How to Make Glazed Clementine Muffins
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You know how it’s time to make banana bread when your bananas turn all brown and spotty? It’s time to make glazed clementine muffins when you have almost a whole bag of Cuties in your fridge starting to go a little soft.
A little while ago, my daughter really wanted oranges so we got a whole bag. The next day she no longer wanted anything to do with them. We kept hoping that she’d eat more, but no luck. So, now we’re here, and I’m making these gorgeous little glazed clementine muffins.
What are Clementine Muffins?
So, first of all, glazed clementine muffins are golden fluffy muffins flavored with the zest and juice of clementine oranges. The texture is very cakey with a tall, bronzed crust on the top thanks to the high heat of the oven. Finally, the glaze brings an added zingy pop of citrus flavor and a crisp sugary topping.
Start with the Clementines
Lucky for us, clementines come in bags of massive quantities. That means that even if your kids can pack away some fruit, you probably have a bunch leftover. So, let’s make the most of those little Cuties.
First things first, we’re going to zest them. The goal is to get about 3 tablespoons of zest for the muffins and another tablespoon for the icing. My glazed clementine muffins are really zesty, okay? Here’s the key: zest your clementines right into the sugar. For the glaze, zest into the powdered sugar.
This is my favorite little tip when it comes to zest. All the flavor is in the oil, so if you get that right into the sugar, you don’t lose any. You’ll mix it together, and it’ll look like wet sand (or, in the case of the powdered sugar, it’ll just get a little clumpy).
I also recommend zesting with the fruit on the bottom so you can see what you’re zesting off. This way you don’t end up overdoing it and getting bitter pith instead.
Now, to juice them. I like using a juicer because it’ll filter out the pulp. Luckily, clementines don’t have seeds. If you do happen to be swapping in regular oranges, you will want to look out for that. Anyway, the juicer definitely helps you get all the juice out of the clementines once they’ve been zested. The skins tend to be fragile at this point and you want to get everything out of them. You’ll need 1/2 cup of juice for the muffins and 2 tablespoons for the glaze.
The Method for Glazed Clementine Muffins
Now that you’ve prepped your clems, we’re going to get moving. Cream together the zesty sugar and coconut oil. I use a whisk, and honestly, it clumps into the whisk a lot at first. Just keep whisking until it smooths out and stops looking like wet sand and starts looking more like grainy caramel. It won’t completely dissolve unless you plan to whisk for an hour. Regularly stop and shake out the mixture caught in the whisk. It helps.
Then, whisk in your eggs one at a time until they get really well incorporated. After that, stir in the Greek yogurt, vanilla, and clementine juice. That is your wet mixture done.
Fluff up your flour and spoon it into your measuring cup. Level it off. That’s the best way to make sure you don’t have too much flour in the mix. Add in baking soda and salt, and fold the dry mix into your wet mix.
You want to scoop around the edge of the bowl and fold in to make sure all the flour incorporates into the liquid. Once everything is just barely mixed together, you’re done. Don’t overdo it or you’ll have tough muffins with weird wormholes.
The perfect batter is thick and airy. It’s going to look like it has a lot of air holes. From here, I use a large scoop to portion out my muffins. Then, just bake them at a high heat to get a big fluffy muffin top.
Glazing Your Clementine Muffins
Once your muffins are completely cooled, they’re ready for glaze. All you have to do is whisk the powdered sugar, zest, and juice together. Now, dip the tops of each muffin into the glaze. It’s just that easy!
I didn’t use muffin cups because the glaze runs down the sides, and I wanted to eat it all. If you do use cups, you’ll likely have drips of glaze on the outside. Just watch out for sticky fingers.
It takes about 15 to 20 minutes for the glaze to set depending on the humidity in your kitchen. They’re the best when they’re fresh, but you can also store them at room temperature in an airtight container for 2 to 3 days. If you think you’ll need to freeze some, don’t glaze them. It doesn’t defrost well.
Tools You’ll Need
Here are the tools you’ll need to make your muffins:
Comment below if you have questions, concerns, or opinions. And tag me @ellejayathome on Instagram or Twitter if you share pictures from any of my recipes. I love to hear from you!
Glazed Clementine Muffins
Equipment
- 12 cup nonstick muffin pan
- Medium mixing bowl
- Small mixing bowl
Ingredients
Clementine Muffins
- ½ cup coconut oil
- 1 cup pure cane sugar
- 3 Tbsp clementine zest
- ½ cup clementine juice
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup nonfat Greek yogurt
- 2⅔ cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
Clementine Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp clementine zest
- 2 Tbsp clementine juice
Instructions
Clementine Muffins
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Spray your muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with muffin cups.
- Mix the zest into the sugar until it looks like wet sand (for bonus points, zest directly into the sugar to keep all the oils).
- Cream the zesty sugar with the coconut oil.
- Add in the eggs one at a time. Whisk in the yogurt, vanilla, and clementine juice.
- Sift in the flour, baking soda, and salt. Fold it in.
- Portion out the batter into each of the 12 muffin cups.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let the muffins cool completely before glazing.
Clementine Glaze
- Whisk the powdered sugar, zest, and juice together until thick and smooth.
- Dip the tops of each muffin into the glaze. Shake off the excess. Let it set for about 30 minutes before serving.
