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The Best Cranberry Orange Muffins with a Crumb Topping
Sweet, just a little tangy and loaded with bright fruity flavor, these Cranberry Orange Muffins are soft, moist, and topped with a delicious crumb topping.
Equipment
- 1 whisk
- 1 12-cup muffin tin (or 2; see Note 1)
- 1 food processor optional (see Note 2)
Ingredients
Cranberry Orange Muffins
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup plus ½ tsp granulated sugar, divided
- 2 large eggs, ideally room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp orange zest
- ½ cup milk, ideally room temperature (whole milk is best but any percentage works)
- ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries (don't thaw if frozen; see Note 2)
- neutral oil or cooking spray, for greasing
Crumb Topping
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ½ tsp orange zest
- â…“ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup all purpose flour
Instructions
Cranberry Orange Muffins
- Pulse half the cranberries in the food processor in short pulses for no more than a total of 10 seconds until you have large pieces (optional; see Note 2)
- Add the orange zest and ½ tsp sugar to a small bowl
- Using a fork or your fingers, rub the zest and sugar together (this helps extract the orange oils from the zest and gives extra orange flavor to the muffins)
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside
- In a large bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 cup sugar, eggs, vanilla, orange zest, milk, orange juice and melted until combined
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined, then gently mix in the cranberries (don’t mix too much or they’ll make streaks in the batter)
- Let the batter rest in the bowl for 10 mins
- Preheat the oven to 375℉ and lightly grease your muffin tin
Crumb Topping
- Combine the orange zest, butter, flour and sugar in a small bowl and mix with your hands or a spoon until large crumbs form
- Scoop the batter into the muffin tin â…” of the way up then top with the crumble topping (see Notes 1 & 3)
- Bake for 16-20 mins or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean
- Allow to cool for 15 minutes in the muffin tin then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely
Notes
Note 1: This recipe makes 24 small muffins. Either use 2 muffins tins or bake the muffins in 2 batches. If you have a large, deep muffin tin, you can also make 12-14 large muffins instead.
Note 2: Both fresh or frozen cranberries work for this recipe. If they’re frozen, DO NOT thaw them or they will discolor the batter. I like to pulse half the cranberries in the food processor for a few seconds then mix in large pieces and whole cranberries into the batter. If you prefer, you can just mix all the cranberries in whole and skip this step.
Note 3: If you like your muffins with large, domed tops, follow this tip instead: only fill every other cup and fill them almost all the way up; this method works best with muffin tin liners. You’ll have to bake the muffins in batches, but the tops will be large and rounded.
Nutrition Facts are calculated automatically and may be inaccurate.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 muffinCalories: 164kcalCarbohydrates: 24gProtein: 2gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.4gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 30mgSodium: 122mgPotassium: 49mgFiber: 1gSugar: 12gVitamin A: 233IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 24mgIron: 1mg
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