Cranberry Orange Jewel Mini Muffins

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    I am always posting ways to preserve food here on the blog.  Our family eats what I preserve.  Unfortunately, I hear people all of the time say that they don't know how to use the thing that they have preserved or they are afraid to eat it or that their family won't eat it.  That is just wasteful!  So, I thought that I would write some posts periodically that talk about using the food  that you  preserve.  
       Today I'm going to really lean into the zero waste idea as I tell you about using the leftover cranberries from canning cranberry juice as well as the candied orange peel I shared a recipe for!  

     Back in November, I canned homemade cranberry juice.   This type of juice has to steep for a few weeks before you open it to drink.  I have to tell you, it is really good!  But, do you see all of those cranberries floating on the top of the jar?  I couldn't bear to waste those!  They are sweet and delicious little gems.  One idea is to use them in you oatmeal in the morning after straining them out of the juice, or to incorporate them into an apple pie.  Then, I had the idea of using them in some little mini muffins that I decided to share with my church women's group.  They came out as sweet tangy little bites! 

     After I made the muffins with the cranberries by themselves, I decided that they needed a glaze to give them a little more something something.   Knowing that orange goes perfectly with cranberry, I decided to do an orange glaze and then top them off with a bit of the candied orange peel.  So, they look pretty and give that bit of orange flavor that enhances the cranberry.   

     Ah! You didn't can cranberry juice and don't have the cranberries for this recipe you say?  Here are some alternatives:

• Get some fresh cranberries and cover them with a simple syrup of 1 part water to 1 part sugar and boil them until they all pop.  Use these in your muffins. 
• Use some whole cranberry sauce from a can.  (Especially if you canned your own sauce!)
• Fill the middle of your muffin with half a teaspoon of cranberry orange marmalade, or any other flavor of jam or marmalade that you would like! 

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     These muffins were super quick and easy to whip up and turned out to be the perfect bite!  Just click on the recipe below for the printable version.  

     How else would you use the leftover cranberries from the juice?  Leave an idea in the comments!