Tangerine Muffins with Breadcrumb Topping - Crazy Ingredient Challenge

I had a really difficult time deciding on a recipe for this month’s Crazy Ingredient’s Challenge. The ingredients this month are not even “crazy” but I decided to make it hard on myself. No savory dishes. No bread pudding. No Brown Bettys. Uhm. So what does that leave? Not much apparently. My initial plan was to make a dessert dumpling - perhaps one filled with chocolate. But then one day that changed to pop tarts. That was partly influenced by current need to turn everything into a pop tart after making some here. I was all set to make the tarts. And then two days ago, I found myself craving muffins. I couldn’t shake the craving.

Oh I tried. Were muffins really going to be as good as that buttery tart crust? Was I really that happy with my tart plan? Were muffins just an easy way out? I went back and forth for a while. I almost made both things. Luckily, the busyness of this week forced me to make a decision. Muffins won. Sorry, tarts. Your time  will come again soon.


These muffins are a work in progress. The flavour is fine. But the batter was really thin. Next time I'll use yogurt or sour cream instead of buttermilk. Because of the thin batter, my breadcrumbs topping simply sank down. I wanted crunch! Ah well - next time.

Tangerine Muffins with Breadcrumb Topping

(Yield 7 high top or 12 regular muffins)

Ingredients

Muffins

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tablespoon oil

1/2 cup tangerine juice

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons tangerine zest

1 teaspoon cinnamon 

1 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of nutmeg

pinch of cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

Topping

1/2 cup breadcrumbs (I used Panko)

2 tablespoons melted butter

3-4 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

For high top muffins, preheat oven to 425 F. For "regular" muffins, preheat to 350.

Combine all the topping ingredients and set aside.

Whisk together sugar, egg and oil then stir in tangerine juice and yogurt. 

In another bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg cloves and salt. Add to liquid ingredients stirring only until just combined.

Pour into greased muffin wells. For "high top" muffins, fill the wells to the top.Sprinkle topping evenly over batter. Bake at 425 F for 6 minutes then lower heat to 350 F. Do not open oven. Bake for6-10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

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