Prep Time |  60 minutes
Cook Time |  30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

MUFFINS

• 200g All purpose flour
• 3g Baking soda
• 2g Baking pwd.
• 75g Zoë’s Bio Extra virgin olive oil
• 6g = 1tsp. Vanilla extract
• 3g = ½ tsp. Orange extract
• 150g = 3/4 cup Sugar
• 25g Maple syrup
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 100g = 2 large Eggs
• 300g Ricotta (I use whole milk ricotta)
• 36g Orange juice
• 20g Orange zest
• 0.5g = ⅛ tsp. (pinch) Saffron threads

STREUSEL

• 100g Almonds
• 100g All purpose flour
• 100g Sugar
• 100g Butter, cold

1. STREUSEL
   1. Preheat the oven to 350F
   2. Toast the almonds for about 9-10 minutes.  Let them cool completely on the sheet tray you toasted them in, this will ensure they cool down properly and become really crunchy.
   3. Cut the cold butter into small chunks.  It doesn’t have to be perfect.
   4. Add the flour, sugar and butter into the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and begin to mix on medium speed.  You can also do this by hand.
   5. In the mean time, chop the almonds into 2-3 pieces each, not too small.
   6. Add the almonds once you see that the butter has combined with the flour and sugar and the mixture begins to look like wet sand.
   7. Mix just for a minute to incorporate the almonds into the mix.  You can also do this by hand.  Make sure that the almonds are well distributed throughout.
   8. Place the streusel in an airtight container or zip-top bag and refrigerate for at leas 1 hour before using.
   9. You can actually make this even a month in advance because it freezes really well.  In fact, this recipe is enough for 26 muffins or two times the muffin recipe.  So keep in the freezer for future use.

MUFFINS

1. Preheat the oven to 350F
2. Add the maple syrup, orange juice and saffron threads into a small pot.  Bring the liquids to a boil and immediately turn it off.  Let it stands for about 10 minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.  The saffron will steep in the liquids giving a delicious aroma and very light hint of flavor to the muffins.
3. Combine the flour, baking soda and baking powder in a bowl and set aside.
4. If you have a stand up mixer, use the paddle attachment for this preparation.
5. Add the eggs, sugar, orange zest and salt in a bowl and begin to mix until the mixture becomes pale, about 4 minutes.
6. Add the ricotta and mix until combined.
7. Add the liquids with the saffron and mix again.  Make sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
8. Sift in the dry ingredients and begin to mix on medium-low speed.  As you are mixing, drizzle in the evoo.
9. Once you have added all the oil, scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and then give it a nice mix on medium-high to high just for about 30 seconds.
10. Scrape down the sides and bottom again to make sure everything is well combined.
11. If you have the time, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 min to 1 hour. Otherwise go ahead and start measuring the muffins.

ASSEMBLY

1. Place muffin liners in a regular size muffin tin.
2. This recipe makes exactly 13 muffins, however you can also divide the muffin batter into the other 12 muffins to bake only one pan.
3. Add 70g of batter on each cavity.  You can also use a 2oz ice cream scooper and should be about the same amount.  Or, simply fill each cavity leaving only about 1cm or ½” from the top.
4. Add enough streusel to cover the surface of the muffin which is about 15g.  I like to squeeze the streusel with my fingers as I’m adding it to make big chunks.
5. Bake for 25-28 minutes depending on your oven or until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
6. Remove from the oven and wait about 3-5 minutes until you can handle them.
7. Now here’s a cool trick: Take the muffins out from the tin and place them upside down on a cooling rack.  Let them cool like this and then turn them back up.  This will allow any evoo that fell to the bottom to redistribute again throughout the muffin making them super fluffy and moist.

Enjoy for breakfast or an afternoon snack with tea or coffee!