Buttery and moist, these cranberry orange muffins are heavy on the flavor and bursting with cranberries in each bite.
Cranberry is an underrated fall flavor, dontcha think? It’s often lost in all the pumpkin pie and apple recipes flooding kitchens in the fall. Cranberry deserves some love! That being said, how about a POP of vibrant cranberry for breakfast? An abundance of cranberries in every soft, buttery bite. Paired with a bright zest of orange and a sweet orange glaze to finish things off.
Orange is cranberry’s soulmate. Like peanut butter is to jelly chocolate, Fridays are to wine, and french fries are to a chocolate frosty–> an obvious match made in heaven.
I love tart cranberries paired with sunshine-sweet orange. Over the years I’ve shared recipes for cranberry orange Bundt cake, cranberry orange icebox cookies, and orange cranberry bread. I have since made that bread, I don’t know, about 1 million times. Sometimes with streusel, sometimes without (who am I?), but always always always with tons of cranberries and orange zest. Divine.
And so, today’s muffins were born. Festive, fluffy, cinnamon-spiced, and packed with flavor. We’re talking huge flavor! I used my blueberry muffins recipe as the base. Why? All that glorious butter flavor packed inside. Paired with juicy cranberries and bright citrus, the combination of flavor is unreal in these cranberry orange muffins.
These are simple to make. There’s nothing fancy, nothing strange about them. Just a few basic ingredients to make one outrageous morning breakfast.
The star of the show is obviously the cranberries. You may use fresh or frozen. I go a little heavy handed on them—and I think you’ll love that. Because you know when you bite into a “fruit” muffin only to find three small blueberries in one bottom corner? So all you’re really eating is baked flour, sugar, and butter masking as a “fruit” muffin? No, that’s not happening here. All crannies, all over the place.
Besides the burst of tart cranberries, I absolutely love the texture of these cranberry orange muffins. They have more of a cake-like crumb, which is a result of creaming butter and sugar together—as opposed to using oil. They’re light and fluffy, just like cupcakes. Also: they’re so moist. Two eggs, yogurt, and a splash of orange juice (for flavor!) are to thank for their tender, moist centers.
The sweet orange glaze adds to their charm. You can leave the glaze off, but it adds a little extra orange flavor. Kevin and I both liked the muffins with the glaze more. Shocking.
Warm from the oven, these glazed cranberry orange muffins are the best treat to cozy up with on chilly mornings. Or these brown sugar cinnamon pop tarts. Both winners.
And if you can’t get enough of cranberries for breakfast, try my cranberry Christmas cake next. But don’t limit it just to Christmas… or just to breakfast!
More Muffin Recipes
I have dozens of muffin recipes on my site. Here are a few favorites:
Cranberry Orange Muffins
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins
- Category: Muffins
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Buttery and moist, these cranberry orange muffins are heavy on the flavor and bursting with cranberries in each bite.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (120g) yogurt*, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- zest of 2 oranges
- 1 and 3/4 cups (219g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) orange juice
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) milk (any kind), at room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 cups (185g) fresh or frozen cranberries (do not thaw)
Orange Glaze
- 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar
- 3 Tablespoons (45ml)Â orange juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C). Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the granulated and brown sugars and beat on high until creamed, about 2 full minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, yogurt, and vanilla extract. Beat on medium speed for 1 minute, then turn up to high speed until the mixture is combined and uniform in texture. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Then, beat in the orange zest until combined.
- In a large bowl, toss together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and slowly mix with a whisk. Add the orange juice and milk, gently whisking until combined and little lumps remain. Fold in the cranberries with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula.
- Spoon batter into prepared muffin pan, filling them all the way to the top. Top the batter with an additional cranberry or two, for looks if desired. (I like the pop of color on top of the muffins in doing this.) Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F (218°C), then keeping the muffins in the oven, lower the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C) and bake for 18-20 more minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total times these muffins take in the oven is about 23-25 minutes.
- While the muffins are cooling for a few minutes, make the glaze by whisking the glaze ingredients together. Drizzle over warm muffins. Allow to briefly cool before serving.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Muffins without glaze stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 5 days. Cover and store muffins with glaze at room temperature for up to 1 day or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Glazed or unglazed muffins freeze well for up to 2 months.
