Marmalade Muffins

Marmalade Muffins are a recipe appearing in The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl.

Official Description
I call them "marmalade" muffins not because they contain marmalade but because they're flavored with lots of delicious orange zest. The muffin batter is moist and delicious, but it's the brown sugar-orange juice glaze that really sets these beauties apart. The brown sugar in the glaze retains its grainy quality and settles onto the very top of each muffin, providing an unexpected texture to these bite-size wonders.

These beautiful muffins need to be eaten warm. They're the perfect accompaniment for scrambled eggs and bacon in the morning, or they're delicious on their own for a midmorning coffee break or a late-night munchie attack...or pretty much any other occasion you can come up with. For another twist, my mom and I once served them at a baby shower with small slivers of country ham inside. The expectant mother sang for joy!

Warning: the muffins disappear quickly, so be sure to make double the quantity you think you'll need.

Recipe

 * 2 orange
 * 2 cups all-purpose flour
 * 1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, softened
 * 1 cup buttermilk
 * 1 cup granulated sugar
 * 1 teaspoon baking soda
 * 2 large eggs
 * 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 375*F.

Begin by grating the zest from the oranges. If you don't have a microplane zester, please rush out to the nearest cooking supply store and purchase one. Thank you.

Cream the butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl.

Crack in the eggs and mix until well combined.

Sift the flour onto a sheet of waxed paper.

Add it to the bowl.

Gently stir the mixture using as few strokes as possible, so that the muffins aren't tough.

In a small measuring cup or bowl, combine the buttermilk and baking soda.

Add the buttermilk mixture to the muffin batter and mix until just combined.

Add the orange zest. Mix just until combined, being careful not to overmix. If you get some batter on your fingers, just lick it off. Then moan with delight.

Grease 24 mini muffin tins and fill each two-thirds full with muffin batter. I like to use a small cookie scoop to put muffin batter in the tins.

Bake for 12 to 17 minutes, until light brown. Watch to make sure they don't get too brown.

Now, while the muffins are baking, prepare the glaze. Juice the 2 oranges whose zest you just stole...

Add the orange juice and brown sugar to a medium bowl and stir together just until combined, but don't worry about dissolving the brown sugar completely. You want the glaze to be grainy and textured.

As soon as the muffins are done, drizzle the glaze all over the top. Be sure to thoroughly coat each muffin.

Don't worry if the glaze drips all over the pan. That means more for you to lick up later.

Serve the muffins warm on a beautiful platter. Watch your guests' eyes roll back into their heads as they savor each bite.