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!
They’re the fluffiest muffins, and you are going to love them! These are genuinely some of my favorite muffins. They are similar to my famous blueberry muffins, banana blueberry muffins, and blackberry muffins, and they have the same soft buttery flavor.
Cranberry and orange complement each other perfectly, too. I use this combination when making my orange cranberry cornbread, 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 this recipe works
- Incredibly moist and Tender Muffins—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 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.
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!
Expert Tips for Making Fluffy Muffins
- Do not overmix the batter. Overmixing will result in tough muffins. The batter should have lumps.
- Be sure to use fresh cranberries and orange zest for the best flavor.
- Use natural vanilla extract and real butter for the best taste.
- Use the toothpick method to test if the muffins are done.
- Always use good quality, organic ingredients when possible.
- Check the dates for freshness on all ingredients before using them.
- 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 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.
FAQ: Can I use dried cranberries or frozen cranberries?
For this recipe, we prefer that you use fresh cranberries. 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.
How to Store
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!
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.
More Festive Cranberry Recipes
- The Best Cranberry Moscow Mule
- Cranberry and Pistachio Biscotti
- Cranberry Jello Shots
- How to Make Cranberry Simple Syrup
If you want more delicious recipes, try my monkey bread muffins and bakery-style pistachio muffins! They’re also great for the holiday season!
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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.
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!