Zest and Glaze: Citrus Muffins

I would like to start by apologizing for posting about muffins, again. It is difficult because I want to be able to share with you the recipes that I use, but I feel like that would be going against copyrighting laws (right?), so I sadly must refrain. Yesterday, I was pleased to try a new muffin recipe from my 1 Mix, 100 Muffins book: citrus muffins. My previous hesitation for making this recipe was that it calls for finely grated rind from a lime, lemon and orange. Having no zester (or a grater for that matter) to my name, I was unable to even attempt this recipe, but thanks to Ross Dress for Less, I now own one! Despite this achievement, I was still hesitant to try to make these because I had never zested anything before. I suppose it is due to the fact that I usually choose chocolate over fruit, but being nutrition month, I am willing to change. So even though I cannot post the original recipe I used to make these muffins, you can easily make plain muffins into citrus muffins by adding the finely grated rinds (1 of each kind) as I mentioned above.

One thing I realized is that zesting is very time consuming. You should have everything zested and ready to go before you start mixing any other ingredients. Usually making muffins takes me around 30 minutes (including baking time), but these took me around an hour. Also, if you are asked to grate the whole rind, zest down to the fruit, but no further. Finally, be careful. I know this may sound obvious, but I zested my thumb and doing anything without using the tip of my thumb is proving to be very difficult. Hopefully you see my mistakes and you will not have to make them :)

Also, I have an exciting addition to my cookbook collection! The Borders store near my apartment is closing. As unfortunate as this is, a positive (temporary) result is a bookstore full of discounted books! I am happy to say that I now own Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook! As soon as I bought it I skimmed through every page. I am so excited to try everything in her book. Well one thing she already taught me is how to cool muffins: cool them on their sides inside the pan. I have always wondered the best way to cool them. If I take them out of the pan and put them upside down, their tops get dented or stick to the rack, if I put them right-side-up, their bottoms flatten, and if I keep them in the pan, they continue to cook. Martha's solution is brilliant. Next time you make muffins, try it. You will be thanking Martha too :)

While my muffins were cooling, I chose to make a citrus glaze. The muffin recipe asked for cream cheese frosting, but my boyfriend hates all things cream cheese, so I switched to a glaze. The glaze I made can be found here on Martha Stewart's website. I didn't add the course salt and instead of measuring the juices, I went off of taste, and it turned out amazing! I know that frosting the muffins seems to defeat the healthy purpose of making them, but I couldn't resist! Also, if you use the glaze as opposed to a frosting it makes storing the muffins much easier because the glaze will harden :)

So don't be discouraged about making anything with citrus or zesting in the future. Just be more attentive than I was, and you will have a tasty result without any casualties!

Also, I should be posting a craft how-to in the next day or two so be sure to check back! ♡