Amazing Cranberry Muffins Recipe

Looking for a delicious, and easy-to-make, muffin recipe? Look no further than these amazing cranberry muffins! Made with fresh cranberries, these muffins are the perfect Fall treat. Best of all, they only take 30 minutes to make! So what are you waiting for? Get baking!

It’s fall, and that means cranberries are back on store shelves for a limited time. The seasonal berry is incredibly popular around the holidays, especially for cranberry sauce, but we love to make so many things with them!

One of our favorite foods is cranberry muffins. They are a perfect fall and winter breakfast or snack, and can be modified so many ways, you never get tired of them.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk, room temperature
• 1-1/2 teaspoon almond extract (can use vanilla)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/2 cups cranberries, rinsed and picked
• Zest of one orange
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 2 tablespoons sanding sugar (or another coarse sugar if preferred) for topping

For optional orange glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup orange juice (can use milk instead)
• 1 teaspoon orange zest

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Sort the berries and toss any bad or very pale fruit.
3. Combine oil and sugar and mix on medium for two to three minutes.
4. When sugar is creamed, add eggs, one at a time and fully incorporate.
5. Add the extract, citrus juice and zest, and milk, and mix to incorporate.
6. Add in the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
7. Starting with one cup, add cranberries and mix. It’s okay if some “pop” as they are mixed. Add final berries and mix by hand to combine. This avoids overmixing the batter and spreads the berries more evenly than can be done by a machine.
8. Scoop batter into sprayed or lined muffin tins, filling 2/3 of the way, or 3/4 for large muffins. Sprinkle with thick granular sugar if desired.
9. Bake for about 13 minutes for mini muffins, 18 for standard, and 20 for jumbo.
10. For the optional glaze, combine the sugar, zest and orange juice (can use milk and omit zest of you prefer. Whisk thoroughly until combined. Drizzle over cool or warm, but not hot, muffins.
11. This recipe makes 12 large or 15 normal muffins.

Why Cranberry Muffins Work

Cranberry muffins are similar to other berry muffins, but are perfect for fall and winter months because they go so well with seasonal spices, and they just have a special taste that people associate with the cooler weather.

The sweet batter blends with the tart berries, complimenting one another perfectly. The gorgeous red fruit holds up and doesn’t burst or smash when you mix it into the batter. But it cooks perfectly in the oven, softening the hard skin and allowing a little sweetness inside.

There are so many easy ways to adapt this recipe. With options such as orange or lemon zest, cinnamon and ginger, white chocolate chips or pecans, you can satisfy any craving.

The recipe is straightforward and easy to follow, so it’s a great dish to prepare during busy holidays or as a gift for loved ones.

Where Do I Find Cranberries?

Cranberries are a seasonal fruit, only widely available fresh from late September to December in the United States. You may find them in the frozen section of a specialty store, but that’s pretty uncommon. Fresh cranberries are sold in the produce section, usually in twelve-ounce bags, which make about two cups. In the absence of cranberries, you can try your muffins with blueberries. They can be a delicious substitute.

The good news is that, while cranberries are only sold in stores for a short time, they freeze exceptionally well due to their thick skin, and can be stored in the freezer for up to a year. So when you stock up for this season’s holiday cooking, get a few extra to last the rest of the year!

How to Prepare Cranberries

Cranberries have a hard skin and are not easily bruised or damaged, but it’s important to go through each bag and look for bad berries. Rinse them in a deep bowl, and remove any squishy, off-color or bad berries.

Then, scoop off the floating berries for cooking. Any berries that sank should be tossed: bad berries sink while good ones float. For muffins, I pick out any very pale ones. These are harder and might still be hard after cooking, but soft ones will still be good in the recipe.

Add-Ins and Variations to the Recipe

This recipe includes orange zest and orange juice, which is a classic cranberry companion. But you can just as easily skip the orange flavor, or replace it with another citrus, such as lemon, yuzu, or pineapple. You can add more orange flavor if you want it to be bold, too.

This recipe also uses almond extract, and it’s wonderful because cranberries are similar to cherries and pair perfectly with aromatic extract, but you can easily substitute vanilla if you don’t have or don’t want to use almond extract.

White chocolate chips or chunks make a lovely, sweet treat. Pecans are also a perfect holiday ingredient and bring some savory crunch to the recipe.

Cinnamon is a wonderfully warm fall flavor and goes very well with cranberry. So does ginger, which you’ll find in many cranberry sauce recipes. Cardamom, nutmeg, and Chinese five spices are less common but equally delicious.

Here are the quantities for some suggested add-ins:

• Lemon or yuzu: 2 tablespoons juice plus 1 tablespoon lightly packed zest
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pineapple
• Vanilla: same quantity as almond listed on recipe
• White Chocolate Chip: 1 cup, 1-1/2 cups at most
• Pecans: 3/4 cup, chopped
• Cinnamon: 1 teaspoon
• Ginger: 1 teaspoon, scant
• Cardamom, nutmeg, Chinese five spice: 1/2 teaspoon, to taste

How long are these muffins good for?

These muffins don’t last long at our house, but they can be left on the counter for two days, covered, or stored in the fridge for five days.

Can I freeze these muffins?

They are wonderful to freeze! If you want to have them for fast breakfasts or snacks, you can individually wrap them in plastic wrap and store them in a freezer-safe storage bag. They will last two months in the freezer well-wrapped. Too much longer and they’ll begin to get dry and taste stale.

More Recipes You May Enjoy:

• Mouth-Watering Blueberry Muffins without Milk
• Easy Sweet Cornbread Recipe: Made with Buttermilk
• The Best Copycat Longhorn Steakhouse Bread Recipe
• Easy Jalapeño Cranberry Sauce
• Mini Chocolate Chip Muffins

These cranberry muffins are the perfect treat for any Fall gathering! With their tart and sweet flavor, they’ll be a hit with everyone. Be sure to try them out and let me know how you liked them in the comments below. Thanks for reading!