Orange Marmalade Muffins

Did you ever read Paddington Bear books as a child??

I did and I've read them to my own kids too...

The new movie that just came out last Friday...is every bit as

good as I had hoped it would be...

...every bit.


It was sweet and kind and perfectly mannered...just as any movie set in England should be....

It was a fun movie... great for the youngest of movie watchers

(minus a scary-ish earthquake scene at the very start)

and otherwise perfect for children of all ages, even me...

Clever and cute ....a joy to watch.

As an added bonus, there wasn't one scene that made me squirm... no bad language...a plus...

...and nothing that required a long follow-up conversation... hooray!!

...Seriously, the older I get, the more surprised I am about song lyrics and even the regular TV

programming... It's enough to make a grown lady blush...

But anyway...Back to good ol' Paddington...  this super-cute movie and his marmalade...

My children were curious about the orange marmalade that Paddington loves so much...

How good could it be??

For Sunday breakfast I whipped up a batch of orange marmalade muffins...

and in our case...tangerine marmalade muffins.

They were light, sweet and with a hint of orange and almond...

...so perfectly warm and delicious on a chilly morning...

Why, even a bear from darkest Peru would want to gobble them up...

...and if I'm right, you will too...

The marmalade...

As my daughter described it, "It's like orange jelly with stuff in it "

...and she would be exactly right.

I prefer the Stonewall Kitchen brand for this recipe. Their tangerine marmalade is mellow and sweet, but not too sweet or too tart.  Perfect for toast...or muffins...

Here is the recipe:
They are best served warm, after cooling just a bit...But I have to admit we snacked on them well into the evening...still quite yummy, even then.

Orange (Tangerine) Marmalade Muffins:

Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
***
1 stick of softened unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/4  cup sour cream
3/4 cup orange marmalade (We like Stonewall Kitchen)
1/2 teaspoon orange extract

Crumb Topping
1 stick of unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
1 cup of all purpose flour
1/4 brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/8 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup sliced almonds
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease or spray muffin tin, or place muffin cups if using.  Set aside.

Prepare crumb topping.  Mix flour, sugars, salt, almond extract, and sliced almonds together.  Pour melted butter over dry mixture and stir until combined.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl mix together the first four (dry) ingredients.  Set aside.  

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy...(about 2 minutes).  Add eggs one at a time, mixing well between each.  Mix in  the sour cream, orange marmalade and orange extract until combined.

Gently add the dry mixture to the wet, stirring until just combined.  

Fill each muffin cup to half way.  Top with a generous sprinkling of the crumb topping mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

The kids enjoyed trying the marmalade and the muffins with their crunchy almond crumb topping... I mean, really, what's not to love??

If you make a batch, we hope you love them too!!