Currant-Almond Yogurt Muffins Recipe
As much as I love being a CSA member, some weeks I get things that have minimal utility. One of my fruit deliveries last summer was a quart of fresh currants. You can’t really eat them like grapes or other berries – they’re really tiny and very tart – so the only thing you can really do is bake them or add them to savory dishes that could benefit from a little tartness.
I used my currents two ways, one of which was these muffins. The tart currants melded beautifully with the yogurt and their flavor was accented by a bit of almond flour and extract. A touch of orange zest lent these a wonderful fragrance (reminiscent of the classic cranberry-orange flavor combination) and freshly ground fennel seeds rounded out the mix, providing a bit of mild savoriness.
The texture on these was better than I expected – they were soft but not dry, and definitely muffin-y – I hate muffins that are super soft and cakey because those are just cupcakes. And the best part is that they’re stupidly simple (hear that, Amy?) to make – dry ingredients in one bowl, wet in another, then mix them together and they’re in the oven in under 10 minutes. Easy, tasty, relatively healthy, and a good way to use up odd CSA fruit? Sounds good to me.
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup almond meal
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground fennel seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup Greek yogurt
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp orange zest
- Scant 1/4 cup turbinado sugar
- 1/2 cup fresh red currants
- Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line wells of a muffin pan with paper liners and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, almond meal, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ground fennel seeds, and set aside.
- Add the yogurt and milk to a medium bowl and whisk well to combine. Add the butter, egg, both extracts and zest, and sugar, whisking well between each addition.
- Pour the yogurt mixture into the flour mixture and stir until barely combined – there may be a few spots of flour but that’s ok.
- Add the currants and gently stir the batter to evenly distribute the berries, making sure to mix in any spots of flour.
- Evenly distribute the batter among the muffin cups (mini muffin cups will be ¾ full, full size muffin cups will be about 2/3 full) and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 14-17 minutes for minis and 18-22 minutes for full size muffins.
- Let the muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Member recipes are not tested by the CHOW food team.
My ingredient list keeps getting messed up! It should read as follows:
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup almond meal
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon freshly ground fennel seeds (not toasted)
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup Greek or other thick yogurt
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg
½ teaspoon almond extract
¼ teaspoon...+READ
My ingredient list keeps getting messed up! It should read as follows:
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup almond meal
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon freshly ground fennel seeds (not toasted)
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup Greek or other thick yogurt
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg
½ teaspoon almond extract
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ tsp orange zest
Scant ¼ cup turbinado sugar
½ cup fresh red currants-COLLAPSE