Walnut-Cranberry-Pepper Tea Muffins!!!!

After much deliberation, planning, postponing, and messaging, we finally managed a 6-person get together. A super mini high school reunion, if you will... 1.4% of my graduating class. I decided to make muffins for the occasion. I've been wanting to try something with pepper and cranberries for a long time, since four years ago, I tried this snack mix that had cranberries, pepper, and pecans, and it was sensational! Who knew that pepper and cranberries went so well with each other?! So, using this honey bread recipe [link deprecated...but it was the Honey Association in the UK] as a guide (funnily enough, though, I didn't use any honey), I made these muffins with a simple sugar glaze. I think I should've put more batter into the muffin cups.

INGREDIENTS

50 g dried cranberries/raisins (I had raisins in mine too)

100 g walnuts (about a cup)

70 g sugar

300 ml cold spiced chai tea

2 eggs

1 tsp black pepper

cinnamon, if you wish.

275 g 100% whole wheat flour

1 mounted tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp icing sugar

1 tsp water

METHOD

1. Mix dried fruit, walnut, sugar, cold tea, and pepper together. Gently beat in eggs.

2. In another bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and baking soda.

3. Add 1/3 liquid mixture to dry mixture. Mix. Add another 1/3. Mix. Add the last third. Mix. You will have a thick, sticky batter that plops rather reluctantly.

4. Scoop tablespoon amounts into un-greased muffin liners (I reused egg tart shells because I don't have a muffin pan). I ended up with 18, but I think that squeezing the batter into 12 liners would've been better because the muffins would've been more voluptuous.

5. Bake on the lowest rack of an un-preheated oven at 177 degrees C/350 degrees F for 13 minutes and let sit for 10 minutes in oven. If you have 12 muffins, you may need to bake for 15 minutes. Stick a fork in a muffin, and if the fork doesn't have goo sticking to it when it comes out, it's done baking.

6. Furiously mix icing sugar with water and lightly glaze muffin tops.

I think that everyone thought that the muffins were a bit strange, but not in a bad way. I really enjoyed them though, so I'll probably make them again for myself. Perhaps I will use stronger tea, and add 2 tsp of pepper. This has very little saturated fat, compared to conventional muffins!!!