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This cranberry orange muffins recipe is moist and sweet, with pops of tart berries and zingy orange zest. They’re perfect!

Cranberry orange muffins
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Here’s a muffin recipe that shot to the top of our favorites list: these Cranberry Orange Muffins! They’re soft and fluffy, scented with zingy orange zest and pops of sweet tart cranberries. The best part? A sweet orange icing glaze brings in just the right extra pop of sweetness to balance the berries. They’re ideal for fall and winter when cranberries are seasonal, but we love them so much we make them year round: the sweet tart flavor is just that good! We might like them even better than blueberry muffins (gasp!).

Ingredients in cranberry orange muffins

These cranberry orange muffins are a riff on our classic blueberry muffins recipe: fluffy, tall muffins with just the right moist crumb. It’s our preference to use oil in muffins instead of butter, which keeps them extremely moist and makes the baking process easier: you don’t have to use a mixer to cream the butter and sugar! Just a bowl and a whisk will do.

We made this recipe for our family over Thanksgiving and they raved about these muffins! We hope you’ll love them as much as we do. They’re ideal for a special breakfast or brunch (like Christmas breakfast). Here’s what you need for this recipe:

  • All purpose flour
  • Sugar
  • Cinnamon
  • Baking powder
  • Salt
  • Eggs
  • Honey
  • Vegetable oil
  • Greek yogurt
  • Milk
  • Apple cider vinegar
  • Orange zest
  • Fresh or frozen cranberries
  • Powered sugar
Cranberry orange muffins recipe

Tips for baking cranberry orange muffins

These cranberry orange muffins are simple to put together, as most muffin recipes are. Mix the dry ingredients, mix the wet ingredients, combine, and bake! Here are a few notes on the process:

  • Add a hefty amount of orange zest. 2 tablespoons orange zest might seem like a lot, but it’s crucial for the orange flavor. You’ll need 2 medium oranges for this amount (or 1 very large).
  • Resist the urge to overmix. Overmixing muffin batter causes holes in the crumb and a denser texture. Mix just until the streaks of flour disappear.
  • Baking at 400 degrees makes a taller muffin. After experimenting for years, our favorite temperature for baking muffins is 400 degrees Fahrenheit (versus 350 which is standard). It makes a taller and fluffier muffin: and it’s quicker to bake!
Cranberry orange muffins

Notes for the icing glaze

These cranberry orange muffins aren’t complete without the orange glaze: it adds just the right pop of sweetness. It’s like adding a few more pinches of salt to a savory dish to bring out the flavor even more.

  • All you need are powdered sugar and orange juice, which you’ll mix into a thick icing. You can use the fresh juice from one of the oranges you zested for the muffins. Or, milk works too!
  • Make sure to let the muffins cool completely before drizzling the icing. Otherwise, the icing will melt and not hold up.
  • A fork makes the best icing drizzle. Nope, not a spoon! Using a fork makes the best drizzly icing lines.

Storage info

The glaze adds a little complication to the storage for cranberry orange muffins. You can store them without a paper towel at room temperature, but the glaze can become very sticky. Here’s what we recommend:

  • Room temperature: Store at room temperature in a sealed container lined with a paper towel to absorb extra moisture. Iced muffins last about 2 days and un-iced last about 4 days.
  • Refrigerator: Store refrigerated for up to 1 week or more (allow to come to room temperature before serving).
  • Frozen: Freeze un-iced muffins in a sealable container and store up to 3 months. Add the glaze once they are defrosted. You can also freeze iced muffins: the glaze can just become sticky after defrosting.
Orange cranberry muffins

More cranberry recipes

Got cranberries? Here are some favorite cranberry recipes to sample:

This cranberry orange muffins recipe is…

Vegetarian.

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Cranberry orange muffins

Cranberry Orange Muffins


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5 from 3 reviews

  • Author: Sonja Overhiser
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 50 minutes
  • Yield: 12 1x
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Description

This cranberry orange muffins recipe is moist and sweet, with pops of tart berries and zingy orange zest. They’re perfect!


Ingredients

Scale

For the muffins

  • 2 cups (280 g) all-purpose flour
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 eggs
  • ¼ cup honey
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • ½ cup Greek yogurt (or sour cream)
  • ½ cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons orange zest (zest from 2 medium oranges)
  • 1 ½ cups fresh cranberries (or substitute frozen, not thawed), plus extra for the tops

For the glaze

  • 2/3 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon orange juice

Instructions

  1. Preheat: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a standard 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray or add muffin cup papers.
  2. Make the batter: In a large bowl, whisk the all-purpose flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. In a separate medium bowl, whisk the eggs, then whisk in the honey, vegetable oil, yogurt, milk, apple cider vinegar, and orange zest until smooth. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a spatula until a thick, smooth batter forms. Fold the cranberries into the batter with a spatula. 
  3. Scoop the batter evenly into the muffin cups: the cups will be full to the top, using about a heaping ¼ cup per muffin. Take a handful (approximately ¼ cup) of the smallest cranberries and place them in a small bowl with a bit of granulated sugar. Then press them into the tops of the muffins. 
  4. Bake: Bake the muffins for 20 to 22 minutes, until puffed and golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a rack to cool fully, about 1 hour. 
  5. When ready to glaze, in a medium bowl mix together the orange juice and the powdered sugar until a thick icing forms. If the texture is not drizzlable, add a few more drops orange juice and continue stirring until it comes together; if it’s too thin add a little more sugar. Drizzle a small amount with a fork over each of the muffins. 
  6. Store at room temperature in a sealed container lined with a paper towel to absorb extra moisture, about 2 days if iced or 4 days if un-iced. Store refrigerated without glaze for up to 1 week or more (allow to come to room temperature before serving), or frozen without glaze for up to 3 months.
  • Category: Muffin
  • Method: Baked
  • Cuisine: Baked
  • Diet: Vegetarian

About the authors

Sonja & Alex

Hi, we’re Alex and Sonja Overhiser, married cookbook authors, food bloggers, and recipe developers. We founded A Couple Cooks to share fresh, seasonal recipes and the joy of cooking! Our recipes are made by two real people and work every time.

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8 Comments

  1. Samantha Muir says:

    is the nutritional information per recipe for the whole dish or per serving?

    1. Alex Overhiser says:

      Per muffin!

  2. Allysha says:

    These are amazing!






    1. Sonja Overhiser says:

      So glad you liked them!

  3. Elizabeth says:

    Wow, delicious! I made these on Friday with the glaze and both my mom and I love them. I had one just now (Monday morning) and it was as tasty today as Friday. Thank you!






  4. Lisa says:

    These are SO GOOD. The whole family loves them! The only small change I did was to roughly chop the fresh cranberries to make them a little more bite-sized for my toddlers. Thanks – love these and will absolutely make again!






  5. Anonymous says:

    These look delicious and plan on making them soon. Do you happen to have the calorie count/carb amount for these?

    1. Alex Overhiser says:

      Added!