This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy.
These are the best orange cranberry muffins ever! They are super tender, fluffy, and moist with a sweet and tart flavor. They are topped with a delicious brown sugar streusel topping that gives them extra sweetness and crunch!
For more delicious muffin recipes, try my blueberry banana muffins, blackberry muffins with streusel topping, or my easy blueberry muffins.
Pin this now to find it later
Pin ItTable of Contents
- Orange Cranberry Muffins
- Why You’ll Love These Orange Cranberry Muffins
- Orange Cranberry Muffin Ingredient Notes
- How to Make Orange Cranberry Muffins
- Easy Streusel Topping
- Storage
- Recipe Variations
- Eden’s Tips
- Dried Cranberries and Frozen Cranberries
- More Festive Cranberry Recipes
- Orange Cranberry Muffins Recipe
Orange Cranberry Muffins
These are the fluffiest muffins, and you are going to love them! These are genuinely some of my favorite muffins. They have a perfectly soft, buttery flavor and are just what you need for the holiday season.
Cranberry and orange complement each other perfectly, too. I use this combination when making my orange cranberry cornbread and my cranberry orange relish and it’s so delicious! The tartness of the cranberries is a beautiful contrast to the sweet muffin and streusel topping.
This recipe is great for Thanksgiving, Christmas morning, brunch, or a winter snack when cranberries are in season! I love the pop of color the cranberries add! I’m covering everything you need to know and a step-by-step guide for making the best muffins.
Why You’ll Love These Orange Cranberry Muffins
- Moist and tender – We use oil, butter, and buttermilk to give these muffins a super tender, fluffy texture.
- Sweet and Tart – The tangy, tart cranberries and sweet batter are a match made in heaven.
- Streusel Topping – It’s an extra step, but there is nothing better than a crunchy streusel topping! It brings the muffins to the next level, and we use extra orange zest to give them a vibrant flavor.
- One Bowl – This recipe is made in one large mixing bowl, making it easy to whip up.
Orange Cranberry Muffin Ingredient Notes
This recipe uses simple ingredients that you can find at your local grocery store.
All-purpose flour is the best type of flour for muffins. You could also use whole wheat flour, but all-purpose gives the best results. See our guide to measuring flour when baking correctly.
Baking powder – This is used as a leavening agent to help the muffins rise. Always check the date on the baking powder for freshness.
Salt – Enhances the flavors in the recipe.
Eggs – Use large, organic eggs when possible.
Sugar – This recipe uses granulated white sugar in the muffin batter and brown sugar in the topping.
Vanilla extract – This adds flavor and enhances the flavor in all ingredients.
Buttermilk – Makes the muffins super tender and moist. You could make your own buttermilk using milk and lemon juice.
Unsalted Butter – Melted butter is added to give the muffins a buttery flavor and super moist texture.
Vegetable oil – This helps keep the muffins moist. You can also use canola oil, sunflower oil, or coconut oil.
Fresh cranberries – These muffins should be made with fresh cranberries, available at your local grocery store during cranberry season.
Orange zest – This adds all of the orange flavor and fragrance to the muffins.
How to Make Orange Cranberry Muffins
Preheat oven: Set oven to 425°F and line a muffin tin with paper liners.
Mix dry ingredients: Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl.
Combine wet ingredients: Mix eggs, sugar, vanilla, buttermilk, melted butter, oil, and orange zest until well combined.
Make batter: Gently fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients with a spatula just until moistened. Don’t overmix – batter should be lumpy.
Add cranberries: Fold in fresh cranberries just until coated in batter.
Fill muffin tin: Scoop about 1/4 cup of batter into each cup of the muffin pan.
Make streusel topping: In a small bowl, combine flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, orange zest, and melted butter until mixture forms crumbs.
Top muffins: Sprinkle 2-3 tablespoons of streusel over each muffin.
Bake: Bake at 425°F for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool: Let the cranberry orange muffins cool in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Easy Streusel Topping
Every muffin needs a streusel topping—it’s the icing on the cake! The best part is that it’s so easy to make.
Add flour, brown sugar, orange zest, and melted butter into a bowl and mix with a fork until the mixture crumbs.
Sprinkle it over the cupcake batter, and then bake to perfection!
Storage
Room Temperature
When stored in an airtight container at room temperature, these muffins will stay fresh for 2-3 days. When you want to reheat them, I recommend popping them in the microwave for 20 seconds. This will help keep them moist and soft!
Freezer
You can also freeze them for up to 2 months. Place them in a ziplock bag that is tightly sealed. For an even fresher muffin, you can wrap them individually with plastic wrap and then add them to a freezer-safe bag. Make sure to write the date on the outside of the bag.
When you want to thaw them, let them sit on the counter for 30 minutes or place them in the fridge overnight. You can also reheat them from frozen by putting them in the microwave for 30-45 seconds.
Recipe Variations
Mini Muffins – Make these into adorable mini muffins by using a mini muffin tin. Reduce the baking time to 6-8 minutes and watch them closely to avoid over-baking. Perfect for holiday brunches or parties!
