Cranberry Orange Muffins
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These Cranberry Orange Muffins are soft, tender, and bursting with bright citrus flavor and tart cranberries — perfect for fall and winter breakfasts, brunches, or holiday treats. They come together quickly and even include a simple orange streusel topping that makes them look and taste extra special.
As a busy mom, I love muffins that are easy to prep but feel festive, and these are just that — plus, letting the batter rest a bit helps them rise beautifully for tall, bakery-style muffins.
Making these muffins is easy and hands-on: you will start by rubbing the orange zest into the sugar to help bring out the oils, then add in the dry ingredients. Then simply whisk the wet ingredients, and fold everything together along with the cranberries.
For big bakery style domed muffins I recommend a 15-minute rest of the batter. While the batter rests, you can prep the simple streusel topping, which has more orange zest, to sprinkle on before baking.
In less than 40 minutes, you’ll have a tray of beautiful, aromatic muffins ready to enjoy.
If you love the cranberry-orange flavor, you might also enjoy my Cranberry Orange Bread and Cranberry Cheesecake Bars — both make fantastic additions to holiday breakfasts or brunch spreads.
Ingredients Needed
- Granulated sugar
- Orange zest (rubbed into sugar to release oils)
- All-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Large egg – You want a room temperature egg.
- Milk – Any milk will do, but whole milk is best.
- Neutral-tasting oil – Such as a vegetable oil or canola oil. You can also substitute with melted butter, but they may be a bit drier and not rise as tall.
- Vanilla extract
- Orange juice
- Fresh or frozen cranberries, tossed in flour – You toss them in a bit of flour so they don’t sink to the bottom of the cups. If using frozen cranberries, do not thaw.
- Light brown sugar – Here is my homemade brown sugar recipe!
- Unsalted butter – You can also use salted butter.
How To Make Cranberry Orange Muffins
Combine dry ingredients:
In a mixing bowl, add granulated sugar and orange zest. Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingertips to release the oils.
Whisk in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Combine wet ingredients:
In a second bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, oil, and vanilla extract.
Mix wet and dry ingredients:
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix gently with a spatula or wooden spoon until just combined.
Fold in cranberries. Do not overmix.
Don’t overmix! Overworking the batter can make muffins dense instead of tender.
Rest the batter:
For taller muffins, let the batter rest for 15 minutes while you preheat the oven and prepare the streusel.
Prep oven and pans:
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a muffin pan with paper liners. For extra tall muffins, line two pans and only every other well.
You could also bake only 6 muffins at a time, letting the remaining batter rest in the fridge if you only have one muffin pan. If you bake all 12 in one pan, the muffins won’t bake up as tall (they’ll bake fine! Just not as tall.)
Make the streusel:
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, salt, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and orange zest. Stir in melted butter until crumbly. Just use a fork to stir until together until it forms small clumps. Set aside.
You could always skip the streusel and just add on a sprinkle on turbinado sugar or sparkling sugar.
Bake The Muffins
Divide batter into muffin wells and top with streusel. Bake at 425°F for 5 minutes. You will bake the first five minutes at a high heat to help create that domed muffin top.
Without opening the oven, reduce heat to 350°F and bake an additional 16-18 minutes, until tops are lightly golden and centers are set. Test with a toothpick.
Allow muffins to cool 10 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack. You could always add on an icing if you want. You could use my lemon glaze and swap out the lemon juice for orange juice.
I love serving these warm with a little honey butter, or for a little warmth try my cinnamon honey butter!
More Recipes To Try
If you want to make more muffins, try my blueberry yogurt muffins or my blueberry buttermilk muffins!
If you have more cranberries to bake with then try my cranberry orange bundt cake, or my cranberry orange scones.
Cranberry Orange Muffins
Ingredients
For the muffins:
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons orange zest
- 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg room temperature
- ⅔ cup (160 ml) milk
- ½ cup (120 ml) neutral-tasting oil (vegetable or canola work great)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons orange juice
- 1 ½ cups fresh or frozen cranberries tossed in 1 Tablespoon flour
For the orange streusel:
- ½ cup (60 g) all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup (53 g) packed light brown sugar
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 3 Tablespoons (42 g) unsalted butter melted
Instructions
- Combine dry ingredients. In a mixing bowl, add the granulated sugar and orange zest. Rub the orange zest into the sugar with your fingertips to help release the oil. Whisk in the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar 2 Tablespoons orange zest 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour 1 Tablespoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt
- Combine wet ingredients. In a second large mixing bowl, whisk together egg ,milk, oil, vanilla extract, and orange juice. 1 large egg ⅔ cup (160 ml) milk ½ cup (120 ml) neutral-tasting oil 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 Tablespoons orange juice
- Combine wet and dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix together with a spatula or wooden spoon just until just combined. Fold in cranberries. Do not overmix. I like to let the batter rest for 20 minutes before baking to ensure for taller muffins. While the batter rests, preheat the oven and make the streusel topping. 1 ½ cups fresh or frozen cranberries
- Prep oven and pans. Position a rack in the center of your oven and preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a muffin pan with paper liners. I line two muffin pans, and line every other well (this helps for tall muffins).
- Make the streusel. In a small bowl whisk together the flour, salt, brown sugar, granulated sugar, orange zest and salt. Stir in melted butter until a crumbly mixture forms. Set aside. ½ cup (60 g) all-purpose flour ⅛ teaspoon salt ¼ cup (53 g) packed light brown sugar ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar 1 teaspoon orange zest 3 Tablespoons (42 g) unsalted butter
- Bake the muffins. Divide muffin batter into the muffin wells up to the top. Sprinkle on the streusel on top of each muffin. Bake at 425°F for 5 minutes, then, keeping the muffins in the oven (do not open the oven door!), reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C) and continue to bake for 16-18 minutes or until the tops are lightly golden brown and centers are set. Stick a toothpick in the center of a muffin to test for doneness. If it comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs the muffins are done. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the muffin tray then remove and allow to cool on a wire rack.
Notes
- Storage at Room Temperature: Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- Refrigerator storage: Up to 1 week, but this can also dry them out.
- Freezer: Freeze cooled muffins for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature or warm in the microwave.
- Milk – Any milk will do, but whole milk is best.
- Neutral-tasting oil – Such as a vegetable oil or canola oil. You can also substitute with melted butter, but they may be a bit drier and not rise as tall.
- Cranberries: If using frozen cranberries, do not thaw.
