Cranberry Muffins

Ingredients

The cranberries should be picked over to remove any less than good ones. It is easiest to do this on a rimmed baking sheet so they don’t roll away. Freeze the until hard.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line cupcake wells with paper liners. Set aside.
Cream the sugar and butter together until light, scraping down as necessary.
Add the vanilla paste or extract, blending well.
Add the eggs, beating until combined. The mixture may curdle but this will be taken care of in the next step.
In the meantime, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the flour and milk alternately, starting and ending with the flour. Three flour and two milk additions are fine.
Place the frozen cranberries in the bowl of a processor. Pulse to chop them coarsely. Add them to the batter and mix just until combined. The batter will be very firm and cold at this point.
Fill the paper cups almost to the top, pressing the batter down to make sure they are filled well. Sprinkle heavily with the nutmeg/cinnamon sugar.
Bake the regular size muffins for about 15 to 18 to minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Bake the Jumbo muffins for 24 to 26 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
Cool about 5 minutes in the pans, then turn them out to finish cooking on a rack.
Yield: 15 to 16 regular size muffins or 9 to 10 Jumbo muffins.
Store at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for longer storage. Thaw at room temperature.