White Chocolate Cherry Muffins

It was a week before my brother was to return from his military tour overseas and I began to think of what I could make for his return. Our mother would have a menu for every minute of the day for the family gathering so it had to be a simple insertion. I also wanted to to have a bit of a theme around Canada since he is Canadian military. What about some muffins with a red and white theme? The idea then evolved to the white chocolate and cherry muffins.

I had recently tried a Blueberry Crumb muffin from the Sarabeth’s Bakery: From My Hands to Yours cookbook that were very good and decided to build from there. The recipe called for the use of bread flour instead of all purpose flour. The result was a firmer muffin that would not completely fall apart. I decided to take away from this basic recipe, and adapt it for my needs. The results were excellent. We added a separate crumb topping and then drizzled red and white icing on top. Within the family we called them Canadian Hero muffins.

The Canadian Hero was happy to have a muffin without dust on it.

RECIPE
Yield – 10 muffins

Muffin Mix

1 large orange
2/3 cup corn oil
1/2 cup whole milk
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups bread flour
1 cup light brown sugar(no lumps)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup white chocolate chips
2/3 cup dried cherries (coated with flour)

Streusel

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar\
1/4 cup maple sugar (hey its a Canadian theme)
1/4 cup cinnamon
1/2 stick unsalted butter cubed

Optional Icing

1/2 cup royal icing, divided
red food coloring

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Grease muffin tins with butter or cooking spray.
2. Grate the orange into a medium bowl. Juice the orange into a small bowl removing any seeds if not seedless. Whisk in the corn oil, milk and eggs until blended. Whisk the flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt in another bowl. Add the liquids and stir with a spoon until combined with as few strokes as possible. Fold in the chocolate and dried cherries.
3. Portion the batter evenly into the muffin cups. I prefer to use a 2 1/2 in diameter ice cream scoop.
4. Mix/cut in all the crumb mixture and then generously sprinkle on the top of the muffins.
5. Bake for 10 minutes and then lower to 375 for another 15 minutes or until a wire cake tester comes out clean.
6. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then remove to cool completely.
7. Optionally add white and red icing.