- Special Tools (affiliate links):Â 12-count Muffin Pan | Cupcake Liners | Citrus Zester | Citrus Juicer | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Wooden Spoon or Silicone Spatula | Small Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk
- Yogurt: Use your favorite yogurt; I prefer low fat plain Greek yogurt but regular (not Greek) would be just fine. Try with orange flavored, vanilla, honey, nonfat, or full fat. Sour cream works as well.
- Cranberries: You can use 1 and 1/2 cups dried cranberries as a substitute for the fresh/frozen cranberries.
- Mini Muffins: For mini muffins, bake at 350°F (177°C) for about 11-13 minutes or until baked through. Use a toothpick to test for doneness.
There’s more where these muffins came from! Try this same recipe, 3 other ways: Blueberry Muffins with Streusel Topping, Apple Cinnamon Muffins (with lots of crumbs on top!), and Peach Muffins.
For a more hearty, bakery style muffin, try these chocolate chip muffins! And here is my insanely-over-the-top-in-the-best-way-possible Orange Cranberry Bread:
Hello! I’m obsessed with your recipes!
I was wondering what I need to adjust (time/temp) if I wanted to make these into jumbo muffins.
Hi Irene! You can definitely use this batter to make jumbo muffins. We recommend following the same bake time and temperatures as our jumbo blueberry muffins.
Successful recipe! The orange zest really gives it the flavour so dont miss that out. I made this without the glazing and it is still delicious!! Yummy
Hi Ann! We don’t suggest that swap. It would change the texture of the muffins too much.
Okay, these just came out of the oven and I CAN’T STOP EATING THEM, SEND HELP. Couldn’t even be bothered to add the glaze, THEY’RE SO FLUFFY AND ADDICTING!!!
Hi! Can I use 11% Greek yogurt for extra fat for my baby?
Also, if I glaze some how do I store those? Thank you!
Hi Ashley, you can use a high fat yogurt in this muffin recipe. Cover and store muffins with glaze at room temperature for up to 1 day or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Just made these replacing half the butter with oil, and they turned out lovely. Thanks for the recipe!
I just made another batch of these. Seems that every time I crave something sweet these muffins are my first choice every time! So good and I like to say “healthier” than most with fresh cranberries and yogurt. Added more orange zest for extra zing.
Thank you Sally.
These turned out delicious! The pop of fresh cranberries with super tender orange flavored crumb was perfect! I used sour cream because it’s what I had on hand and it worked perfectly.
I just made these and they are so very flavorful! I had one issue with mixing ingredients. I used Greek yogurt and when I added that, the eggs and vanilla to my mixer, the ingredients splashed and splattered everywhere. I ended up mixing by hand. Maybe I should have used the lowest setting. I used my kitchen aide. I baked the 18 minutes and they were almost overdone. I think I will do a few minutes less next time. My oven maybe running hot. Thanks for another great recipe!
These muffins turned out perfectly. I used Greek yogurt and buttermilk, as well as dried cranberries. They weren’t too sweet and the icing makes them just right. They’re moist and the texture is just right and the recipe yielded 15 nice plump muffins. I might increase the cinnamon because I like it. It’s a keeper.
Hi Sally.
These muffins are a family favorite. I load up on cranberries during the holidays and freeze them so that I can make these all year. Honestly, every recipe of yours that I have ever made has been wonderful. I thought I was a decent baker before, but I have learned so much from you and my baking has improved dramatically as a result. Thank you so much!
My husband and kids thank you too. 😉
I am enjoying one of these warm muffins now, they’re delicious. I must admit, I nearly ruined them by failing to notice that the 425F oven must be reduced to 350F after 5 minutes. I had them in at 425F and after about 13 minutes, they were looking nicely browned. I went back and looked at the directions again and realized I never reduced the temp. I ran to the oven and pulled them out. They were perfect but I wonder if others failed to notice this as well and that is why their muffins were dry.. I will make these again for sure, thank you!
What type of yogurt do you recommend using? Would Greek yogurt work in this recipe?
