Orange Walnut Muffins

These Orange Walnut Muffins are bursting with citrus flavor. Add in the nutty walnuts, and you’ve got a fantastic treat for breakfast or brunch!

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I like getting up early. Perhaps its my internal body clock telling me to wake up. Perhaps its the promise of quiet early morning hour. Whatever the reason, you will rarely find me in bed once the sun comes up. Instead, you’ll find me downstairs with a cup of coffee in hand while baking up some treat for weekend breakfast. My family often wakes to the smell of biscuits or muffins in the oven. What can I say? Muffins are my love language!

If I had to pick only one muffin for the rest of eternity, it would be these Blueberry Streusel Muffins. I could eat those muffins every single morning and not get tired of them. But I still like to mix it up on occasion. Perhaps its a batch of Gingerbread Bran Muffins during the holidays. Or maybe these Cinnamon Apple Muffins on a chilly fall morning. A good homemade muffin and a fresh cup of coffee is a thing of beauty!

Orange Walnut Muffins

Today we’re adding a new muffin recipe to the lineup. These Orange Walnut Muffins feature an entirely different flavor profile, but they’re equally as delicious. We had some orange juice in the fridge, and I wanted to incorporate it into a muffin recipe. I replaced some of the liquid in the recipe with juice, and I added the zest of an orange for good measure. The citrus flavor in these muffins is quite tasty!

A handful of chopped walnuts gets mixed into this muffin batter to add a crunch. If you don’t like walnuts (or you’re allergic to them), feel free to use another type of nut or just omit them entirely. Speaking of variations, if you happen to have cranberries around, they would be a great addition to these muffins. Just fold ~½ cup of fresh cranberries into the batter and bake as normal. (You might end up with a little bit of extra batter…or just bake 13 muffins instead!)

One of the different features of these orange muffins is the addition of oats into the batter. Oats bulk up the fiber in these muffins, but they also add a bit more texture. Think about how Oatmeal Raisin Cookies have a bit of a chewy texture. Or better yet, think about how bran muffins have a bit more chew to them than say blueberry muffins. These Orange Walnut Muffins have that same added texture from the oats.

Muffin Topping

When it comes to baked goods, I often add a streusel on top. After all, you can’t go wrong with butter and brown sugar! When I don’t add streusel, my next go-to is a trick I learned years ago in culinary school. Coarse sugar. Sprinkling a generous amount of coarse sugar on top of muffins is a bakery trick that takes baked goods from good to great. Sure, it adds more sugar, but then again baked goods are a treat to begin with, right?

When I say coarse sugar, I don’t mean granulated sugar. We’re talking turbinado sugar or sanding sugar. I always keep a container of sanding sugar in the baking cabinet. Not only does it have a fun sparkling appearance, but it gets nice and crunchy once baked. A sweet crunchy topping on top of a muffin? Yes, please!

How to Store Leftovers

Leftover muffins should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. If you know you won’t eat them all in that time, I recommend storing them in the refrigerator or even freezer. They won’t taste as good as when they’re freshly baked, so slice ’em in half, add some butter and toast ’em up for a couple of minutes. They’ll be delicious!

If you’re like me and enjoy baking muffins on a weekend morning, then put these Orange Walnut Muffins on the list. The aroma of citrus combined with the nuttiness of the walnuts will make your kitchen smell amazing! I hope you enjoy these muffins as much as we do here. Happy Baking!

Did you bake this Orange Walnut Muffins recipe at home? Leave a comment, or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog) – I’d love to see your version!

Orange Walnut Muffins

These Orange Walnut Muffins are bursting with citrus flavor. Add in the nutty walnuts, and you've got a fantastic treat for breakfast or brunch!

5 from 2 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 muffins

Calories: 234kcal

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Ingredients

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup old fashioned oats plus more for topping
• ⅔ cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp orange zest
• ¾ cup chopped walnuts divided
• ⅔ cup fresh orange juice
• ½ cup milk
• 1 large egg
• ¼ cup butter melted
• 2 Tbsp coarse sugar such as sanding sugar or turbinado sugar

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners or spray with nonstick cooking spray; set pan aside.
• Using a large bowl, add flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, orange zest and ½ cup of chopped walnuts; stir until well combined. Set flour mixture aside.
• Using a separate medium bowl, whisk together orange juice, milk, egg and melted butter. Pour liquid ingredients into bowl with dry ingredients; stir until just barely combined.
• Divide batter into prepared muffin tin. (Note: You can fill the muffin cups very close to top as these muffins won’t rise too much.)
• Sprinkle additional oats, coarse sugar and remaining ¼ cup of chopped walnuts on top of muffins.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out mostly clean.
• Let stand for 5 minutes before removing muffins from pan. Transfer muffins to a wire cooling rack until ready to serve.

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