Blood Orange & Meyer Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Do you know what the bottom of a box of cornflakes tastes like?  Salt.  Therefore, when you get to the bottom of a box of cornflakes, you should make muffins.  Similarly, when you don't have enough milk for a bowl of cereal but you do have an excess of buttermilk (Why?), you should make muffins.  You might miss Zumba (oops!).  The dog might act crazy (Admit it, he's always been kind of an oddball).  But muffins made with zingy winter citrus fruits will make your weekend.

The base of the muffin is the same but with two different glazes, Meyer lemon and blood orange.  I'm in love with the pretty pink color the juice from the blood orange makes.  Of course, you could do all in lemon or orange, and you can totes use regular oranges or lemons if you feel so inclined.  I just happen to love blood oranges.  Now that I've found them I don't want to let them go.  I think these would be absolutely lovely for a Valentine's breakfast for your sweetie (Who I presume you also don't want to let go)!

Let's get it started!

Flour, buttermilk, poppy seeds, butter, a blood orange, a Meyer lemon, vanilla extract, sugar, eggs, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

First things first: Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and zest from the orange and lemon.  I can be a little heavy-handed with the microplane.  Whisk it together and make a well in the center.

Whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, and poppy seeds.  I just did it in the measuring cup to avoid dirtying another bowl.  Um, it's kind of a lot of poppy seeds.  So don't eat these if you have to take a drug test any time soon.  

...Did I just say type that?

Whisk in the vanilla too.

Pour the liquid into the well.  Looks kind of like Crater Lake, no?  Like, in muffin batter form.

Stir until the dry ingredients are just moistened.  It's okay to be lumpy.  That might also be the only time I'll say that.

And now for the best part.  Melt that stick of butter and stir it in.  Actually, it's probably helpful if you melt it before this whole thing starts, just so it has time to cool a little.  At any rate, it'll seem like it'll never fully combine until it suddenly does.  Have faith and be gentle.  Now there's a life motto.

Fill a greased muffin tin about 3/4 full.  This will make 12 muffins.  Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Bam!  Pretty golden muffins.  

Let them cool a few minutes in the pan, then pop them out and place them on a wire rack.

While your muffins are in the oven you want to make the glaze(s).  A little powdered sugar in each bowl, the juice from each fruit, and a little vanilla extract.  It'll be wonderful.

Look how pretty!  Wait til you see the juice.

I'm loving the deep, red coloration that'll turn our glaze a pretty pink.

 Add the juice and vanilla.

Whisk it til it's smooth.  ...Obvi this isn't smooth yet.  

Do the same with the lemon.

 Brush the muffins with the glaze while they're still warm.  I like a silicone pastry brush because nothing ruins the effect of a good muffin like finding one of those bristles when you take a bite.  Personal experience here.

Half get the lemon.

 The other half get the blood orange glaze.

I'm not a total girly girl, but I'm digging this pink glaze.

 A tisket, a tasket.  A bowl full of muffins.

It's like Cupid slapped you across the face with a muffin.  Seriously, make these for someone you love.

Blood Orange & Meyer Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins (makes 12 muffins)

Adapted from Southern Living

2 c flour

1 c sugar

1/2 tbs blood orange zest

1/2 tbs Meyer lemon zest

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 c buttermilk

3 eggs

2 tbs poppy seeds

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 c butter, melted and slightly cooled

1 c powdered sugar, divided

1 tbs blood orange juice

1 tbs Meyer lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla extract, divided

• Preheat oven to 375º.  Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin.  Set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, zests, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Make a well in the center.  In a large measuring cup or small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, poppy seeds, and vanilla extract.  Pour the liquid in the well.  Gently stir until dry ingredients are just moistened.  Add melted butter and stir to combine.  Spoon batter into the muffin tin.  Fill each cup about 3/4 full.  Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.  Cool in pan about 5 minutes, then pop muffins out onto a wire rack.
• While muffins are in the oven, make the glazes.  In a small bowl, combine 1/2 c of powdered sugar with the tablespoon of blood orange juice and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract.  Whisk until smooth.  In another small bowl, combine the remaining powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and lemon juice.  Whisk until smooth.
• While muffins are still warm, brush blood orange glaze onto six of the muffins.  Repeat with the Meyer lemon glaze on the remaining 6 muffins.  Serve with tea or coffee.