Any plain (non flavored) yogurt is great. Greek yogurt works wonderfully.
I made these for Thanksgiving week and incorporated a little of the streusel topping from the Cranberry Orange Bread recipe since we are fond of it. They turned out great and were a BIG HIT at work and at home. I used a mixture of fresh and dried cranberries, the latter had been rehydrated with orange juice. It will be one of my go-to muffins!
Hi Sally,
Can you use buttermilk? These look amazing.
Yes, you can use buttermilk instead of regular milk. Enjoy!
Excited to have found this recipe. Curious what the substitute for yogurt would be in the recipe? Dairy products not permitted due to a dietary restriction. Thx.
Dairy free yogurt works and I’m sure the same amount of mashed banana or unsweetened applesauce could work in a pinch.
These muffins are amazing! A perfect balance of sweet and tart. If you’re wondering whether you should make them, the answer is yes, you definitely should.
I tried this recipe…muffins turned out very well. Tqvm for sharing.
Made these for a brunch. Made a strudel topping instead of the glaze. Ooohhh so good. They were gone fast.
Hi Sally,
Just made these and added the glaze. I measured the glaze twice with scale and it came out so runny and clear. Not like your pic. Should I have just added more powdered sugar or less orange juice? Or both? Thanks!
Hi Alison, You can always thicken the glaze up by adding more of the sugar. If you decide to make this again, start with less orange juice and then add it a little at a time until you reach your desired consistency.
Delicious, dense and moist. I used canned jellied crandberry sauce about 1 cup, sour cream, lemon juice and lemon zest, a few chocolate chips for my daughter. Yummy! Perhaps a few walnuts would of been good.
Hi Sally….Can I do a straight up substitute for lemon (zest and juice) instead of orange? Lemon Cranberry Muffins are my husbands FAVE. Would love to see a Lemon Cranberry Muffin recipe of yours one day!
Thanks in advance,
Elise
Hi Elise, We haven’t tested these with lemon but you can certainly try. You might also like these Blackberry Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins where you can use cranberries instead of blackberries if you wish.
Not very flavorful. Not sure how this has 5 stars.
Tried this recipe and like all your recipes it came out fab!! Will defo be baking these often, thank you so much! Xx
Made these last night. The muffins were moist. I had to use vanilla yogurt with sugar in it because my other option was greek. The flavor is good. I only had 1 orange zest to add. Used frozen cranberries. It came out very tart. How could I cut the tartness?
Hi Jen, these muffins are naturally tart because of the cranberries. Next time, try using half of the cranberries (3/4 cup). Thanks for giving these muffins a try!
Made these super delicious muffins for our breakfast treat yesterday. Skeptical about using frozen cranberries, but did it. WOW, the cranberries popped during baking and the rest is history. My husband and I admitted we could not stop with one. Absolutely the best cranberry orange muffin recipe ever.
Hi Sally,
I made the muffins..very moist and excellent muffin recipe. I am getting a slight bitter taste…. did anyone else experience this?
Could it be the baking soda???
Thank you so much for a reply. I would really like to make again.
Hi Rachel, Fresh cranberries can taste bitter when uncooked – but sweeten up when cooked/baked. If your berries are particularly large go ahead and chop them into slightly smaller pieces to make sure they bake. You should also check to make sure your baking soda is fresh, most boxes say they are good for 6 months but we tend to replace them after 3 for optimal freshness.
Used sour cream instead of yogurt, bread flour (and a little extra milk) and substituted the juice/zest of 2 lemons instead of orange. Didn’t bother making the topping. Even without it, they turned out great! Thanks for the recipe.
Absolutely delicious! I only had dried sweetened cranberries (reduced the amount to 1 cup because I was worried about the sweetness). The flavor was amazing. I did replace 50 grams of the all-purpose flour with 50 grams of whole wheat pastry flour. Very good!
My only criticism would be that the glaze was incredibly too thin. I had to add more sugar to thicken it. I would suggest adding the orange juice gradually rather than all at one time.
These will definitely go on my muffin rotation!
Muffin was still very moist the next day. Very flavorful!