Orange Cranberry Bread – Transform this recipe into a delicious quick bread by pouring the batter into a 9×5-inch loaf pan. Bake at 350°F for 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Drizzle with an orange glaze for extra sweetness.
Lemon Cranberry Muffins – Substitute lemon zest for the orange zest in both the batter and streusel topping. The bright lemon flavor pairs beautifully with the tart cranberries for a different but equally delicious flavor.
White Chocolate Cranberry Orange Muffins – Fold in 3/4 cup of white chocolate chips along with the cranberries. The creamy sweetness of white chocolate complements the tartness of the cranberries perfectly.
Cranberry Orange Muffins with Nuts – Add 3/4 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts to the batter for extra crunch and nutty flavor. You can also add chopped nuts to the streusel topping for additional texture.
Eden’s Tips
- Don’t Overmix: Mix just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Overmixing will result in tough muffins. The batter should have lumps.
- Fresh Ingredients: Be sure to use fresh cranberries and orange zest for the best flavor.
- Quality Ingredients: Use natural vanilla extract and real butter for the best taste. Always use good quality, organic ingredients when possible.
- Doneness Test: Use the toothpick method to test if the muffins are done.
- Ingredient Check: Check the dates for freshness on all ingredients before using them.
- Buttermilk Substitute: To make your own buttermilk, add 1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice to 1 cup of milk and let it sit for 5 minutes.
- No Liners: No worries if you don’t have paper liners. Spray each cupcake tin and the top of the pan with cooking spray; they will come out quickly when baked.
- Cranberry Options: While fresh cranberries are preferred, frozen cranberries are the best alternative if you can’t find them fresh. You may need to add a few extra minutes of baking time.
Dried Cranberries and Frozen Cranberries
For this recipe, we prefer that you use fresh cranberries, not dried or frozen. Frozen cranberries are the best if you can’t find them fresh and must use something else. However, you may need to add a few extra minutes of baking time.
More Festive Cranberry Recipes
- The Best Cranberry Moscow Mule
- Cranberry and Pistachio Biscotti
- Cranberry Jello Shots
- How to Make Cranberry Simple Syrup
- Cranberry Thyme Gin and Tonic
- Cranberry Martini
- Cranberry Vodka Christmas Punch Recipe
- Poinsettia Cocktail
If you want more delicious recipes, try my monkey bread muffins and bakery-style pistachio muffins! They’re also great for the holiday season!
If you make this orange cranberry muffin recipe, please let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment and review below.
You can also FOLLOW ME on INSTAGRAM, and PINTEREST to see more delicious recipes, cocktails, desserts, and parties!
My new Entertaining book is here! Order Now!
Orange Cranberry Muffins
Ingredients
Orange Cranberry Muffins
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter , melted
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 cups cranberries, fresh
- 3 tbsp orange zest
Streusel Topping
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 6 tbsp granulated sugar
- 6 tbsp brown sugar
- 8 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and prepare a muffin tin with paper liners.
- Add the flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder in a mixing bowl and whisk with a fork.
- Combine the wet ingredients, eggs, vanilla extract, butter, buttermilk, oil, orange zest, and sugar in a bowl and mix until combined.
- Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients using a spatula.
- Mix just until the dry ingredients are moistened, not fully mixed until smooth. The batter should have lumps in it.
- Add in the cranberries and just barely mix until coated in batter.
- Prepare a cupcake tin with paper liners and fill 1/4 cup of batter each.
- In a small bowl, combine the streusel ingredients and then crumble 2-3 tbsp over the top of each muffin.
- Bake in a 425-degree oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Keep a close eye on the bottoms…as to not burn them. Maybe a reduction in temperature would be a good idea. Also, you only need to make half of the streusel topping. These made my kitchen smell divine! Yummy.
I’m assuming this recipe makes 12 ? I didn’t see it mentioned anywhere how many tins to prepare
It does say it in the recipe card – it made 18 for me but depends on the size and how much you’re filling them.
These are so good! Thanks for the recipe. I made them dairy free with soy milk and a tsp of lemon juice as the buttermilk and vegan butter instead of regular. I also added a small squeeze of orange to the batter and used rehydrated cranberries instead of fresh and they’re perfect! Thanks again
I never write reviews but this recipe is delicious! Mine took longer than 10 min to bake though. Probably closer to 20-25 min and I had to add more flour to the crumble topping because mine was too wet. Overall great recipe! Thanks!
Thank you Emily!
Good recipe. Had to wade through an enormous amount of vacuous verbiage to get there, but hey, influencers must influence. Cheers.
There is a jump-to-recipe button at the top! But yes, that is how we get paid for posting free recipes.
Thanks! I know Google makes us write so much to try and rank on the 1st page, which in return is how we can make a little income for all of the work that gors into running a site. It’s a lot but we have a jump-to-recipe button at the top and you can click that and it will take you to the recipe!