Looking for a delicious and festive muffin recipe to make this holiday season? With their bright orange zest and tart cranberries, these cranberry orange muffins are moist, fluffy, and full of delicious flavor. They’re perfect for Christmas morning breakfast or any other special occasion. Plus, they’re easy to make and use only basic ingredients available at most grocery stores. I tend to stock up on bags of fresh cranberries when they are in season and freeze them for use all year long. We love this recipe, which is really just a modified version of our Cranberry Orange Bread transformed into muffins. They are delicious either way! If you want to take your muffins up a notch, you can add a delicious streusel topping option that will make them taste as if they came straight from the bakery. Love the tart & citrusy combo of fresh cranberries and orange? Us too! Be sure to try our Cranberry Orange Monkey Bread or Homemade Cranberry Sauce next!
Do you have to cook cranberries before baking?
No, the cranberries don’t need to be cooked before baking. However, before using fresh cranberries in this cranberry orange muffin recipe, make sure to thoroughly clean and dry them.
How to Make Cranberry Orange Muffins
Prepare. Preheat oven to 350ºF. You can line a 12-count muffin pan with paper liners or just spray them with baking spray. Mix the flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl and set aside.
Flour – Regular all-purpose flour is all you need. Baking soda Salt Eggs Oil – Vegetable oil or canola oil are our first picks, but olive oil actually works well in these muffins also. Granulated sugar – I’m sure maple syrup or brown sugar could be used as alternative sweeteners, but I haven’t tested them. Sour cream or plain Greek yogurt Orange juice concentrate – Using orange juice concentrate gives more citrus punch than just fresh orange juice and we like this better than orange extract for real orange flavor. Vanilla extract Orange zest Cranberries (fresh or frozen) Sugar for sprinkling
Assemble. In a large bowl, whisk oil and sugar together, then add sour cream, orange juice concentrate, water, and vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients by hand just until combined. It’s okay if there are still some streaks of flour. Gently stir in the cranberries and orange zest by hand just until they are evenly spread throughout the batter. Again, be careful not to overmix or the muffins won’t have the light, moist and airy texture that makes them so wonderful. Cook. Use a rubber spatula to divide the muffin batter between 14 paper-lined muffin cups, and bake in the center of the oven for 16-18 minutes, until muffins are beginning to brown on top (you likely won’t be able to use the toothpick test because of the cranberry juice) Finish. Remove from oven, and let cool on a wire rack.
How to Store
These muffins are best enjoyed on the day they’re made. To store, place them in an airtight container and keep them at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Make sure to thoroughly clean and dry your fresh cranberries before adding them to the batter. You can use frozen cranberries in this recipe. There’s no need to defrost them before adding them to the batter. To avoid overmixing, mix the wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry ingredients in another, then combine just until combined. If you don’t have orange juice concentrate (the little frozen cartons), replace both it and the water with ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon of regular orange juice. Using the concentrate gives you more orange flavor. On the sugar for sprinkling, I like to use something with larger granules like sanding sugar, or at the very least, sugar in the raw, but regular granulated sugar gives you a nice sugar crust too.
Can I Freeze This Recipe?
These muffins can also be frozen for up to 3 months. To reheat frozen muffins, thaw them overnight in the refrigerator and then heat them in the microwave until warm.
Easy Raspberry Muffin Recipe
Morning Glory Muffins
Bakery Style Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Let me know what you thought with a comment and rating below. You can also take a picture and tag me on Instagram @houseofnasheats or share it on the Pinterest pin so I can see.
