Blood Orange Walnut Streusel Muffins

Start your morning with a batch of homemade blood orange walnut streusel muffins. With just the right amount of orange and a crunchy nut topping, these muffins will be the highlight of your day!

Watch how to make this

Ingredients

• Blood orange: Blood oranges are essential for their unique flavor, which combines sweet and slightly tart notes with a hint of berry-like undertones. The zest and juice of blood oranges infuse the muffins with a vibrant citrus flavor. If blood oranges are unavailable, you can substitute them with regular navel oranges. The flavor will be slightly different, but the muffins will still be delicious.
• Buttermilk: Buttermilk plays a crucial role in creating tender and moist muffins. Its acidity helps break down gluten strands in the flour, resulting in a softer crumb. Buttermilk also reacts with baking soda to provide leavening, contributing to the muffins' rise and light texture.
• Cardamom: Adds a warm, aromatic spice that elevates the flavor profile of the muffins. Its unique taste has citrusy and herbal notes that pair beautifully with the blood orange. You can omit it or substitute it with other spices that pair with orange such as ginger.
• Walnuts: Walnuts contribute a crunchy texture and rich, nutty flavor to the muffins.
• Quick oats: These are included in the streusel topping, providing a chewy texture and additional substance. They help create a crumbly topping that contrasts nicely with the softness of the muffins. Use quick oats, not rolled oats, which are cut into smaller pieces.

Substitutions and variations

• Nuts: Replace walnuts with pecans, almonds, or hazelnuts.
• Gluten-free: Substitute all-purpose flour with gluten-free all-purpose flour and use gluten-free quick oats.
• Other mix-ins: You can add chocolate chips, dried cranberries, or a combination of nuts to customize your muffins to your liking.

Step-by-step instructions

Step 1: Make walnut streusel

Luckily, these blood orange walnut streusel muffins are easy to prepare. Sure you have to make streusel and the muffin batter, but I promise you, they're both quick to make.

Let's start with the topping. Combine finely chopped raw walnuts, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, and quick oats in a medium bowl. If you want more texture, you can chop the walnuts into bigger chunks, however, I found that finely chopping them was ideal.

Add melted butter to this mixture and stir until well combined. Using melted butter instead of cold butter ensures a more even distribution throughout the streusel, resulting in a cohesive, crumbly topping.

If you're a fan of streusel topping, you can double the amount. It will sink a bit into the muffins but you'll have more of that lovely crunchy topping.

Set aside the streusel while you make the batter.

Step 2: Prepare muffin batter

In a large bowl, combine the blood orange zest with granulated sugar, rubbing them together with your fingers.

To this aromatic sugar mixture, add the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ground cardamom, mixing well to distribute the dry ingredients evenly.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, vegetable oil, blood orange juice, egg, and vanilla extract until well combined. The buttermilk's acidity will react with the baking soda, helping the muffins rise and creating a tender crumb.

Gently fold this wet mixture into the dry ingredients, being careful not to overmix, which could result in tough muffins.

Step 3: Bake

Fill each muffin cup about three-quarters full with the batter. Top each muffin generously with the prepared walnut streusel, crumbling it between your fingers to ensure an even distribution.

Bake the blood orange walnut streusel muffins for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. The streusel should be golden brown and crispy. Don't worry if the streusel spreads and sinks a little into the muffins - that's how it should be.

Once baked, remove the muffins from the pan and allow them to cool completely on a wire rack. This cooling process is important as it allows the muffins to set properly, ensuring the perfect texture when you bite into them.

The orange flavor also shines more when the muffins are cooled; however, you can still enjoy them warm.

If you haven't guessed already, these blood orange walnut streusel muffins are an absolute delight! The result is a batch of beautifully aromatic muffins with a tender crumb. They are bursting with the bright flavor of blood oranges, complemented by the warm notes of cardamom and the crunchy, nutty streusel topping. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Make-ahead and storage tips

• Make-ahead: You can prepare the walnut streusel topping in advance and store it in the refrigerator for a day or two before using it on the muffins.
• Store: Store the muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. For longer storage, you can refrigerate them or freeze them for up to 3 months.

Frequently asked questions

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Recipe

Print Recipe

Blood Orange Walnut Streusel Muffins

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: muffins

Servings: 12 muffins

Author: Christine Ma

Ingredients

Walnut streusel

• ½ cup finely chopped raw walnuts (60 grams)
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour (34 grams)
• ¼ cup brown sugar (50 grams)
• ¼ cup quick oats (20 grams)
• ¼ cup melted butter (57 grams)

Blood orange muffins

• 1 tablespoon blood orange zest
• ¾ cup granulated sugar (150 grams)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (260 grams)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
• ¾ cup buttermilk (187 ml)
• ¼ cup vegetable oil (62 ml)
• ¼ cup blood orange juice (62 ml)
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.
• Make streusel. Combine walnuts, flour, brown sugar, and oats in a medium bowl. Add butter and stir until well combined. Set aside.
• Combine blood orange zest with sugar in a large bowl and rub zest with sugar until well combined. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cardamom.
• Whisk together buttermilk, oil, blood orange juice, egg, and vanilla extract until well combined. Add to flour mixture, mixing just until combined.
• Fill muffin pan about ¾ full. Top with crumbled streusel and bake muffins for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove muffins from pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Notes

If blood oranges aren't available, substitute with regular navel oranges or cara cara oranges.