Orange and oat muffins

I am crazy for strawberries and my husband knows that very well: last Friday he brought home two baskets full of perfumed and delicious strawberries – it was a sweet surprise. My plans were to eat half the berries with just a sprinkling of sugar and to bake with the other half, so I set out to make the lovely strawberry cupcakes I’d seen in one of my recent purchases; I guess I was out of my baking mojo that day because the cupcakes turned out horrible and ended up in the garbage can; the following morning, desperate for something freshly baked but unable to deal with another baking disappointment I turned to someone whose recipes never fail, and to make things even better I was able to rescue a lonely orange left in my fridge. :D

Orange and oat muffins
slightly adapted from the always wonderful and foolproof Short and Sweet (mine was bought here)

finely grated zest of 2 oranges
½ cup + 2 tablespoons (124g) granulated sugar
1/3 cup (80ml) canola oil
2 large eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon (95ml) fresh orange juice
4 tablespoons rolled oats + a bit extra for sprinkling
1 ½ cups (210g) all purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F. Butter 9 pockets of a large muffin tray or line them with paper cases. In an electric mixer, using the wire whisk, beat the orange zest, sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla for three to four minutes, or until pale and thick. Stir in the juice and oats, then sift in the flour, baking powder and salt. Fold together until smooth but barely combined. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, filling each cavity ¾ of its capacity. Sprinkle the tops with the extra oats.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until risen and golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 5 minutes, then carefully unmold and transfer to the rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature (I liked them better warm).

Makes 9 – I made the exact recipe above using a muffin pan with 1/3 cup-capacity cavities and got 11 muffins