Cranberry Orange Muffins

Name: Cranberry Orange Muffins
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 220 g Plain flour; 115 g Butter; 120 g Granulated sugar; 2 Eggs; 120 g 0% Greek yogurt; 2 tsp Vanilla extract; 0.5 tsp Sea salt; 1 tsp Baking powder; 1 tsp Baking soda; 0.5 tsp Cinnamon; 0.5 tsp Ground ginger; 1 Orange ((zest and juice)); 3 tbsp Almond milk ((you can use any milk though)); 100 g Dried cranberries; 50 g Dark chocolate chips

Diet: Vegetarian

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These light and buttery cranberry and orange muffins are a delicious autumn/winter flavour combination and they are all made in one bowl! Paired with warming spices like cinnamon and ginger, these Cranberry Orange Muffins are a tasty afternoon treat for the cold season and perfect with a cup of coffee.

A basket of muffins next to more muffins on a cooling rack.

Sweet dried cranberries with chunks of dark chocolate in a light and fluffy muffin that only take 30 minutes to cook. We added a little bit of orange juice to these cranberry muffins as the citrus just lifts it all and adds some extra natural sweetness of course.

We call these our Christmas muffins, but we would happily eat them all year round. Cranberries and orange just scream Christmas to us and these orange cranberry muffins are one of the first things we bake when the festive season comes round.

Looking for some other festive recipes? Why not try our easy Merry Mix, fudgy Christmas Tree Brownies, delicious Christmas Cheesecake or our simple Christmas Popcorn?

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Ingredients and Substitutions
Variations
How to Make Cranberry Orange Muffins - Step by step
Serving Suggestion
Extra Tips
Frequently Asked Questions
More Muffin Recipes
Recipe
Feedback

Ingredients and Substitutions

All the ingredients needed for this recipe with text overlay labels.

A full ingredients list, along with US Customary and Metric measurements, can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.

Plain flour (all purpose flour) - We have tried making this cranberry orange muffin recipe with wholewheat flour, and even a mixture of the two, but they were just too dense for our liking.
Sugar - We used granulated sugar, although you could use a mixture of brown sugar and granulated for a richer flavour.
Butter - Unsalted butter is best for this cranberry muffin recipe.
Eggs - We used medium eggs in this recipe. If you use large eggs, it will change all the other amounts of ingredients.
Greek yogurt - Keep these muffins lighter by using a 0% fat Greek yogurt.
Vanilla - Use extract instead of essence, as you will have much more of a natural flavour.
Baking powder and soda - These are used to increase the volume and lighten the texture of baked goods
Cinnamon and ginger - These spices give the muffins a real Christmas feel. Feel free to adapt the amounts to suit your own tastes.
Orange - We used the juice and the zest for a real burst of orange flavour.
Milk - We used almond milk, but any milk would work in this recipe.
Cranberries - We used dried cranberries, as that is all we could find at the time, but fresh cranberries would work in this recipe too.
Chocolate chips - For an intense chocolate flavour, use dark chocolate chips. Milk or white would work too.

Variations

One of our favourite ways to adapt these muffins with cranberries, and to take them to the next level, to top them with a cream cheese frosting.

We mix together cream cheese, butter and icing sugar with a little vanilla and spread it on top of the muffins. Super indulgent, but delicious. You could also make a Greek yogurt frosting this way, for something a bit lighter.

You could also drizzle some white chocolate on them for something a little indulgent, but with minimal effort.

You can also swap the cranberries for dried blueberries or cherries and use different chocolate chips if you like. Chunks of fudge also work well.

How to Make Cranberry Orange Muffins - Step by step

Prep: Preheat your oven to 200°C/180°C(fan)/400°F/Gas 6. Grease a 12 hole muffin tin.

Butter and sugar mixed together in a bowl.

Step 1: In your stand mixer, or a large mixing bowl, mix the butter and sugar together until creamy and well combined.

Eggs, vanilla and yogurt added to the bowl.

Step 2: Add the yogurt, eggs and vanilla and combine.

Orange juice, zest and milk added to the bowl.

Step 3: Add the orange zest, orange juice and milk and mix gently.

A mixing bowl containing flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt.

Step 4: In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt.

Cake batter mixed together in a mixing bowl.

Step 5: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well.

Dried cranberries and chocolate chips added to the batter.

Step 6: Add the cranberries and dark chocolate chips and mix well.

A twelve hole muffin tin filled with batter.

Step 7: Divide the batter between the muffin pan and put in the oven for 30 minutes.

Step 8: Once cooked, allow to cool on a wire rack.

Serving Suggestion

Any of the following drinks will go perfectly with one of these cranberry muffins:

Extra Tips

You could use fresh cranberries instead of dried, but it might change the texture a little.
Don't over-mix your muffins, otherwise you will end up with dense and heavy muffins.
When using dried cranberries, it is best to soak them first, as it makes them a little juicier.
The dark chocolate chips in these muffins do make them sweet, but you could easily leave them out.
Mix things up a bit and swap the cranberries for dried cherries or sultanas.
Try using white chocolate chips instead of dark.
Sprinkle a few extra cranberries to the top of the muffins to make them look more presentable.
To make these gluten free, you could use almond flour, however it would make them a little dry.

A cooling rack with four muffins on it. A broken muffin is next to it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you make mini muffins with this mixture?

Our toddler LOVED these muffins, but they were a little bit too big for him. Not that he didn't give it a good go! You could easily make mini versions of these in a mini muffin tin so they were more toddler friendly. It would make them perfect for a kids party - something a little different.

Can you use fresh or frozen cranberries in these muffins?

Yes, you can use both. If you are using frozen, it is best to stir them into the batter when they are still frozen. If they defrost first, they can become very watery.

How to store cranberry orange muffins

You can store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Can you freeze orange cranberry muffins?

You certainly can and I would highly recommend it as these tasty muffins are seriously moreish. Once a batch of these are out of the oven, it is hard to keep your hands off them.
Once they have cooled down, wrap them individually, put them into a freezer-safe container and then put them in the freezer. You can then take them out one at a time when you want once. Ideal for kids lunch boxes, or relaxing with a cup of coffee before you get the kids from school.

Cranberry Orange Muffins on a wire rack with more muffins in the background.

More Muffin Recipes

If you’ve tried this orange muffin recipe, then let us know how you got on in the comments below.
Tag us in your creations on Instagram @hungryhealthyhappy - You can use the hashtag #hungryhealthyhappy too.