Cranberry Orange Muffins

This cranberry orange muffins recipe is the perfect balance between sweet and sour. The cranberries burst in your mouth, making these muffins so flavorful. They are easy to make, hearty and delicious to eat.

As you all know, I love muffins. Even muffins without chocolate in them. If you’ve been reading my blog, you will know that I usually sneak chocolate in muffins, much to Christopher’s chagrin. I will say that I did not do that with these.

I wanted to.

But it would totally change this delicious muffin into something it’s not meant to be. And I couldn’t have that.

I wanted to keep these as delicious as I remember them to be when I ate them as a child.

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Helpful tips

• If you don’t have the frozen cranberries this recipe calls for, you can use dried cranberries; just know they will make the muffins a tad sweeter.
• If using frozen, it’s okay to use the cranberries right out of the freezer, there is no need to defrost.
• During the holiday months, I stock up on cranberries because you can keep them frozen and use them year round. If you like infused vodka, try my cranberry version.
• When I mix dry ingredients together, I like to use a pastry blender because it breaks up clumps really well.
• Whenever you’re going to zest citrus, you need to wash your citrus well. Here’s how: squirt some unscented natural hand soap in your hand and take the orange and rub the soap on the skin. Next, take a vegetable brush and scrub the skin. Run the orange under cold water making sure all of the soap has washed off.
• You can use store bought orange juice or squeeze the juice out of the orange you zested. It’s only one ounce but fresh orange juice is so tasty.
• Since I love big muffins, I fill the muffin cups all the way to the top. This can cause the muffin to spread out a little. So, if you like muffins that have a dome top, fill the cups ¾ the way full.

How to make cranberry orange muffins

Pre-step

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Get a mixing bowl, muffin tin, baking cups and rubber spatula.

Line the muffin tin with as many baking cups as you want to use. I like bigger muffins so I used ten.

Step one

Gather the dry ingredients – flour, brown sugar, cane sugar, baking soda and salt. (A)

Step two

Add the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl and mix together until combined.

Step three

Gather the wet ingredients – oil, egg, milk, yogurt and vanilla. (B)

Step four

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. (C) Mix together with a rubber spatula until just combined.

Step five

Use a microplane ® to zest a whole orange. When I use that gadget, I use this glove to protect the hand holding the fruit as I don’t trust myself with that tool.

Also gather the cranberries, orange juice and nuts. (D)

Step six

Add the cranberries, orange juice, zest and nuts to the glass bowl. (E) Fold in the ingredients but be careful not to over mix.

Step seven

Spoon the batter into the muffin cups. I fill each cup all the way up. (F)

Step eight

This is optional – I place a cranberry on each muffin.

Bake for 22 minutes.

Let the muffins cool for at least 5 minutes in the pan before removing them to place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Time to plate one.

And bite one.

I hope you enjoyed this cranberry orange muffin recipe.

Other delicious muffins

• Chocolate
• Date nut
• Pistachio

And as always, may all your dishes be delish!

If you’ve tried this recipe, I’d love the know what you thought about it in the comments below. I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more of my delicious food and delightful cocktails!

Cranberry Orange Muffins

These muffins are so flavorful, especially when the cranberries burst in your mouth!

5 from 8 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: Breads

Keyword: cranberry muffins, cranberry orange muffins

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 22 minutes

Total Time: 27 minutes

Servings: 10 Muffins

Calories: 367kcal

Author: Elaine Benoit

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

• 1.75 cups spelt flour (or flour of choice)
• ½ cup white sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients

• 1 eggs
• ½ cup milk
• ½ cup greek yogurt (plain)
• ½ cup olive oil (or vegetable oil)
• 1 ounce orange juice (fresh from the orange you zested, or store bought – your choice)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Addons

• 1 zest orange
• ½ cup pecans (chopped)
• 1 cup frozen cranberries (or dried if you can't find frozen)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 F and line a muffin pan with muffin cups. I used 10
• Place all the dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl, use a dough cutter to mix all together
• Add wet ingredients, including the orange juice and mix until just combined
• Fold in the orange zest, cranberries and nuts. Do not over mix
• Spoon the batter into the baking cups (I fill them almost to the top since I like big muffins). Bake for 22 minutes
• Cool in pan for 5 minutes before transferring muffins to a wire rack.
• Eat
• Smile
• Enjoy

Equipment

glass bowl

muffin pan

muffin cups

rubber spatula

microplane

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Notes

Helpful tips

• If you don’t have the frozen cranberries this recipe calls for, you can use dried cranberries; just know they will make the muffins a tad sweeter.
• If using frozen, it’s okay to use the cranberries right out of the freezer, there is no need to defrost.
• During the holiday months, I stock up on cranberries because you can keep them frozen and use them year round. If you like infused vodka, try my cranberry version.
• When I mix dry ingredients together, I like to use a pastry blender because it breaks up clumps really well.
• Whenever you’re going to zest citrus, you need to wash your citrus well. Here’s how: squirt some unscented natural hand soap in your hand and take the orange and rub the soap on the skin. Next, take a vegetable brush and scrub the skin. Run the orange under cold water making sure all of the soap has washed off.
• You can use store bought orange juice or squeeze the juice out of the orange you zested. It’s only one ounce but fresh orange juice is so tasty.
• Since I love big muffins, I fill the muffin cups all the way to the top. This can cause the muffin to spread out a little. So, if you like muffins that have a dome top, fill the cups ¾ the way full.

Nutrition

Serving: 1muffin | Calories: 367kcal | Carbohydrates: 50g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 33mg | Sodium: 84mg | Potassium: 145mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 29g | Vitamin A: 70IU | Calcium: 71mg | Iron: 1.7mg

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