Orange Rosemary Muffins

Yesterday I wanted to spend the day cooking, baking, and posting all of the fabulous things I haven't had a chance to share lately. But instead, I wound up elbow deep in a box of my childhood belongings that I've been meaning to go through {because it has been staring at me from the floor of my closet for over a year a while}.

I sifted. I sorted. I laughed. I cried. I reminisced. And organized. And then...

I gave up 6 hours in, scooped up my very neat little piles of notes, awards, cards, and pictures, and promptly deposited them back in the box they have been sitting in for ages.

Maybe next year.

{If you want to see some of the fun finds I came across, check out the pics I uploaded to my Instagram!}

Anyway, I didn't accomplish my goal of completely sorting the contents of that {gigantic} box, but I did manage to completely clean out my closet, get rid of some things, and get a real start on Mission: Get Organized in 2013.

I don't know about you, but I reach a point every once in a while were I feel like I can't focus on anything if I don't get a grip on all of the loose ends I need to tie up around me. Needless to say, I have been in no mood to make a mess in the kitchen without first cleaning up the mess everywhere else {hence the lack of posts in the past week or two}.

But now that I feel like I've made a little progress, it's time to play.

I figured I'd ease back into it... nothing too crazy. Just muffins.

Except, the flavor combo of orange zest, walnuts, and rosemary makes them seem like anything but "just muffins". They're sort of like "Aromatherapy Muffins", which is just what I needed to ease the tension of purging closets and emptying cupboards.

I'm considering doubling up the amount of rosemary & orange zest needed for the recipe, making a batch of muffins with one half, and using other half to make a body scrub... it smells that yummy. I found the recipe for these in a book called 1 Mix, 100 Muffins that I received as a gift a few years ago and forgot all about until the organizing began.

Now, please excuse me while I go deeply inhale the aroma of these lovelies before taking on the rest of my "To Do" list.

Orange, Walnut, & Rosemary Muffins
Slightly adapted from 1 Mix, 100 Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
⅛ teaspoon salt
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup walnuts, chopped
2 eggs
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
6 tablespoons canola oil
Zest of 2 oranges {save 1 teaspoon for icing}
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped {plus extra for garnish}
¼ cup almond milk*

For Icing:

1 ½ cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon orange zest
3-4 teaspoons freshly squeeze orange juice

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a muffin tin with paper liners.

2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, and walnuts.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, yogurt, oil, orange zest, and chopped rosemary.

4. Pour wet mixture into dry mixture and mix until just combined {do not overmix, there will still be some small lumps}.*At this point, I noticed that the mixture looked a bit dry, so I added a small amount of almond milk to moisten. This is not part of the original recipe, but it worked well for mine. If your mixture looks a bit dry, add 1 tablespoon at a time of almond {or regular} milk until moistened.

5. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop batter into liners. Bake for 16-18 minutes until tops are slightly golden and firm, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

6. Cool on a baking rack for about 30 minutes or until completely cooled. Spoon icing over top and decorate with a small sprig of rosemary.

Icing:

1. Sift confectioners' sugar into a small bowl.

2. Add zest and juice and whisk until smooth.

3. Drizzle or spoon over muffins and let set. {Or eat right away, you've waited long enough!}