These easy orange cranberry muffins are moist and fluffy, bursting with fresh, tart berries and bright citrus flavor, and finished with a crunchy sugar topping.
Table of Contents
If you’re looking for even more ways to enjoy cranberries this season, be sure to try this cranberry pie, a loaf of one-bowl pumpkin cranberry bread, and these cranberry orange scones, too!
Great flavor, excellent!!
– Bethany
You can’t beat the ease of a one-bowl muffin recipe that doesn’t require any electric mixers or other fancy equipment — just some elbow grease, simple ingredients, and 15 minutes of prep! They’re perfect for an afternoon snack with a cup of coffee, in the bread basket on your Thanksgiving table, and for a make-ahead option on Christmas morning.
What to Know Before You Get STarted
- You can use either fresh or frozen cranberries in this recipe. If you’re starting with frozen cranberries, do not thaw them before adding the cranberries to the batter. Halve or coarsely chop the larger berries (small cranberries that are about the size of blueberries can be left whole).
- While I prefer the tart burst of flavor from fresh or frozen cranberries, dried cranberries (such as Craisins) will also work in this recipe.
- Sour cream provides an acidic element that helps the muffins rise. It also gives them a moist, tender texture, while keeping the batter thick so that the muffins rise high and have a nice dome. Use a full-fat sour cream (not light) for the best flavor and texture. You can also substitute with a full-fat plain Greek yogurt.
- When zesting the orange, be sure that you only scrape off the outer layer of the peel (this is where the essential oils and delicious orange flavor can be found). Be careful not to grate any of the bitter white pith.
Directions
These muffins are a great option for prep-ahead breakfasts, a festive holiday side dish, or a quick addition to the weeknight bread basket. Best of all, you can stir together the batter in about 15 minutes — no electric or stand mixer required!
- Whisk together the melted butter, sugar, orange zest, sour cream, egg, and vanilla extract in a large bowl.
- Sprinkle the baking powder, baking soda, and salt over top. Whisk to combine.
- Add the flour and gently stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, just until combined. Do not over mix. The batter will be nice and thick!
- Fold in the cranberries (and nuts, if you’re using them). The key to a perfect muffin is just barely mixing the ingredients. You want them to come together, but a few lumps are fine. This way they’ll stay moist and tender!
- Divide the batter evenly between 9 muffin cups in a standard size muffin pan. Fill the muffin cups nice and full. I like to use an ice cream scoop to make sure that each cup has an equal amount of batter, ensuring that the muffins bake evenly in the oven.
- Sprinkle the top of each muffin with plenty of coarse sugar. This creates those deliciously crunchy, bakery-style, sugar-crusted muffin tops! This is the brand that I use, but any similar sparkling sugar will work.
- Bake in a 375°F oven for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
- Cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. The muffins are tasty on their own, but they’re also delicious when served warm and spread with butter, honey, or a dollop of orange marmalade.
Storage Tips
Allow the muffins to cool completely. Store cooled muffins in a large Ziploc freezer bag or other airtight container. The muffins will last for 2-3 days at room temperature, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
If the muffins are frozen, allow them to sit on the counter for a few minutes while you preheat the oven to 350°F. Frozen muffins will require about 10-12 minutes in the oven; room temperature muffins will only need about 5 minutes to warm through.
Easy and delicious…
– Lea
Did you make this recipe?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a comment with a 5-star review at the bottom of the post. Thank you!
Easy Orange Cranberry Muffins
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons salted butter, melted
- ½ cup sugar
- Zest from 1 orange
- ¾ cup (6 ounces) sour cream
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ cups fresh or frozen cranberries (very large cranberries halved)
- Optional: ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
- Coarse sugar, for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a muffin tin with 9 paper liners. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sugar, orange zest, sour cream, egg, and vanilla extract. Sprinkle the baking powder, baking soda, and salt over top. Whisk to combine. Add the flour and gently stir with a wooden spoon or spatula, just until combined and no dry streaks of flour remain. The batter will be nice and thick!
- Fold in the cranberries and nuts (is using).
- Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Sprinkle the top of each muffin with coarse sugar. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into each muffin comes out clean and the tops are golden.
- Cool muffins in the pan for about 5 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe Variations
- Add this streusel topping. Sprinkle on top of the muffin batter, pressing down gently. Bake according to recipe instructions.
- Top the muffins with an orange glaze like this one.
- Double the ingredients to bake 18 muffins instead of just 9.
- Blueberry cranberry muffins: Use ¾ cup of fresh or frozen blueberries and ¾ cup of fresh or frozen cranberries for a nice combination of sweet-and-tart ingredients. You do not need to thaw frozen blueberries and you do not need to halve or chop the blueberries before adding them to the batter.
- Use dried cranberries instead of fresh cranberries.
- Add ½ cup chocolate chips to the batter instead of nuts.
More Recipes with Fresh Cranberries
Apple Cranberry Crisp
1 hour hr 10 minutes mins
Cranberry Muffins
45 minutes mins
Cranberry Bread
3 hours hrs 25 minutes mins
This recipe was originally published in November, 2022. It was updated in October, 2024.
Very easy and excellent!!
Thank you, Bethany!
Great flavor, excellent!!
Thank you so much!
I only have unsalted butter, how much salt do I add?
Thanks
Hi Kendra! The general rule of thumb is to add 1/4 tsp of salt for every half cup (1 stick or ยผ lb) of salted butter. So, we recommend adding a little over 1/4 and adjusting to taste. Hope that helps!
Easy and delicious. The batter is thick so don’t be concerned about that. I took the cranberries canned and pushed them through a fine mesh strainer. Threw out the juice and in another bowl scraped the outside of the strainer. Then I took a half teaspoon of cranberry puree and swirled in the muffin after I put the batter in the pan. I also used orange extract instead of vanilla. Great recipe with many flavors. options.
Thank you for such a detailed review, Lea! We’re so glad you enjoyed the recipe.
How would I turn this into a 8×8 baking pan?
Thank You
Hi, Eileen! I haven’t tried that, so I’m not exactly sure. I would guess it will need about 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees. You can definitely bake it in loaf pan for about 50-60 minutes, too.
Absolutely amazing!! So moist and full of flavor. Perfect amount of sweet too. I used dried cranberries and they worked out great! New favorite.
Thank you, Jaina. That makes me so happy to hear!