I think sometimes when I’m hosting parties or major family events, people are often kind of surprised when I don’t make all of my most favorite, very best recipes. I usually pick one or two things that are really delicious and then go simple on everything else.
This was not always the case.
There was a time when I used to kill myself making food for parties and holidays and events. And then I realized that I kind of hated and dreaded those special times because I was so stressed about the food that I forgot to enjoy the holiday or the fun times with our friends and family.
One of my favorite Easter foods growing up was orange rolls. I reallyreallyreallyreally love orange rolls a lot (I know that was pretty hard to deduce there). And I still make them a few times a year. But…orange rolls are one of those things that make a mess and require time and forethought and me either staying up late or waking up early, both of which are kind of a bummer.
Enter…Orange-Buttermilk Donut Muffins.
I love this basic recipe from King Arthur Flour because not only does it leave itself open to adaptation, but it pretty much encourages it. You start with a recipe for a perfectly vanilla, slightly crumbly muffin that is reminiscent of cake donuts, and then you can add whatever suits your fancy. I used it as a jumping off point to make orange donut muffins and I’ve gotta say that when you factor everything into the delicious recipe equation, I love it at least as much as I love orange yeast rolls.
You’ll need white sugar, brown sugar, an orange, all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, butter, eggs, oil, and buttermilk.
Preheat oven to 425. Line a muffin tin (I actually get about 15 standard-size muffins, so plan accordingly) with cupcake liners and set aside.
Zest the orange and set aside.
In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter, oil, and sugars until smooth. Add the eggs and orange rind and beat until smooth. Add the baking soda, baking powder, salt, and vanilla and beat until smooth. Alternately add the flour and buttermilk, starting and ending with the flour, mixing completely after each addition.
Scoop the batter into the lined muffin tins (I used a 1/4 cup cookie/ice cream scoop and it worked perfectly).
Bake in the preheated oven for 15-17 minutes or until the muffins are golden on top. Remove from oven and cool completely on cooling racks.
When the muffins are cool, melt 1/4 cup butter in a small mixing bowl. Add the zest of another orange. Slowly whisk in 1 cup of powdered sugar 1/4 cup at a time, beating thoroughly to eliminate any lumps. When you’ve added 1 cup of powdered sugar, it should look like moist frosting. Whisk in a few tablespoons of buttermilk until a smooth glaze consistency is reached.
Grab each cooled muffin by the bottom and dip it into the glaze. Allow the glaze to set up before serving (or don’t…we’re talking about glazed donut-like things here…it’s hard to go wrong). Makes 12-15 muffins.
Buttermilk Orange Donut Muffins
- Total Time: 30
- Yield: 12-15 muffins
Description
The classic flavors of an orange roll come together with the rich texture of a cake donut and the ease of a quick bread in these delightfully sweet muffins.
Ingredients
MUFFIN
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
zest of 1 orange
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon orange extract (optional)
2 2/3 cups all-purpose white flour, lightly spooned into measuring cups and leveled with the back of a knife
1 cup buttermilk
GLAZE
1/4 cup butter, melted
zest of 1 orange
1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425. Line a muffin tin (I actually get about 15 standard-size muffins, so plan accordingly) with cupcake liners and set aside.
Zest the orange and set aside.
In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter, oil, and sugars until smooth. Add the eggs and orange rind and beat until smooth. Add the baking soda, baking powder, salt, and vanilla (and orange extract, if using) and beat until smooth. Alternately add the flour and buttermilk, starting and ending with the flour, mixing completely after each addition.
Scoop the batter into the lined muffin tins (I used a 1/4 cup cookie/ice cream scoop and it worked perfectly).
Bake in the preheated oven for 15-17 minutes or until the muffins are golden on top. Remove from oven and cool completely on cooling racks.
When the muffins are cool, melt 1/4 cup butter in a small mixing bowl. Add the zest of another orange. Slowly whisk in 1 cup of powdered sugar 1/4 cup at a time, beating thoroughly to eliminate any lumps. When you’ve added 1 cup of powdered sugar, it should look like moist frosting. Whisk in a few tablespoons of buttermilk until a smooth glaze consistency is reached.
Grab each cooled muffin by the bottom and dip it into the glaze. Allow the glaze to set up before serving (or don’t…we’re talking about glazed donut-like things here…it’s hard to go wrong).
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 15
Questions & Reviews
I have fresh oranges just picked off the tree and couldn’t wait to make these muffins. I had some trouble with the glaze, though. The buttermilk curdled it. I used it anyway and it didn’t affect the flavor but it didn’t look all smooth like glaze should. Did I add too much? Or should I just have added some orange juice to the zest and butter? Thanks for all you do.
Weight Watcher Points = 7 pp+ for one (We have extra weekly points so that we can enjoy things like this. 🙂 )
I made these on Saturday morning for the family. They were wonderful, and everyone loved them. There were no leftovers!
Yum! Made these today, with a few variations. What a great recipe! I cut out the white sugar, and added a little orange juice. Super delicious, even without the glaze! And my almost toddler LOVES them. Definitely saving this and making again!
Made these last night for Easter morning…all was well until I smelled burning about 11 minutes into baking. I quickly turned the temp down to 400 and let them finish baking because the tops were not done yet. They still tasted great this morning…I did nuke it for about 10 seconds. Muffin tops are my favorite part anyway! In the future I would bake them at 400 the whole time and I’m sure they would be fine. Thanks for all the great recipes…I love your blog and appreciate your hard work.
Made these this morning, they were PERFECT. So yummy. I did not use the additional orange extract and while it might have been good I really enjoyed the subtle orange flavor. I got exactly 15 with my 1/4 cup scoop.
