Bake irresistible Cranberry Orange Muffins with bright citrus zest, tart cranberries, and a soft, fluffy crumb!
There’s nothing quite like the burst of citrus and tart berry you get from Cranberry Orange Muffins—bright, buttery, and impossibly cozy all at once!
Ingredients For Cranberry Orange Muffins
This batch gives you 12 big, bakery-style muffins or 14–16 slightly smaller ones, depending on your pan and how boldly you scoop.
For The Muffin Batter
- All-purpose flour – 2 cups (250 g), spooned and leveled
- Baking powder – 2 ½ tsp
- Baking soda – ¼ tsp
- Fine sea salt – ½ tsp
- Granulated sugar – ¾ cup (150 g)
- Light brown sugar – ¼ cup (50 g), packed
- Fresh orange zest – 2 tbsp (from 2 medium oranges)
- Fresh orange juice – ½ cup (120 ml)
- Whole milk or buttermilk – ½ cup (120 ml), at room temperature
- Unsalted butter – ½ cup (1 stick / 113 g), melted and slightly cooled
- Neutral oil (vegetable, canola, or sunflower) – ¼ cup (60 ml)
- Large eggs – 2, at room temperature
- Pure vanilla extract – 2 tsp
- Fresh or frozen cranberries – 1 ½ cups, halved if large – If using frozen, do not thaw
- Extra 1–2 tbsp flour for tossing the cranberries
For The Orange Sugar Topping (Optional But Very Worth It!!!)
- Granulated sugar – 3 tbsp
- Orange zest – 1 tsp
For The Simple Orange Glaze (Optional)
- Powdered sugar – ¾–1 cup (90–120 g), sifted
- Fresh orange juice – 2–3 tbsp
- Tiny pinch of salt – a pinch between two fingers
You decide: sugar topping, glaze, or both if you’re in a festive mood. I usually am.
How To Build Tall, Moist Cranberry Orange Muffins
Step 1: Prep Your Pan And Preheat Like You Mean It
- Set your oven to 425°F (220°C). This initial high heat gives you sky-high muffin tops.
- Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
- If you have extra batter later, you’ll grease or line a second pan or reuse this one for a mini batch.
- Place the pan on a sturdy baking sheet if your oven runs hot; it gives you a more even bake.
Step 2: Make The Orange Sugar Topping
- You mix this first so the zest perfumes the sugar while you work.
In a small bowl, rub together:
- 3 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp orange zest
- Use your fingertips to pinch and rub the zest into the sugar until it feels slightly damp and smells intensely citrusy.
- Set aside. This little bowl is your muffin glitter later.
Step 3: Whisk The Dry Ingredients
In a large mixing bowl, add:
- 2 cups flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Granulated sugar
- Brown sugar
- Whisk everything together until no streaks of brown sugar remain and the mixture looks uniform.
- Take 1–2 tbsp of this flour mixture and set it aside in a small bowl; you’ll use it to toss the cranberries.
This step keeps the cranberries from sinking to the bottom like they’re trying to escape.
Step 4: Whisk The Wet Ingredients
You’re building a smooth, flavorful mixture before it meets the flour. In a medium bowl or large measuring jug, add:
- Orange zest (2 tbsp)
- Orange juice (½ cup)
- Milk or buttermilk (½ cup)
- Melted butter (½ cup) – it should feel warm, not scorching
- Neutral oil (¼ cup)
- 2 eggs
- Vanilla extract (2 tsp)
- Whisk until the mixture looks smooth, glossy, and unified. No floating egg streaks, no pools of fat.
The combo of butter plus oil gives you both flavor and a truly soft crumb that stays that way the next day.
Step 5: Fold Wet And Dry Together Without Beating The Life Out Of It
This is the crucial “do not overmix” moment.
- Make a well in the center of your dry mixture.
- Pour the wet mixture into the well.
- Switch to a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.
- Gently fold the wet and dry together:
- Swipe your spatula down the center, scoop underneath, and fold over.
- Rotate the bowl a quarter turn and repeat.
- Keep going until most of the flour is incorporated and you see only small streaks of dry flour.
The batter should look thick, slightly lumpy, and not overworked. If it looks silky smooth like cake batter, you went too far; the muffins still bake, but they lose some tenderness.
Step 6: Toss The Cranberries And Add Them At The Right Moment
- Add your halved cranberries to the reserved flour mixture.
- Toss until they look lightly coated in flour. This helps them stay suspended in the batter.
Now:
- Sprinkle the floured cranberries over the batter.
- Fold them in gently with 3–4 broad strokes, just until they look evenly distributed.
You now have a batter that looks like holiday confetti, which is exactly the goal.
Step 7: Fill The Muffin Cups Like A Bakery, Not Like A Box Mix
This recipe wants you to fill boldly.
- Use a large cookie scoop or a spoon to divide the batter among the muffin cups.
- Fill each liner almost to the top—about ¾ full, even slightly more.
- This generous fill is what gives you tall muffin domes instead of flat cupcakes.
- If you end up with a bit of extra batter, grease or line another tin and scoop a couple of bonus muffins. Nothing tragic about that.
- Sprinkle the orange sugar topping evenly over each muffin.
- Press it very gently with your fingertips so it sticks to the batter.
Now they look like they’re wearing tiny citrus crowns.
Step 8: Bake High, Then Lower The Heat
You use the oven temperature like a tool here.
- Place the muffin tin on the middle rack.
- Bake at 425°F (220°C) for 5 minutes.
- This blast of high heat lifts the tops quickly and sets the outer edge.
- Without opening the oven door, reduce the temperature to 350°F (175°C).
Continue baking for 13–16 minutes, depending on your oven, until:
- The tops look golden with deeper color around the edges.
- A toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out with a few moist crumbs, not wet batter.
- Total bake time: around 18–21 minutes from the start.
If your oven runs hot on one side, rotate the pan once during the lower-temperature bake. Do it quickly so you don’t let all the heat escape.
Step 9: Cool Without Steaming The Bottoms To Death
- Remove the pan from the oven and set it on a wire rack.
- Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes.
- After that, gently lift each muffin out and place it directly on the rack to cool further.
- Leaving them in the hot pan too long traps steam and turns the liners soggy. You want them to breathe.
You serve these warm, at room temperature, or slightly rewarmed later. They behave beautifully in all three conditions.
Optional Orange Glaze For Extra Drama
You already have orange sugar on top, so this glaze is purely for those days when you want the muffins to wink at people. In a small bowl, whisk together:
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp orange juice
- Tiny pinch of salt
- Whisk until smooth and thick but pourable.
- If it looks too thick, add a tiny splash more orange juice.
- If it looks too thin, add a spoonful more powdered sugar.
- Once the muffins are completely cool, drizzle the glaze over the tops in zigzags or slow, lazy lines.
- The glaze sets slightly after a few minutes, so you still get that pretty sheen without sticky chaos.
The next time you’re standing in your kitchen in fuzzy socks, coffee brewing, and you pull a tray of these Cranberry Orange Muffins from the oven, you’ll feel exactly why this recipe deserves a permanent spot in your holiday (and honestly, year-round) breakfast rotation.
