Fresh Cranberry Muffins
These cranberry muffins are so soft and fluffy, and each is bite packed with an array of flavors, from warm notes of vanilla and surprise pops of tangy cranberry, to sweet bits of white chocolate. Today’s batter is adapted from my popular basic muffin recipe. I use this in many of my recipes, like my chocolate chip muffins, because, well, it works! It consistently produces a light, tender, soft crumb that complements just about any filling (and it took me months upon months to develop it, so I don’t feel bad making it pull its weight around here). It’s the perfect vehicle for tart fresh cranberries and mellow, slightly caramelized white chocolate The flavor of these muffins is sweet and tart, with juicy tart cranberries that are almost a pleasant shock against the sweet muffin crumb and white chocolate. Sugar on top gives that sugared cranberry effect, which is the perfect frosty crown to these festive muffins.
Why you’ll love my recipe:
No mixer required.Fast–just 15 minutes of prep before baking!Uses my favorite technique for tall muffin tops.Yields incredibly soft, fluffy, and flavorful cranberry muffins!
What You Need
Mostly basic ingredients, let’s talk about a few of them:
Cranberries. We’re using fresh cranberries here for the most flavorful results. Frozen cranberries will work too; just add them into the batter (no need to thaw first!).Egg + egg white. Just like my strawberry muffins, adding an extra egg white makes these cranberry muffins nice and fluffy.Buttermilk. Buttermilk adds moisture and flavor to our muffins. While I highly recommend using the real thing for best results, my buttermilk substitute will work in a pinch.Cornstarch. Cornstarch adds to the soft, tender texture of these cranberry muffins. One day I might just do a standalone post on the wonders of this seemingly simple ingredient and the magic it works in recipes, would that interest you? White chocolate. You can use either chocolate chips or a chopped chocolate bar. I recommend using a higher quality chocolate for the best, tastiest results, as many white chocolate chips contain various ingredients that are a bit less than desirable. Sure, it helps the chips keep their shape, but we lose more than I’d like in flavor by going that route.
SAM’S TIP: Your white chocolate chips/chunks may look a bit golden after baking–this isn’t just normal, it’s what we want! This simply means the chocolate caramelized in the oven, which honestly makes the flavor even better. Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Cranberry Muffins
SAM’S TIP: Removing your cranberry muffins from the pan shortly after baking helps prevent soggy muffin liners. Speaking of, if you’re looking for that bakery effect you can always make your own parchment paper muffin liners! If you love these cranberry muffins, you should try my cranberry bundt cake! Enjoy! Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Related Recipes
I originally published this recipe in 2015. I’ve updated it to make the muffins softer and fluffier and the method easier to follow.
