Orange Rosemary Mini-muffins

The original recipe comes from Elizabeth Alston’s Muffins but I borrow the orange juice glaze from a similar recipe in Sarah Leah Chase’s Nantucket Open House Cookbook. You can eat these as is, as a nice option for a bread basket, or make little appetizers. I have used a small scallop-edged cookie cutter to cut pieces of ham to sandwich between muffin halves with a little mustard. Yum. Chase’s recipe calls for appetizer sandwiches made with duck breast.

I most recently baked these as an Easter bread option.

Orange Rosemary Mini-Muffins

3/4 cup milk (I used skim)
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 tsp. dried rosemary leaves (I used crushed)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, cut in pieces
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 c. granulated sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 large egg
Grated zest from 1 orange, reserving juice

Simmer milk, raisins and rosemary for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, add butter and stir till melted. Let cool (placing pan in small bowl of cold water or ice will cool contents in minutes). Stir in orange zest.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or spray muffin tins or use foil baking cups.

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Whisk egg into cooled milk mixture. Pour over dry ingredients and fold in with rubber spatula just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Scoop batter into muffin cups. Bake mini-muffins 10-12 minutes (regular size about 20) or until golden and springy in the middle. Brush muffins with orange juice while hot. Turn out of pan and serve hot or cool on rack.