Orange Marmelade Buckwheat Muffins

Just when I thought I had run out of muffin ideas, an extra large jar of homemade orange marmelade and whole fig preserves just dropped out of the sky.

Seriously, my neighbors were gifted those items and didn't know what to do with them and supposed they'd have a better life with me.

Marmelade has tons of uses besides the very obvious one (spread it on some toast).  It works well as a zing factor in salad dressing, marinade for fish or duck, in cookies, as glaze on a cake, and as a fun flavor for muffins.  I'll probably think of more once I'm done writing this, like mixed with chocolate, peanut butter, coconut, in breakfast oats...I just don't get how you can be so entirely clueless that you give it away.
So at 10 pm, after thinking about the recent acquisition, I had a sudden urge to use that marmelade....

Yield 19 muffins

Ingredients

2 over ripe bananas, mashed

2 eggs

1/3 cup (60g) cane sugar

scant 1/3 cup (50g) canola oil
1/2 cup milk

1 tsp powdered ginger
5 Tbsp orange marmelade

1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1cup (120g) buckwheat flour

1/2 cup oats

Toppings:

Walnuts (I only used one per muffin)
1/2 tsp marmelade per muffin

Directions

1.  Beat together the eggs, sugar, bananas, oil, milk, and marmelade.

2.  In a separate mixing bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

3.  Gently mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, then fold in the oats.  The texture should not be dry.. it should be very goopy.

4.  Grease your muffin tins and fill them 3/4 to the top, then drop a bit of marmelade int each muffin and  top with your single walnut wishing you had more, but happy to have enough left.

5.  Bake in a 375°F (180°C) oven for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean after a nice stab.

I love the tanginess of orange marmelade and it works perfectly in these muffins.  These are actually quite healthy too.. not too sweet, full of fiber.. just lovely.

I can't wait to make multiple jam flavor buckwheat thumbprint cookies now!!