with crumbs, but no wet batter.

Meanwhile: Make the dunking glaze by combining the orange juice and 1/2 cup of sugar in a small pot on the stove. Bring to boil, then simmer for 1 minute or until sugar is combined. Remove from heat and add 1 tablespoon of butter add a time, stirring to combine. Set aside to cool.

Place muffin tin on wire rack and allow them to cool for 5 minutes, and then extracting muffins onto rack. Dunk each muffin into the dunking glaze, completely turning to cover the muffin, let the excess drip off and place on rack to finish cooling, repeat process for the other muffins.

Results? Probably the most flavor-induced, extremely orange muffin I have created so far, despite messing up a few steps. The flavoring was yummy. The dunking glaze still needs work though. I thought the Kool-Aid was perfect and I might even add a bit more on my next attempt just to see how far I can push it. Baking removes a lot of flavor (orange juice) so I never got an artificial or over the top orange taste from it or the zests, extracts, etc, which is good. These muffins also baked in the oven nicely, much like the previous attempt, good crust, but not to hard, perfect. I obtained domed tops and my first “orange colored” muffins, but still not the deep tangerine color like the original. You can really see the orange color in the third picture below. Maybe more Kool-aid will increase the intensity. Lol.

Texture, good, but it had that open, sponge-like pocket much like Extremely Orange, Orange Muffins take 2 above, but nowhere near that bad. The reason you ask? I forgot to include the melted butter. Lol. Surprisingly, despite the off texture, they weren’t that bad without the butter. I also, in this attempt, forgot to grind up the orange peel initially, so I just ground it with the ingredients. I did not want to over-mix, so there were tiny bits of orange in this example. I was spacing it big time today, still, blunders aside, not that bad.

The other problem was with the dunking liquid. What I am finding is that the outside of the muffin and about ¼ inch in is completely saturated, actually to much so. It never penetrates to the inside of the muffin. I also need to cut back on the butter, because I could really taste it. So, will injecting it work or should I just try brushing it on the entire muffin, or both, or any other ideas?

Good attempt, still really can’t tell if this is the recipe or not since I messed up, so I need to try this again. I learned a lot, made progress with the flavoring and hopefully can use some of this. Until next time…

As always, feedback is welcome.

[nakji]

I used to make a really nice lemon pound cake with lemon glaze. When I made it, I poked several holes in the top with a toothpick, and poured the gaze over, while still warm. The holes allowed greater penetration of the glaze. Is it possible that you could pour your glaze, instead of dipping?

[RodneyCk]

I used to make a really nice lemon pound cake with lemon glaze. When I made it, I poked several holes in the top with a toothpick, and poured the gaze over, while still warm. The holes allowed greater penetration of the glaze. Is it possible that you could pour your glaze, instead of dipping?

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How funny. I was just reading a recipe for Mandarin Orange Cake and they had a glaze of orange juice and powdered sugar. The recipe says to poke holes in the cake and pour it on top. Then, I read this post, lol.

Thanks, I think this might work, that and brushing it on the sides as well.

[RodneyCk]

Thanks for catching that Sarah! You and your website are always a wealth of information. Take care.

[RodneyCk]

Update...

Well after having an orange muffin from "Take 4" above, the next day, I must say, these are right on the mark or close to in taste. It seems with the edition of the ground orange skin (maybe the Kool-Aid, but I doubt much flavor remained, just coloring), the oils have seeped into the muffin overnight; they are packed with orange flavor and almost 100% on the mark from the coffee house muffin. Funny, I thought the flavor part would be the last thing to perfect.

It still needs a tweak, but most excellent results. Perfecting the texture is next and I think the missing butter, lol, will make these extremely moist and spot on.

I was brainstorming my glaze problem and tried to think of how to impart the oily orange into it. Butter produces the oiliness, but it also imparts a strong butter taste, not what I am after, although good. So, I was thinking maybe light corn syrup or honey, either in part or a combo might be the ticket.

Light corn syrup from my cake making knowledge is I think, part water and mostly sugar which is why it is often substituted for the boiled sugar and water in meringue buttercreams (does not form crystals due to its inherent water content.) Would this though give me the oily quality? Perhaps or maybe with the addition of a little honey, although honey imparts its own flavor and I do not remember a honey taste. Anyway, just thinking off the top of my head.

Here are some recipes I found and I will probably hodge-podge something together to experiment;

Orange glazes:

Recipe #1

1/4 cup orange juice

2 tbsp light corn syrup

1/3 cup powdered sugar

Meanwhile, in small bowl, stir together all glaze ingredients until smooth.

Recipe #2

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

3 tablespoons orange liqueur

1 tablespoon grated orange rind

2 1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup

Bring all ingredients to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring constantly; boil 2 minutes. Cover glaze, and chill 2 hours.

Recipe #3

Tangerine glaze

1 1/4 cups freshly squeezed tangerine juice

1 tablespoon tangerine zest

3 tablespoons light corn syrup

3 tablespoons Grand Marnier

Recipe #4

Honey Orange Glaze

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 cup honey

1 tablespoons orange zest

[RodneyCk]

Alterered the recipe for both muffins and glaze a bit, including better mixing instructions for making muffins in a food processor. Also included notes for possible changes in the future.

Extremely Orange, Orange Muffins, take 5

Muffins:

2 oranges

13 tablespoons melted butter

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons orange extract

1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk – whole

1 package of Kool-Aid® Orange Drink Mix

3 large eggs

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

Glaze:

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 350F and grease muffin tins. Ready a food processor using a metal blade.

Chop off the ends of one orange to remove the pith. Cut the orange in half and extract the juice from the two halves through a strainer/sieve over a bowl. Place the orange halves into a food processor.

Zest the second orange and add zest to food processor. Once again, cut the orange in half and extract the juice from the two halves through a strainer/sieve over the same bowl; set liquid aside and discard the orange peels.

Add the packet of Kool-Aid® and extracts to the milk and stir to combine well. Pour milk mixture, eggs, butter and sugar into the bowl of the food processor; pulse on/off for 50 seconds.

Add flour, baking soda and salt; pulse on/off once or twice and stop.

Spoon the batter into muffin tins, about 2/3 full, and level with a spatula. Bake muffins for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with crumbs. You should not see any wet batter.

Meanwhile: Make the dunking glaze by combining the reserved orange juice and 1/2 cup of sugar in a small pot on the stove over medium-high heat. Bring to boil, and then on low heat simmer for 5 minutes with a lid covering the pot to prevent sugar crystals. Remove from heat and stir in the butter. Set aside to cool.

Place muffin tin on wire rack and allow them to cool for 5 minutes. Carefully remove muffins and place back on rack. Using a toothpick or skewer, poke several holes through the muffin tops down into each of the muffins, spoon on glaze over bowl to saturate allowing the liquid to sink down into the holes and any excess to drip back into the bowl. Place on wire rack to cool completely.

Note: Possible changes to be made;

Reduce to 1/2 cup butter

Add 1/2 cup sour cream

Increase to 2 packages of Kool-Aid® Orange Mix

Option to replace one orange for zest, hide and juice of two or three tangerines (check weight against orange)

[MGLloyd]

I am struggling with the concept of using a packet of KoolAid mix in this recipe. I don't know why I am struggling, I just am.