I made these Cranberry Walnut Muffins in the PaperChef Lotus Cups and I swear they tasted better because they were baked in these cups. You know, presentation and visual excitement adds to the deliciousness of any food! These lotus cups are the creation of the PaperChef company, an offshoot of a Toronto-based, family-owned company that has been making paper products for the food industry since 1882. Everything is all natural and biodegradable. But most importantly, the parchment assures even baking and makes you look oh so professional, like you bought your muffins at a fancy coffee shop. Everyone should have one of these boxes in their pantry, so when the urge strikes to bake, you don’t have to make a cake, you can make beautiful muffins instead!

In these muffins, I used a combination of fresh cranberries and dried, as well as multi-grain flour along with some white flour. You could toast the walnuts first for an even deeper nut flavor. I didn’t because I didn’t have time. Either way, they are delicious. A friend of mine calls muffins “just an excuse to eat a cupcake in the morning,” minus the icing. I think that most of the time, she is right. But here I tried to make these a bit healthier with the multi-grain flour and they are not too sweet. YOU are sweet enough!

Make these muffins with LOVE while fresh cranberries are still around. They would also be great on Christmas morning. Enjoy!!

CRANBERRY WALNUT MUFFINS IN PAPERCHEF LOTUS CUPS – makes 18 muffins
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups multi-grain flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/4 cups whole milk
2 extra-large eggs
1/2 pound unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped fresh cranberries
1/2 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Place fresh cranberries in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse on and off until chopped as in this photo.

Line 18 muffin cups with PaperChef Lotus Cup liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the mixture and add the milk, eggs, and melted butter. Stir quickly just to combine. Add both of the cranberries, walnuts, and both sugars and stir just to distribute the fruits, nuts, and sugar evenly throughout the batter.

Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling each one to the top. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until browned on the top and a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean.
Delish!