Oh yummy! I want to make these!! I have never put orange in my muffins, but I think I need to try!
I just made these this morning. They are amazing!!! Thank you.
Just made these and they were a huge hit with my family. Delicious! I doubled the recipe and got 44 muffins but that may be a high altitude thing (6500 ft).
Thank you!
Yeah went to the store to this morning to buy some orange Rhodes rolls since the orange rolls seemed too daunting in my pregnant state. But lo and behold… They were out. This recipe is the answer to my morning frustrations! Thank you!!
Kate, I am right there with you about lovelovelovelovelovelovelove-ing orange rolls. I just wanted to tell you that I use your everyday cinnamon bun rolls recipe and add orange zest to the batter and then use fresh squeezed orange juice and more orange zest in the icing and they make awesome orange rolls. 🙂
These look so easy for a Sunday morning breakfast. With 9:00 church, (crazy!!!) these will be perfect to have ready for everyone in the morning. These look delicious, thanks for sharing!
Can I use this with lemon… I am making some lemon pound cakes and will have leftover lemons and buttermilk.. Thoughts. Love love your blog..
FOR SURE. Or lime. Or all 3. 🙂
Yum! Wish I would have checked this before I went grocery shopping :0) I need an orange!
Now if we could just get them to look as cute as those bunny shaped orange rolls, it would be perfect! JK…I love this easier substitute, because I was dreading waking up early, too! 🙂
IS that two 2/3 cups of flour or the full 2 2/3 cups of flour in the recipe? You say “Alternately add the flour and buttermilk, starting and ending with the flour,…” so are you dividing the flour in half or thirds or ??? Sorry, I’m confused.
Yep! And it doesn’t really matter how much you add at a time–shake in about 1/2 cup flour, add a little buttermilk, add some flour, add some buttermilk. Just as long as you start and end with the flour, you’re good.
I just want to declare my love for Our Best Bites. Your food is the ymmiest. (Though, I think I’ve gained 5 pounds since discovering the buttermilk caraml syrup.) I can’t wait to try these muffins.
Declaring our love right back to you! 🙂
Do you have an orange roll recipe? Or something that uses a lot of orange juice or oranges? I have bags of oranges! Family fruit off the tree sharing 🙂
Yep! You can use the dough recipe in this link or your favorite sweet roll recipe and just use the filling and glaze.
https://ourbestbites.com/2009/09/no-rise-dough-cinnamon-orange-rolls/
If I made these Friday, would they still be good Sunday?
I would make them now, freeze them, and then glaze them on Sunday morning. Hope that helps! 🙂
Never thought a donut muffin could happen, but it looks like you totally did it. Delicious!
These look great! Perfect timing too because I was looking for something to make for an Easter luncheon. I may have to make a double batch after reading all these notes. 🙂 Thanks for the post.
Looks delish! Perfect for Easter breakfast. Thanks!
If I made this in a loaf pan how long would it need to bake do you thnk?
I honestly don’t know–you’d just have to try it out and keep an eye on it. Sorry I can’t be of more help!
Can these be frozen…without the glaze? And then glazed after they’ve defrosted?
For sure!
These sound delicious! And I am totally this stressed out person on making everything perfect and homemade. It’s not only killing me, but now I have 3 out of 4 of my adult children moved back home. They may have moved back because they are all out of work, but I’m suspicious it’s my bad habit of overdoing everything. I think I’ll take your lead and relax a bit.
I have made orange rolls once a week for the past 9 months. It has been a huuuuuuuuuuge pregnancy craving for me. That and limeade (citrus much?) But now that I’m 41 weeks, and my kids are home all day for spring break, I have no more energy to make orange rolls. But my craving is still there with a vengeance. Thanks OBB, for once again providing the very recipe I had no idea I needed! They are in the oven as we speak and smell divine. I’m seriously so excited right now, it’s kinda pitiful.
Bless you, Shannon!! I kind of stop functioning like a normal human being after 36 weeks and I only made it to 41 weeks once. It wasn’t pretty. 🙂
I had to update……my husband took one bite and raved about how good they were. Then he suddenly and suspiciously remembered a potluck brunch he had going on this morning, so he requested the entire batch, schmoozing me with the whole “they’ll be such a hit!” They all walked out the door before they even had time to cool completely. I just finished baking batch 2 because I couldn’t bear to miss out! They really are that delicious. I was pleased with how light and fluffy they were. Yum! And yes, my function levels vary at this stage in the game. Yesterday was a lay around and moan type of day. Why oh why oh why does pregnancy have to last soooooooo long?! Thanks for all the yummy treats that make it all a bit easier!
Wow, he owes you a major foot rub after that!
These look fantastic! I can think of so many fun variations too! What a great recipe. Thank you!
I can’t wait to try these! My mouth is watering just looking at the pictures!
Those look amazing!
What size scoop do you use for the batter? Looks like the perfect amount and the one I have is way too small!
It’s this 1/4 cup scoop and I love it!
http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-Stainless-Steel-Scoop-Tablespoon/dp/B00004UE65/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1364560594&sr=8-7&keywords=cookie+scoop
Hope that helps! 🙂
Thank you!
Holy cats! Now you’ve gone and done it! I loooove orange rolls but I don’t looooove working with yeast. Boo. This recipe solves that problem like nobody’s business! These are a must for me!
BTW, one of my readers pinned your Baked Creamy Chicken Toquitos, whipped them up, loved them, and I featured those yummy toquitos here: http://ipinnedit.com/recipes/this-weeks-pinner-of-the-week-is-jenifer-morris/ You guys are so awesome!
Thanks, Deon! 🙂
Um, I have to agree. We have so many OBB recipes we love, but the taquitos are definitely a family favorite (like birthday dinner request favorite).