A Tart & Sweet Classic Muffin Recipe
Last year when I shared my cranberry white chocolate muffins, many of you requested instructions for making them into cranberry orange muffins. I proceeded to stock up on all the fresh cranberries I could get my hands on and got to work perfecting this one. I think you’re going to enjoy it as much as I do..!
Why you’ll love this recipe:
Easy recipe: no mixer and no hard-to-find ingredients required. Made without artificial flavors or extracts: we’ll use the juice and zest of fresh oranges instead! Gorgeous tall muffin tops, thanks to my favorite muffin baking method (also used in my banana muffin recipe!). Sweet oranges and tart cranberries create such a well balanced flavor. Make them with a crumb topping: skip the sugar topping and top your cranberry orange muffins with streusel topping instead!
What You Need
While cranberries and oranges are a given, there are a few more key ingredients you should know about before we get started.
Sour cream. Similar to buttermilk, sour cream adds depth of flavor and moisture to these muffins. Don’t worry, your muffins won’t taste like sour cream–but they will be even more flavorful because of it! Plain, full-fat Greek yogurt could be substituted in a pinch. Sugar. We’ll add sugar in the batter and an extra sprinkling on top to balance the tartness from the cranberries. Cornstarch. If you’ve been around for a little while, you know the drill here! Cornstarch is my go-to ingredient for tender, melt-in-your-mouth baked goods. Don’t skip it! Oranges. You will need at least 2 fresh oranges today, maybe more. How many you need really depends on the size of your oranges. If you end up having some leftover, make some orange rolls! Cranberries. Stick with fresh or frozen cranberries here. If you use frozen, there’s no need to thaw your berries before adding them to the batter.
Notice we aren’t using vanilla extract in this recipe–this is intentional. I found it diminished the fresh orange flavor too much. SAM’S TIP: When zesting your oranges (always zest before juicing) make sure to only zest the orange skin and avoid the papery white layer beneath. That layer is called the pith, and it can be bitter. 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 Orange Muffins
SAM’S TIP: Do not over-mix your batter! If you do, you will create dry, dense muffins. Combine the wet and dry ingredients until just combined, then stop. These muffins would be perfect served for breakfast on Thanksgiving or Christmas! I can’t wait to hear how you like them 🥰 Enjoy! Let’s bake together! Subscribe to my newsletter to be notified of all the newest recipes and follow along on YouTube where I share hundreds of free recipe tutorials! 💜
Related Recipes
