These bakery style Orange Cranberry Muffins are bursting with vibrant citrus and fresh cranberry flavor. They bake up to a golden brown, fluffy, moist muffin that is perfect for anytime of year.
The moist, fluffy interior cake of this muffin has a sweet, buttery, orange flavor that combines so well with the fresh cranberries. If you love Orange Cranberry Bread you'll love these jumbo, bakery style muffins.
Ingredients
Before starting this recipe, you'll want to verify that you have the following ingredients:
- All-purpose, unbleached flour - Makes up the fluffy "cake" part of this muffin.
- Sugar - You'll need conventional granulated white sugar to make these muffins.
- Baking powder - Helps these muffins to rise in combination with the baking soda.
- Baking soda - Helps these muffins to rise in combination with the baking powder.
- Salt - Helps to enhance the flavor of these muffins and balance the sweetness.
- Orange - You'll need a healthy-skinned, fresh orange for the juice& zest. This gives the cake the delicious orange flavor.
- Egg - Binds ingredients and helps these to rise up.
- Buttermilk - Adds moisture to these muffins. *see notes below in recipe card to make your own.
- Butter - Unsalted, melted, butter adds moisture to these muffins.
- Cranberries - These taste best with whole, fresh cranberries. They will naturally burst in the batter when baking.
Equipment and Supplies Needed
We used the following equipment and supplies to make this recipe. Items that are optional or can be substituted will be noted.
- Jumbo Muffin Pan - Consider using a lightly colored baking sheet to prevent a dark ring around your muffin tops. I have since changed pans myself since mine was dark. Lighter pans will also not burn your baked good very quickly which is always a plus!
- Muffin Tin Liners - I buy white jumbo muffin tin liners at Walmart for around $1! They are perfect for baking jumbo muffins and peel off easily.
- Measuring cups & spoons - to measure ingredients out.
- Whisk - To combine dry ingredients.
- Wooden spoon - These combine nicely with just a good ole' fashioned wooden spoon-- no hand mixers needed!
- Citrus juicer & zester - Used to remove the juice & yummy skin zest from your orange(s).
- Ice cream scooper - Helps to scoop the batter neatly into the muffin pan liners.
Recipe Tips
This recipe is easy to make if you know the right tips and tricks! Here are my tips for ensuring your Cranberry Orange Muffins come out perfectly.
Cranberries
You do not need to precook, or chop your cranberries before baking. Despite the tartness of a whole, plain, cranberry, there is no need to precook them before adding them to this bread batter. Simply add them to the batter whole and they will burst while baking.
Homemade Buttermilk
Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to ⅔ cup of whole milk. Allow to sit for for 5-10 minutes.
Storage
If you want to store your Orange Cranberry Muffins, just follow these easy steps.
Freezer
- You can freeze cranberry orange loaf once it is fully cooled. Wrap in aluminum foil and then place it in an airtight freezer bag. If you can use a food saver that would work even better. As with most baked goods, this will last up to 3 months in a deep freezer.
Room Temperature
These muffins will last for up to 4 days at room temperature for best taste. Store them in a cool, dry, place in an airtight container.
Recipe
Follow the recipe below to make Cranberry Orange Muffins! This recipe makes 6 Jumbo Muffins, but you can adjust the recipe card for other serving sizes.
Jumbo Orange Cranberry Muffins
Equipment
- muffins tins
- large bowl
- Whisk
- spoon
- ice cream scoop
Ingredients
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar You can also use Domino Golden sugar, or an unprocessed version
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ cup fresh squeezed orange juice + zest zest entire large orange
- ⅔ cup buttermilk
- 1 cup fresh cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° Fahrenheit.
- Line your muffin tin with paper liners.
- Using a zester, remove outer orange zest skin. Do not zest more than the top layer because the pith is bitter. Once zested, roll orange on a hard surface to get juices flowing. Slice it in half and juice. You should have ⅓ cup of juice.
- Add flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and sugar to a large bowl and whisk until combined.
- Add egg, melted butter, juice, zest, and buttermilk to the bowl and combine with a wooden spoon until no more flour streaks. Fold in cranberries.
- Using an ice cream scooper, add batter to muffin tins. I made 6 jumbo muffins and 2 regular sized muffins. You should however be able to make 15 standard sized muffins.
- Bake muffins for 22-25 minutes. They time varies a little on these, so please check them at the 22 minute mark. They should be slightly golden brown and have springy tops once done.
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