As cranberries are still in season, it is a great time to incorporate them into recipes. Fresh cranberries are a great inclusion for sweet baked goods as it has a distinct sharp flavour that balances the sweetness. And if you like a combination of sweet and sour, these cranberry orange muffins will become one of your go-to festive recipes. This recipe combines orange juice, fresh cranberries and a touch of orange zest.
My favourite thing about this cranberry orange muffin recipe is that it is light and airy on the inside and crunchy on the top. And the combination of spices and orange zest smells like absolute heaven when they are in the oven!
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You can enjoy these cranberry orange muffins for breakfast or as a sweet companion to your afternoon tea or coffee. It is also a great recipe to make when you have some guests over for breakfast or brunch. This recipe makes 12 large muffins. Make sure you keep them in an airtight kitchen container after they are completely cooled down. Muffins will stay fresh for at least 3 days at room temperature. If you are worried that it may be too much for you, sharing is caring. Share it with your friends, family and even neighbours! They are also freezer friendly so you can store them in the freezer for up to 3 months.
I hope you enjoy the process of making these cranberry orange muffins as much as you would enjoy eating them! 🙂
Bon appétit! / Afiyet olsun!
Cranberry Orange Muffins
Ingredients
- 350 g all purpose flour
- 200 g caster (granulated) sugar
- 115 g unsalted butter (melted and cooled down for 10 minutes)
- 2 eggs (at room temperature)
- 2 TSP vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp orange zest (finely grated)
- ½ TSP sea salt
- ½ TSP ground cardamom
- ⅓ TSP ground nutmeg
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 80 ml orange juice
- 200 g fresh cranberries (you can use frozen cranberries but do not use dried cranberries)
- 220 ml buttermilk (at room temperature)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 175 °C / 350 °F.
- Place the muffin baking papers into a medium-sized 12-cup muffin mould (I use 12 cup – 38 x 27 x 3 cm muffin mould) and set aside until needed.
- In a medium bowl, toss the cranberries with a handful of flour and have the cranberries covered with a thin layer of flour.
- In a large bowl, stir the flour, baking powder, sea salt, ground cardamom, ground nutmeg and set aside.
- In another large bowl, combine the melted butter, sugar, vanilla extract and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until the mixture is well combined. Do not over mix it.
- Add eggs one at a time to the wet mixture and beat the mixture until eggs are well combined. Set the batter aside.
- In a separate bowl, mix the buttermilk and orange juice and whisk until it is combined well.
- At this stage, either switch to a hand whisker or silicone spatula. To the egg mixture, slowly add the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture by alternating between them until all 3 mixtures are fully combined. Make sure not to over mix at this stage, only gently fold the mixture to make sure everything is combined well.
- Add the cranberries and the orange zest to the batter and gently fold them into the mixture.
- Divide the batter evenly among the 12 moulds with the help of an ice-cream scooper or a tablespoon.
- Bake the muffins for around 25 minutes or until the top of the muffins get lightly golden brown. If you are not sure, insert a toothpick to see if it comes out clean.
- Let the muffins cool down for at least 15 minutes in the tray before transferring to a cooling rack.
Did you make this recipe?
Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and tag @cookingorgeous on Instagram and hashtag it #cookingorgeous.
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