Cranberry and Orange Muffins

These deliciously fruity cranberry and orange muffins are a great recipe to make in winter when cranberries are in season. You can also use frozen cranberries. Make them for a special breakfast, as a snack or as a dessert. What's more, you can make them in less than an hour!

These deliciously seasonal winter muffins are the perfect recipe to make right now. They're moist and fruity and so versatile. Personally I enjoy making them as after school snacks for my kids. They're always hungry after school and these muffins are ideal for keeping them going until dinner time.

I also like to have one mid morning or mid afternoon with my coffee. We don't tend to eat them for breakfast but I know a lot of people love muffins for breakfast and these ones would make a great start to the day. How about making them for a special weekend treat breakfast or brunch?

I even think they'd be a great way to start the day on Christmas morning.

What ingredients do you need for orange cranberry muffins?

To make these tasty orange and cranberry muffins you'll need:

•  Butter - I use unsalted butter but salted butter works fine too. You won't be able to taste the salt once the muffins are made. It'll just enhance the other flavours.
• Self raising flour and baking powder - I add a teaspoon of baking powder even though the self raising flour contains baking powder. It just really helps the muffins to rise well and keep that light fluffy texture. If you don't have self raising flour you can use plain flour plus 1.5 extra teaspoons of baking powder.
• Caster sugar
• Eggs - I use large eggs for all my baking but if you use two medium ones these muffins will still be fine.
• Milk - We use semi-skimmed dairy milk for most things in our household and it works well in these. However, whole milk is also fine and you can also substitute it for a dairy free milk.
• Orange zest - There is so much flavour in the zest so I like to add some to the muffins. You can also sprinkle some on top if you want.
• Orange extract - I think this works really well in these muffins. An alternative would be to substitute some of the milk for freshly squeezed orange juice.
• Canberries - Fresh or frozen cranberries are fine. I find fresh cranberries hard to get hold of except just before Christmas which is why I've used frozen cranberries in these muffins. You don't need to wait for them to defrost - just add them straight from the freezer.

How do you make orange and cranberry muffins?

Do check out the recipe card further down the page for more detailed instructions but basically you:

• Put the dry ingredients in one bowl.
• Put the wet ingredients in another bowl or jug.
• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
• Fold them together until just combined.
• Stir in the cranberries.
• Bake

Be careful not to overmix the muffin batter as that can stop the muffins from being as light and fluffy. It will make them heavier.

Can you adapt these orange and cranberry muffins?

Yes! I definitely believe in adapting recipes to suit your tastes. As long as you keep the quantities of the main ingredients the same you can make lots of variations. Why not use a different berry instead of cranberries? You could use raspberries or blueberries for example.

Instead of orange zest use lemon or lime zest. Or miss out the zest and use an extract instead.

You could use the same recipe but add a few extra ingredients. I think a little vanilla goes well in these. Or why not add a few chocolate chips? White chocolate goes well with the orange and cranberries in these.

Can you make them healthier?

I find these muffins are not too sweet at all, partly because the cranberries are a little sour. However, you can cut the sugar down a little more, especially if you are making them for breakfast. I would suggest using just 100g of sugar instead.

You can also switch about 70g of the flour with wholemeal flour to make them just a little more nutritious.

How long do they stay fresh?

I especially love these muffins when they are freshly baked but they will keep for up to three days in an airtight container.

Can you freeze them?

Yes. These muffins will freeze well for up to three months. Just try to get as much air out of the bag as you can before freezing to avoid freezer burn. You can defrost at room temperature before eating.

Recipe

Cranberry and Orange Muffins

Corina Blum

These deliciously fruity cranberry and orange muffins are a great recipe to make in winter when cranberries are in season. You can also use frozen cranberries. Make them for a special breakfast, as a snack or as a dessert. What's more, you can make them in less than an hour!

5 from 4 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American, International

Servings 7

Calories 359 kcal

Equipment

• 12 hole muffin tin
• Large mixing bowl

Ingredients

 

MetricUS Customary

 

1x2x3x

• 100 g butter I use unsalted but salted is also fine.
• 275 g self raising flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 120 g caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 2 eggs I use large ones. Ideally at room temperature but don't worry if you forget to take them out of the fridge earlier.
• 225 ml milk I use semi-skimmed dairy milk but you can substitute it for a different milk.
• 1 teaspoon orange extract
• 150 g cranberries You can use fresh or frozen cranberries

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 200°c (180°c fan)
• Melt the butter in the microwave or in a small saucepan. Set aside.
• Put the flour, baking powder, sugar and orange zest in the mixing bowl.
• Crack the eggs into a jug. Beat lightly just to break them up. Add the milk, orange extract and the melted butter. Make sure the butter is not too hot.
• Pour the liquid ingredients into the bowl with the flour. Fold together until just combined.
• Then stir in the cranberries.
• Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Video

Notes

Nutritional information is approximate and a guideline only.

The number of muffins depends on the size of the muffin cases. When I most recently made these for the photos the recipe made 7 large muffins and took 25 minutes to bake. I have made the same recipe using 12 smaller muffins cases and the muffins were baked in 20 minutes.

Nutrition

Calories: 359kcalCarbohydrates: 50gProtein: 8gFat: 15gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 81mgSodium: 136mgPotassium: 179mgFiber: 2gSugar: 20gVitamin A: 492IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 80mgIron: 1mg

Keyword Cranberrry muffins, Orange muffins

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More muffin recipes

If you like these orange and cranberry muffins then do check out one of these muffin recipes too:

• Dairy-free lemon muffins
• Cinnamon applesauce muffins
• Strawberry chocolate and banana muffins
• Spiced pumpkin muffins with apple

Keep in touch

Do let me know if you make these orange and cranberry muffins or any of my other recipes. I love to get feedback from readers.

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