Orange Cranberry Muffins

Behind This Orange Cranberry Muffins Recipe

Don’t fancy yourself a muffin person? Me either. But I am convinced these orange cranberry muffins (sort of like my Pistachio Muffins) can turn everyone into muffin lovers!!

I associate the name muffin with an often dry pastry that requires coffee in order to make it enjoyable. But these are way better than even eating a cupcake!

Think cupcake meets pound cake – that’s the texture of these zesty and buttery orange cranberry muffins. The secret to these muffins having the perfect buttery crumb and extremely moist texture is, of course, butter and sour cream!

The best part is that these orange cranberry muffins can be whipped up in just a few minutes without any mixer or hand mixer. It took me less than ten minutes to prepare these last time I made them, and I only dirtied two bowls!

Tips from My Kitchen

• My favorite liners. I tested multiple types of muffin liners and these parchment tulip liners are my favorite, as are the lotus liners. You can also find the lotus liners at the grocery stores, but they are a bit wider and shorter than these ones. These stand tall and pretty!
• Use the right grater. There are many types of microplanes and graters out there. Make sure you pick the right one for zesting orange peel. This is the one I have owned for ~8 years now.
• Use an ice cream scoop. Ice cream scoops are incredible for muffin batter measuring (and for bakery-sized cookie dough balls).
• Make standard-sized muffins. You can forego the bakery-sized parchment liners and do standard cupcake sizes instead. Just be sure to note the baking time difference in the “Notes” section of the recipe.
• Spoon the glaze on top. I wouldn’t recommend dunking the muffins head first into the glaze unless you are using standard sized liners. It would be a bit cumbersome and messy with parchment liners. In this instance, I just spooned the glaze over the tops!

Key Ingredients

Here are the ingredients you’ll need to throw together these tender and buttery cranberry orange muffins for the holiday season:

• Cranberries – Dried tart cranberries are used, but you can also use fresh cranberries.
• Oranges – Fresh orange is used both for the zest and for the juice.
• Dry Ingredients – All-purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt.
• Melted butter – For this recipe, I use Irish butter, which takes a step further to capture the ultimate richness. Irish butter (Kerrygold, Presidente, etc.) is creamier and a little saltier than traditional butter. The taste difference is incredible, and I highly recommend it, although regular butter can easily be substituted.
• Sour cream – Not only does the sour cream add a little tang to the flavor (which pairs perfectly with the zippy zest of orange!), but the acidity also reduces some of the sweetness and really balances the flavor. But most importantly, that moisture in the sour cream just locks right into the muffin and yields the most tender, moist texture.
• Eggs – Adds structure to the muffins.
• Vanilla extract – Adds another layer of flavor to the muffins.
• Powdered sugar – For the orange glaze on top!

Storage

These cranberry orange muffins are best served immediately, but if they don’t get all gobbled up, be sure to store them in either a domed cake stand or another airtight container. I don’t like my baked goods to sit out very long, but these are good for a few days.

If you want to keep them around longer, they also freeze well. Be sure to let the muffins cool completely. Avoid any glaze/topping and just freeze them plain. I’d recommend wrapping each muffin tightly in cling wrap, then in a freezer bag or airtight container.

Looking for More Cranberry Recipes?

Cranberry is such a great seasonal flavor and I love to incorporate it into sweet and savory dishes in the winter. Chocolate Cranberry Cream Pie is a tart and delicious twist on classic chocolate cream pie, and this Cranberry Jalapeno Cream Cheese Dip is a big hit at parties. And, of course, it’s not the holidays without some Cranberry Sauce.