Instructions: Heat oven to 400F. Line l2 medium muffin cups with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, 2/3 cup of the sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda; mix well. In a small bowl, toss cranberries with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar; stir into dry ingredients. Add buttermilk, butter, egg, orange peel, and vanilla; mix just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling almost full. Bake 20 minutes or until golden brown; a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean. Transfer pan to wire cooling rack; let stand 5 minutes. Transfer muffins to cooling rack.

If desired, mix sugar and orange juice to form a glaze; drizzle over muffins. Serve warm or at room temperature.

NOTES : I just heard from a friend who got to try these cranberry muffins before I did. She LIKED em -) I put her comments in the notes.

Review - I used fresh cranberries. Chopped them up in food processor. Actually, I used an extra couple tablespoons of them. We like sweet/tart and these were just perfect! DH commented on how "light" they were. Deelish. The batter makes an evenly perfect 12 muffins. I did not bother with the glaze and they did not need it. Nor did I have buttermilk but that made no difference. Yum....thanks. Were they good! -JP 2001-02-15

If you would like to email yourself the recipe for later use, or share the recipe with your friends or family, enter the email addresses below and this recipe will be emailed to you and others as well.