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Three cranberry orange muffins stacked on wood board with cranberries, walnuts and orange slices scattered

Cranberry Orange Muffins

Bakery style Cranberry Orange Muffins filled with cranberries, orange juice, orange zest and walnuts are perfect for Thanksgiving, a holiday brunch or Christmas morning.

Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 12 Muffins

Ingredients

  • 2 eggs at room temperature
  • ½ cup canola or vegetable oil
  • ½ cup milk
  • 1 orange zested
  • ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
  • ¾ cup brown sugar
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 ½ cups fresh or frozen cranberries plus more for topping
  • 1 ¼ cups walnuts divided into ¾ cup roughly chopped and ½ cup finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons coarse sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 12 standard muffin cups by lining with paper muffin liners or silicon liners.

  2. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, oil, milk, orange zest and orange juice until blended. Add brown sugar and granulated sugar and whisk again until blended.

  3. In a large mixing bowl combine dry ingredients, flour, baking powder and salt and make a well in the centre.

  4. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and with a spatula stir just until combined and all the dry ingredients are absorbed. Batter will be thick. Gently fold in the cranberries and ¾ cup roughly chopped walnuts.

  5. Spoon the batter into each muffin cup, filling them level with the rim. Lightly press in additional cranberries on top of each muffin.

  6. Sprinkle top of muffins with coarse sugar and ½ cup finely chopped walnuts.

  7. Bake until golden about 22 - 25 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes then un-mold the muffins and cool completely on a rack.

Recipe Notes

Recipe Notes:
1. Use paper or silicon muffin liners since the cranberries burst when baked and if they make direct
contact with the metal tin they tend to burn and stick.
2. Remember to zest one of the oranges before you juice it.
3. Measure the flour correctly to avoid dense muffins. Fluff the flour with a spoon, sprinkle it into the
measuring cup and use the flat edge of a knife to level it off.
4. Use a spatula instead of an electric mixer to blend the ingredients and mix just until the dry ingredients are combined.
5. For fluffy muffins do not over-bake. Bake on middle rack at the recommended temperature and time or just to a pale golden colour and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.