Cranberry Orange Muffins
These Cranberry Orange Muffins are moist, tender and bursting with fresh flavors from fresh orange juice, zest and cranberries. The muffins have the perfect balance of sweetness with the tang of the fresh orange juice and cranberries. These muffins make the perfect breakfast treat for your fall mornings, or Thanksgiving table. They take less than 30 minutes to make.
I can’t believe it is November already! The months just seem to go by so quickly these days. Certainly my four kids keep me busy, in a good way, and that makes the time seem to fly even more. Once November rolls around, my mind immediately begins to get into the holiday season – Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. I absolutely love this time of year. There’s just something so magical about it.
These Cranberry Orange Muffins remind me of Thanksgiving. No, my mom never made these cranberry orange muffins, but she would always get a cranberry orange relish at the store for Thanksgiving. It was my absolute favorite! I just love the combo of cranberry and orange together.
I made these cranberry orange muffins with the thought that these could be enjoyed for a cozy fall breakfast or part of a brunch table, and as a Thanksgiving menu item. It could be Thanksgiving breakfast, brunch or just be on the Thanksgiving table for a delicious side to go with the turkey and gravy. I mean really, who doesn’t love a good muffin!? 🙂
The details
The ingredients
If you know me, you know I try to make all of my recipes come together fairly quickly and easily. With four kids, I don’t always have a ton of time in the kitchen to make treats. These cranberry orange muffins take 15 minutes or less to mix together.
This muffin batter uses greek yogurt, which adds moisture to the muffins. It also adds some nutrients and probiotics to the muffin batter. If you don’t have greek yogurt on hand, you can always substitute it for sour cream. Sour cream has a similar tang as greek yogurt and similar texture. I prefer using greek yogurt in my muffin batters, since it does contain some nutrients.
I used fresh orange juice and zest to add a delicious fresh taste to the cranberry orange muffins. The freshly squeezed orange juice contains more nutrients and antioxidants than store bought orange juice. I love the burst of orange flavor from the freshly squeezed orange juice in these muffins.
make the batter
To make the cranberry orange muffin batter, you’ll mix together the sugars, zest, butter, eggs, vanilla extract, greek yogurt, fresh orange juice and milk. Whisk to combine then add in the remaining ingredients except the cranberries. Whisk JUST until the ingredients are combined.
Now, it’s time to fold in the cranberries. Folding in an ingredient basically means to gently mix the ingredient in as to not deflate the batter, or overmix it. I like to take a wooden spoon or rubber spatula and scrape the batter along the side and bottom, then gently fold over the top. Repeat a couple times until the cranberries are mixed in.
bake the muffins
Scoop the cranberry orange muffin batter into the prepared muffin liners. I like to add a few cranberries on top of the muffins. It’s more so for looks. Then, sprinkle granulated sugar over top of the muffins.
Bake the cranberry orange muffins for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the muffins from the muffin tin and place on a wire cooling rack to allow to fully cool the sides and bottom of the muffins.
serve and enjoy
Now, all that’s left to do is serve and enjoy! You can eat these plain, with butter, or even with a cranberry jelly or orange marmalade. I like to eat these cranberry orange muffins warm with a dab of butter.
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Let me know what you think!
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Cranberry Orange Muffins
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
Description
These Cranberry Orange Muffins are moist, tender and bursting with fresh flavors from fresh orange juice, zest and cranberries. The muffins have the perfect balance of sweetness with the tang of the fresh orange juice and cranberries. These muffins make the perfect breakfast treat for your fall mornings, or Thanksgiving table. They take less than 30 minutes to make.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- Zest from 2 oranges
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
- 1/3 cup fresh orange juice (roughly 2 oranges)
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries (or 1 cup dried cranberries if you prefer a less tart taste)
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375F. Line a muffin tin with homemade muffin liners, cupcake liners, or spray with nonstick spray. (to make your own muffin liners, cut 5 inch x 5 inch parchment paper squares. Place the center of the square on bottom of glass, and using hands, firmly press parchment paper against sides of glass. Place the muffin liners in muffin tin. If they don’t stick down into the wells, don’t worry, the muffin batter will hold them down into the tin.)
2. In a large mixing bowl, add sugar and orange zest. Use fingers to rub the zest into the sugar. Add butter, orange juice, eggs, vanilla extract, yogurt and milk. Whisk to combine, then add flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and whisk ingredients together just until combined. It’s okay if it is a little lumpy. Fold in the cranberries (if you prefer a less tart taste, I recommend using dried cranberries).
3. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin. Fill the batter all the way to the top of the muffin liners. Add additional cranberries on top if desired.
4. Sprinkle granulated sugar over top of the muffins.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 15
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
