Procedure1 Preheat oven to 400F. Line muffin pans with paper liners.

2 In a medium bowl sift together the flours, salt, baking powder. Add sugar, dried fruit and the nuts. Combine well. Make a well in the center and set aside.

3 In a liquid measuring mug measure the milk, add the yogurt, orange juice (or peel) and whisk well.

4 Add the wet ingredients to the flour all at once and stir just until combined. Do not over mix. At this point I felt that the batter was very thick, so I added another 2 tablespoons of milk. The consistency felt right after adding the milk.

5 Now spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each two thirds full. I have a ladle which holds 3 tablespoons of batter and it’s the perfect amount to bake the perfect sized muffins. Sprinkle oats on top, if using.

6 Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes or until golden and a wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Mine was done by 19 minutes.

7 Cool in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from muffin cups; serve warm (See Taste).

Taste The tartness of the dried cranberries and the orange flavor is a winning combination. But don’t try tasting it warm if you are using whole wheat flour. The original recipe used all purpose flour but I have used a combination of whole wheat flour and oat flour, so it did not taste good when the muffins were still warm. It was a sticky and bitter mass of dough inside, which really freaked me out. Thank God I was patient enough to come to a conclusion the next day morning and was relieved that it tasted good. Actually good enough that my son had it for breakfast everyday.

My Notes1 The original recipe used 1 and 3/4th cup of all purpose flour. You can go with it if you are not a fan of whole wheat flour or don’t have it. Baked goods with whole wheat flour definitely don’t taste exactly like it’s white counterpart. Like tofu, whole wheat pasta, it’s an acquired taste. We have got used to it now. So you may want to start slowly, maybe 1 cup of all purpose flour and 3/4th cup of whole wheat flour/oat flour.

2 Oat flour is readily available in some of the grocery stores. You can make it at home too by finely processing quick cooking oats in a food processor/mixer. Since oat flour does not contain gluten, it cannot substitute 100% of all purpose flour/whole wheat flour. Baked goods will not rise if it is only used. So it has to be used in combination with either all purpose flour or whole wheat flour.

3 I didn’t have fresh oranges to make the zest, so I went with 2 tablespoons of store bought orange juice. This does not give that fresh orange flavor, but be careful not to go overboard with the juice because sometimes the store bought juice has a bitter after-taste and it spoils the taste of the baked goods.

4 I have used 2 tablespoons of yogurt in place of one egg white mentioned in the recipe. Even after using 2 tablespoons of orange juice I found that the batter was very thick, so I had to use another 2 tablespoons of milk. I think the whole wheat flour and the oat flour absorbed more moisture. So consider what type of flour you are using and add water as required.

5 The original recipe is supposed to yield 12 muffins but I got only 9.

Procedure 1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Grease and flour a 9×5 inch loaf pan.

2. In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Also add the cranberries, sugar and nuts and combine it thoroughly. If using dried cranberries, add a tablespoon of flour to the dried berries and stir it well before adding it to the flour mixture. Otherwise all the berries will stick to
each other and settle at the bottom of the bread.

3. Whisk/blend together the flax seed meal and water until white and foamy. I used Magic Bullet to blend it.

4. In a small bowl, mix together the flax seed mixture, orange zest, orange juice, oil and applesauce (if using).

5. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just blended. I felt that the batter was thick, so I added another 2 tablespoons of orange juice. You can also dilute it with water or any type of milk. Do not over-mix. Few lumps should be fine, it would dissolve while baking.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. I checked mine for doneness around 48 minutes and the toothpick came out clean. I removed the pan out of the oven after 50 minutes.

7. Cool the loaf for 15 minutes before removing it from the pan.

8. Finish cooling the loaf on a wire rack.

My Notes 1. I’m not a patient person when it comes to tasting something I have baked. Also I did not notice the tip about slicing banana/zucchini and cranberry breads the day after baking it, so I sliced it anyway and it did crumble. So be patient because they slice and taste better the next day.

2. Everybody liked the taste of the bread, the sweetness was right but it did have a mild raw smell. I’m not sure whether the culprit was the whole wheat pastry flour or the baking time. Even though the time given in the original recipe was 60 minutes, the toothpick came out clean after 48 minutes itself. Maybe I should try using only all purpose flour the next time.