California Fig Orange Muffins Recipe

A whisper of citrus pays off in a big way in an orange muffins recipe that you’ll want to bake on repeat. Here’s what makes these orange muffins extra special.

Flavor Cues

Oranges bring brightness—and not just in the fruit or juice. Some scrapings of orange zest do the trick for a quick addition of citrus

Sun-Maid and Orchard Choice Mission Figs introduce a jammy familiar fig flavor to the muffins, but you could always swap in Golden Figs for a slightly nutty, delicately sweet taste instead.

Processing the figs and orange zest in a food processor comprehensively distributes the citrus into the figs and cuts the figs down so finely that it is a paste so each bite of muffin is loaded with fig flavor. If you don’t have a food processor, you can always use a chef knife and cutting board. Just sprinkle the orange zest on top of the dried figs and mince them.

Tips for the Best Texture

For the most tender fig orange muffins, we’ve got a few tips for the best bake.

First, you’ll stir the dry ingredients together—this aerates the flour and equally distributes the baking soda, and salt.

Creaming the butter and sugar helps build volume. Then, adding in the eggs, beaten until fluffy also amps the volume too.

The orange muffin recipe uses yogurt—we like whole milk yogurt, or goat’s milk yogurt. The yogurt adds to the crumb being moist in the muffin.

Blending the fig paste into the creamed butter mixture will also incorporate them well too—and this move happens while you’re still in the liquid ingredients territory. This is an important detail because as soon as you mix in the dry ingredients, the clock starts ticking.

What that means—and especially true with muffins or cake—is that once the flour gets moistened, the gluten starts to get activated. It’s also a reason why you’ll often see in muffin or cake recipes, a note to mix until just combined, since stirring also develops the gluten. Mix, pour, and bake the orange muffins.