Cranberry Orange Muffins

5 from 3 votes

These festive Cranberry Orange Muffins are a year-round favorite, but especially delicious during cranberry season. They are moist, fluffy, and full of flavor thanks to the addition of fresh orange zest and juicy cranberries.

Prep Time10

Cook Time18

Total Time28

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Servings: servings

Author: Amy Nash

Equipment

Muffin Pan (my favorite one!)

Ingredients

2 cups (282g) all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
1/3 cup orange juice concentrate
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon orange zest
2 cups cranberries (fresh or frozen)
1/4 cup sugar for sprinkling

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a muffin pan with paper liners.
Toss cranberries in one tablespoon of the flour in a medium bowl to keep them from sinking to the bottom of the muffins while baking. Mix the rest of the flour with the baking soda and salt in a separate bowl and set aside.
2 cups (282g) all-purpose flour, 3/4 teaspoon baking soda, 2 cups cranberries, 1/4 teaspoon salt
In a mixing bowl, whisk eggs, oil, and sugar together, then add sour cream, orange juice concentrate, water, and vanilla extract.
2 eggs, 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/3 cup sour cream, 1/3 cup orange juice concentrate, 1/4 cup water, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Stir in dry ingredients by hand until just mixed. Gently stir in cranberries and orange zest.
1 Tablespoon orange zest
Divide between 14 paper-lined muffin cups. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake in center of oven for 16-18 minutes, until muffins are beginning to brown on top. You likely wont’ be able to use the toothpick test because of the cranberry juice, but the tops should spring back when you bounce a finger on them.
1/4 cup sugar
Remove from oven, and let cool on a wire rack.

Notes

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 more orange flavor than fresh orange juice though.
On the sugar for sprinkling, we like to use something with larger, coarse granules like sanding sugar, or at the very least, sugar in the raw, but regular granulated sugar can also be used for a nice sugar-crust too.
Streusel topping: If you want to top these with streusel instead, combine 2/3 cup flour, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, and a pinch of salt in a medium bowl. Use a pastry cutter to cut in 4 Tablespoons of very cold butter until the mixture resembles sandy crumbs. Sprinkle over the muffin batter before baking.

Nutrition

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