Description
These Fresh Cranberry Orange Muffins are a delightful blend of tart cranberries and bright orange zest, baked to golden perfection. Made with wholesome whole wheat flour and naturally sweetened with honey or maple syrup, these muffins offer a moist, tender crumb with a subtle crunch from turbinado sugar on top. Perfect for breakfast or a healthy snack, they can easily be adapted for vegan, dairy-free, egg-free, and gluten-free diets.
Ingredients
Scale
Fruit
- 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar (also called raw sugar), for sprinkling on top
Wet Ingredients
- ⅓ cup melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil or melted unsalted butter
- ¾ cup honey or maple syrup
- 2 eggs, preferably at room temperature
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Zest from 1 medium orange (about 1 teaspoon), preferably organic
Instructions
- Preheat the oven: Set your oven temperature to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease all 12 cups of your muffin tin or line them with muffin papers to prevent sticking.
- Prepare the cranberries: Pulse the cranberries in a food processor for about 5 seconds just until they break into small pieces but not pureed. Set aside to fold later.
- Mix dry ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, stir together the whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, and fine salt until evenly combined.
- Combine wet ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk the melted oil with the honey until smooth. Add the eggs and whisk until blended. Then add the Greek yogurt, vanilla extract, and orange zest, mixing well to incorporate all flavors.
- Make the batter: Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients. Stir gently with a large spoon until just combined; some lumps are fine. Carefully fold in the chopped cranberries, making sure they are evenly distributed but not overmixed.
- Fill the muffin cups: Divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups, filling each nearly to the top. Sprinkle the turbinado sugar evenly over each muffin for a lovely crunch and sweet finish.
- Bake the muffins: Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 18 minutes, or until the tops turn golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
- Cool and serve: Transfer the muffin tin to a cooling rack and allow the muffins to cool. You may need to loosen the edges gently with a butter knife to remove them easily from the pan. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, refrigerate for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
- Recipe adapted from a healthy blueberry muffins base.
- Use Greek yogurt with any fat content; higher fat yogurt yields richer muffins.
- Plain yogurt can substitute Greek yogurt, but muffins may not rise as high.
- For a vegan version, replace eggs with flax eggs and yogurt with vegan buttermilk (⅔ cup non-dairy milk + 2 teaspoons vinegar) or 1 cup thick vegan yogurt.
- To make dairy-free, use the vegan buttermilk substitute.
- For egg-free, substitute flax eggs for regular eggs.
- For gluten-free, use a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend instead of whole wheat flour.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 muffin
- Calories: 210
- Sugar: 14g
- Sodium: 140mg
- Fat: 8g
- Saturated Fat: 2g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 30g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 5g
- Cholesterol: 35mg
