What is Multigrain Cranberry Apple Muffin?
The multigrain cranberry-apple muffin is a great breakfast or snack item. This autumnal-themed baked good is studded with dried cranberries and fresh apple chunks. The muffins have a tender crumb, a golden color, and a sweet cinnamon flavor with apples and tart cranberries. The batter is made from a simple mix of flour, sugar, eggs, and oil.
Ingredients
Buttermilk was traditionally made by fermenting the liquid left over from churning butter, but today is fermented low-fat milk. It has a rich, creamy texture and a sharp, tangy taste. Buttermilk is often used in baking cakes and quick breads, or in pancakes.
Apples have been around since nearly the beginning of human evolution. However, domesticated varieties are newer to the scene and much sweeter, as wild apples are extremely sour. The apple is a round fist-sized fruit with a smooth skin that is either green, or variations of red, and may have yellow tones. The white flesh has a crunch and is sweet and crispy. Apples are a common fruit in the USA and eaten raw and cooked in desserts, salads and savory dishes.
Rolled oats are oats that have been rolled flat and are used to make oatmeal and baked goods. Oats are a cereal grain that when harvested are thin, short and golden. Rolled oats are small, round and a matte cream color. They are thin and cook quickly. The flavor is mild, sweet and nutty.
Sugar comes from sugar cane and sugar beets. The sugar is extracted from the juice of both plants and refined into the granulated substance known as sugar. Sucrose, the sweet substance of sugar is a combination of glucose and fructose. White sugar is composed of tiny white, dry granules. The flavor is sweet and neutral. Brown sugar is brown and has more moisture, with a richer flavor that hints at molasses. Sugar is used in both sweet and savory foods.
Orange juice is a sweet and tart beverage made from the juice of the orange. Oranges are round and have a pulpy and extremely juicy flesh. This flesh is pressed and squeezed to remove all of the juice. The result is an orange colored fruit juice with a sweet flavor and a tart edge. Orange juice is sold with the pulp, giving it texture, or pulp free for a smoothly textured drink.
All purpose flour comes from wheat and though wheat is cultivated all around the world today, it was first cultivated in Turkey 10,000 years ago. All purpose flour is white in color and has a soft texture. This incredibly versatile flour is used in everything from breads, cakes, pastries, crackers, pasta, sauces and much more because of its pleasing and mild flavor that is slightly nutty and buttery. The gluten protein is what helps hold together breads and other products, part of what makes all purpose wheat flour so popular.
Dried cranberries are made from the small, red cranberry. These extremely sour berries are dried and have sugar or apple juice added to them to bring sweetness to their extraordinarily tart flavor. Dried cranberries are small, about the size of a blueberry, semi-flat and burgundy colored. They taste sweet and tart and are most commonly added to baked goods and salads.
Vegetable oil is obtained by extracting oil from seeds. Types of vegetable oil include canola, sunflower, corn, and safflower. Light and with a neutral taste, vegetable oils are used to fry foods, or can be used to lightly coat meats and vegetables before roasting. Vegetable oils are also used as ingredients in salad dressings and sauces.
Eggs are an incredibly versatile protein and binder. Most eggs used in cooking come from hens and are usually unfertilized. Eggs are oval shaped and roughly 53 mm in length and 40 mm in width. Eggs have a hard, but thin and delicate shell that is brown or white and occasionally green. Inside is the clear and glossy white, with a slimy texture and in the center is the yellow opaque, round shaped yolk. Once cooked, the whites become opaque. Eggs can be scrambled, fried, boiled, and more. They are used in desserts and baked goods as a binder. Egg is also used as a wash to glaze items or dip meat into before breading it. The flavor is mild and sulfurous. It has many uses.
Vanilla extract is a flavoring used in baked goods, candies and drinks. It is made by infusing alcohol with vanilla pods or beans. This mixture sits for some months and is then strained. It is also extracted using heat and alcohol. The result of either is a thin brown liquid that smells and tastes like vanilla. It has a rich and gentle sweetness to its flavor.
Ground cinnamon is a fine aromatic powder made from the bark of the cinnamon tree, also known as cassia; another variety. The bark is peeled from the tree, dried and ground into the warm brown powder that is known as cinnamon. The flavor is spicy, warm and sweet and savory at the same time. It is extremely popular in many cuisines and common in American desserts.
Baking soda is a crucial component in non-yeasted baked goods and acts as an instant leavener with the acids in the batter. It is used for cakes, quick breads and many flour-based baked goods. Baking soda is a fine white powder with a salty and bitter taste.
Salt is a mineral composed mostly of sodium chloride. It is the main flavoring used in food and is naturally occurring in certain foods, such as cheese, beets, meat and celery, plus many others. Salt is white and has finer granules than sugar. Many commercial salts include iodide, while others exclude it. Most salts are white, while some are naturally pale pink with minerals. Salt brings out the flavor of something and can create a tangy mouthfeel, if used in excess.
