Spiced Cranberry Orange Muffins and “Get Well” Gift Basket (with Bigelow Tea and Halls Cough Drops)

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and their client. #shop #cbias #SocialFabric #AmericasTea

It is that time of year again. No, not the bustling, fun and festive holiday season, but cold and flu season. And I know for many, just mentioning cold and flu season sends you running far, far away. No one likes being sick, myself included, but unfortunately ’tis the season,’ right? While, we all try and avoid getting sick, we will all probably encounter a sick co-worker, friend or loved one sometime over the next few months. What wouldn’t be more comforting and thoughtful than showing up to your friend’s rescue with a Get Well Gift Basket. Today I am teaming up with Bigelow Tea and Halls Original Cough Drops to show you how to create your own Get Well Gift Basket as well as sharing a festive and heart warming recipe for Spiced Cranberry Orange Muffins.

The weather here in Texas can be quite finicky this time of year. A perfect 75 degrees and sunny one day and a sharp turn to 50 degrees with rain the next. With that type of weather, it is easy to get sick! Whenever I start to get that little tickle in my throat or hear my voice start to crack, I immediately want to sip on some hot herbal tea with honey and a squeeze of fresh lemon or orange juice.

Since hot tea is so soothing when you feel under the weather it was my first pick for my Get Well Gift Basket. Other things to include in a Get Well Gift Basket, is cough drops, tissues, homemade or canned soup, saltine crackers, a magazine and some homemade Spiced Cranberry Orange Muffins. To get started creating my Get Well Gift Basket, I created a shopping list with the above listed items, and headed to Walmart to gather supplies. You can find a printable version of this Get Well Gift Basket Checklist here as well as below.

In my gift basket I also included homemade muffins. To me, there is just something so comforting about muffins. When I feel stressed or overwhelmed and need to do something therapeutic, I turn to baking; and nine times out of ten it is baking muffins. The ease in creating a simple yet satisfying treat that everyone loves, is comforting, especially when I can gift the muffins to others.

Muffins are the perfect slightly sweet morning or mid afternoon treat! This recipe whips up quickly and screams ‘eat me’ during these winter months. Cranberries and oranges are a beautiful flavor combination and add in some warm winter spices, like cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves; and you have a soft muffin bursting with seasonal flavors. Not only do these muffins make a great addition to a Get Well Gift Basket, they would be lovely for a holiday breakfast spread or simply to run over to the neighbors!

Spiced Cranberry Orange Muffins 
by Heather H. of Kitchen Concoctions: www.kitchen-concoctions.com
Printable Version 
Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 18-22 minutes Makes 12 muffins

Muffin:
1 cup milk
3 Bigelow Orange and Spice Herbal Tea Bags
2 cups (plus 1 tablespoon) unbleached all-purpose flour, divided
¼ cup (plus 2 tablespoons) granulated sugar, divided
3 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ cup butter, softened
¼ cup brown sugar
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 orange, juiced and zested
1 ½ cup chopped cranberries

Topping:
1/3 cup sugar
¼ cup butter, melted
1 orange, juiced and zested

For muffins:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease muffin tins or line with paper muffin cups.

Place milk in a small sauce pan. Bring milk to a simmer and add tea bags, Remove from heat and set aside, allowing tea to steep in milk for at least 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, stir together 2 cups flour, ¼ cup granulated sugar, baking powder, salt and spices in a large bowl. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually add brown sugar, beating until blended. Beat in egg, vanilla, orange zest and juice.

Remove tea bags from milk. Gradually mix dry ingredients and infused milk into the butter mixture, alternating between milk and dry ingredients. Continue mixing in milk and dry ingredients until combined.

In a small bowl, stir together chopped cranberries and remaining 1 tablespoon flour and 2 tablespoons sugar. Gently fold cranberries into prepared batter.

Using a scoop or spoon, fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full with muffin batter. Bake in preheated oven for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center muffin comes out clean and muffins begin to brown on top. Let muffins cool in muffin tins for 3-5 minutes then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

For topping:

Place sugar in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, stir together melted butter, orange juice and zest. After muffins have cooled slightly in muffin tins, but while they are still slightly warm; dip the muffin tops in the butter/lemon juice and then dip into sugar.

Get Well Gift Basket Checklist
by Heather H. of Kitchen Concoctions: www.kitchen-concoctions.com 
Printable Version

Bigelow Tea (desired flavor)
Halls Original Cough Drops (Honey-Lemon, Cherry, and Mentho-Lyptus)
Spiced Cranberry Orange Muffins (recipe above)
Magazine
Movie
Book of Word Puzzles
Thermos of Homemade Soup or Cans of Store Bought Soup
Crackers
Tissues
Tea/Coffee Cup
Honey
Large Basket or Reusable Cloth Bag
Fleece Blanket

Disclosure: I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and their client. All thoughts and opinions are my own.