Cranberries in summer...

I would try a new recipe everyday if I could. Unfortunately that would be very time-consuming, most of all just terribly wasteful. And to be honest, I'm afraid I would become horribly overweight. We keep enough baked goodies in the house now, that if there were new things each day I would just become one chunkie little ball of - well, fat. And we can't have that now can we? So until my home-based bakery is off the ground & I'm testing out new recipes daily for a profit, I must pick and choose my test recipes carefully. That leads me to the whole "Cranberries in summer.." title. The brownie recipe I tried out on Tuesday was decent, but a tad disappointing, so I think sub-consciously I felt the need to redeem myself. Well redeem myself I did!! Yesterday was a deliciously fabulous day. I am absolutely in love with orange cranberry muffins. Ever since working at Starbucks some years back as a Barista, where I would nosh on the orange cranberry muffins as I sipped my morning coffee and delighted in the caffeine addicts who I saw religiously I have been in love. Our romance was never quite an out in the open type thing, until now. Yes now that I have baked a batch myself & feel that I have found the recipe that was intended just for me, I will scream it from the highest mountain. Okay, maybe it's not quite that serious, afterall they contain no chocolate. But they are pretty delicious..and I feel good about eating them, they aren't laden with stick upon stick of butter and tons of oil. They have just enough of everything to make them a delicious treat, but not enough to make them a shameful endulgence. Perhaps I am being a bit dramatic?? What do you expect - need I remind you that I am admittedly Culinarily Obsessed?? Thanks to the Food Network for such delicious inspiration..what would I do without their recipes? Cranberry Orange Muffins 1 cup dried cranberries 1/4 cup fresh orange juice 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon fine salt 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened, plus more for preparing the muffin tin 1 teaspoon grated orange zest 2/3 cup granulated sugar, plus up to 1 tablespoon for topping the muffins, if desired 2 large eggs, at room temperature 1/2 cup milk Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Put the cranberries and orange juice in a small saucepan, and bring just to a simmer over medium heat. Remove berries from the heat, and set aside to cool and plump. Drain off any excess liquid and set aside. Lightly brush a 12-muffin tin with butter. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with an electric hand-held mixer in a large bowl, cream the butter, orange zest, and 2/3 cup sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Remove the bowl from the mixer. Fold the flour in 3 parts into the butter mixture, alternating with the milk in 2 parts, until just combined. Fold in the cranberries. Do not over mix. Divide the batter evenly into the muffin tin and sprinkle the tops with sugar. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Cool muffins in the pan on a rack. Serve warm.