These soft and moist Mini Cranberry Orange Muffins are loaded with warm spices, tart cranberries, and orange zest. The sparkling sugar topping adds a nice crunch and extra sweetness. It is perfect for a Fall breakfast or Thanksgiving gatherings.
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🗝️ Recipe's key points
- The warm pumpkin pie spice gives these muffins a unique flavor that pairs perfectly with the sweet, tart, and citrusy flavors of the fruit.
- Make a generous quantity of mini cranberry orange muffins from scratch in just 30 minutes!
- This easy mini cranberry orange muffins recipe is straightforward with many options to add your personal twist.
These mini cranberry orange muffins are full of sweet citrus and tangy cranberries. They are a great fall treat for breakfast, brunch, or a snack on the go.
🛒 Ingredients
This is an overview of the ingredients for the Cranberry Orange Muffin recipe. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.
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- All-purpose flour - A sturdy flour for baking. Go ahead and use gluten-free all-purpose flour instead, if needed.
- Baking Powder - A typical leavening agent that will ensure a good rise in these cranberry orange muffins.
- Egg - Bring this to room temperature for easier mixing.
- Pumpkin pie spice - A tasty mix of warm spices that will give comforting flavor to these simple cranberry orange muffins. Use store-bought pumpkin pie spice or make your own with a combination of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice.
- Baking soda - Another leavening agent.
- Kosher salt - A little bit of salt in batter will enhance the flavors.
- Buttermilk - This makes the Fall cranberry orange muffins super moist.
- Granulated sugar - Adds sweetness and a little crusty outer edge to the muffins.
- Vegetable oil - You can also use Canola oil, but stay away from oils that have bold flavor profiles, such as olive oil.
- Vanilla extract - For depth of flavor.
- Dried cranberries - They add a tangy taste to the cranberry orange muffins. They go well with the bright flavor of the orange zest.
- Scorza d'arancia - This translates to "orange peel". You will only need the peel from one orange to make this cranberry orange muffins recipe.
- Sparkling sugar - This creates pockets of air in the batter for a lighter and fluffier texture.
🗒 Instructions
This is an overview of the Cranberry Orange Muffin Recipe instructions. Full instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder and soda, and pumpkin pie spice in a large bowl. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk, ¼ cup of sugar, oil, vanilla, and zest.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir well until combined.
- Toss the cranberries with ¼ cup of the remaining granulated sugar.
- Add the sugar-coated cranberries into the bowl of muffin batter.
- Fold them in gently.
- Scoop a scant tablespoon of batter into the prepared muffin tin linker.
- Sprinkle the tops of the mini cranberry orange muffins with sparkling sugar.
- Bake the muffins for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean.
- Remove the mini cranberry orange muffins from the oven and allow them to cool for 10 minutes in the baking pan. Transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely and enjoy!
🥫 Storage
You can store these easy cranberry orange muffins for 1-2 days at room temperature. If you keep them in the fridge, they will last for 1 week in an airtight container. When ready to enjoy, eat them chilled or heat them up in the microwave for a short time.
Freeze these homemade mini cranberry orange muffins for up to 2 months. Thaw them overnight in the fridge or on the countertop and serve them at room temperature or slightly warmed from the microwave.
📚 Variations
- Use apple pie spice if you don't have pumpkin pie spice since it contains a very similar mixture of spices.
- For a stronger orange flavor, consider adding orange extract or orange oil to the cranberry orange muffins batter.
- Include other tasty add-ins, such as white chocolate chips or chopped nuts.
- Use a gluten-free flour blend when catering to gluten allergies.
- Make larger cranberry orange muffins by using a regular muffin pan and increasing the length of baking.
- Fresh or frozen cranberries can be used instead of dried cranberries, but you will need to cut them into smaller pieces.
- If you don't want the sparkling sugar topping, consider a zesty orange glaze to top off your muffins. Simply add 2-3 tablespoons of orange juice with 1 cup of sifted confectioners sugar!
👩🏻🍳 Tips
- I've used buttermilk in these quick and easy cranberry orange muffins as it helps to create a good amount of moisture. You can always use whole milk instead if you prefer.
- Don't mix the muffin batter too much. If you do, it can become too dense. This will change how the sparkling sugar cranberry orange muffins turn out.
- You can easily over bake these muffins if you allow them to cool for too long while still in the muffin tin. To prevent this, make sure to remove your baked mini cranberry orange muffins a few minutes after baking. This will stop them from cooking further from the residual heat in the muffin tin.
- These easy Fall muffins with cranberries and orange are great to make ahead of time since they store and freeze so well. Enjoy them as breakfast treats, on-the-go snacks, as a lunchbox filler, or for your Thanksgiving gatherings.
- You can easily double your muffin batter. This way, you can make larger batches to store for busy times.
🤔 FAQs
Got questions about these cozy little muffins? Here's everything you need to know to make your Mini Cranberry Orange muffins turn out perfectly sweet and sparkly!
Yes, you can! Just chop the fresh or frozen cranberries into small pieces. Keep in mind they'll add a little extra moisture and tartness compared to dried, so the texture might be slightly softer, but still delicious!
Absolutely! Let the muffins cool completely, then pop them into a freezer bag or an airtight container. They freeze beautifully for up to 2 months—just thaw at room temperature or microwave gently.
Definitely! If you don't have pumpkin pie spice, you can substitute a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, and a pinch of ginger or cloves. They'll still taste cozy and delicious!
Easy! Sprinkle the sparkling sugar on top right after spooning the batter into the muffin cups, before baking. It will bake into a sweet, crunchy topping.
Use a microplane or fine grater to scrape just the outer orange layer — not the white part underneath (that's bitter). Fresh zest gives the muffins the best bright, citrusy flavor.
Are you still curious about these Mini Orange Cranberry muffins? Leave a comment below—I'd love to help you bake up something sweet and cozy!
📗 Related Recipes
- Craving a sweet treat to start your day? Try switching things up with a batch of Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins—a fun and slightly decadent take on breakfast.
- For a cozy and easy option, Apple Cinnamon Breakfast Muffins are soft and full of flavor. They are great for a quick breakfast on the go.
- Baked Oatmeal is a sweet and filling breakfast option. It has juicy blueberries and ripe bananas.
- Busy mornings need smart choices. These Fluffy Oatmeal Pancakes can be made ahead. You can quickly reheat them for a healthy, easy breakfast.
🍽 What to serve with Cranberry Orange Muffins
Get your day started right by serving these mini cranberry orange muffins for breakfast alongside homemade granola and yogurt, frittata, or fluffy oatmeal pancakes.
We even found that they are the perfect addition alongside an Autumn salad, or our Butternut Squash soup.
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You’ll need the following items to make this recipe successfully.
- Mixing bowls – You will need at least two large mixing bowls. Use one for wet ingredients and the other for dry. Get more bowls if you want to avoid washing in between steps.
- Dry measuring cups – Great for accurately measuring liquids and dry ingredients.
- Dry measuring spoons – Another measuring tool I'm never without.
- Mini muffin pan – This recipe is made for a pan with 24 mini muffin molds.
- Batter/Cookie scoop - One that holds 1 tablespoon of batter. This ensures that you create uniform-sized muffins each time.
- Liquid measuring spoon - Specifically for measuring liquids.
- Wood mixing spoon - A favorite for mixing the batter ingredients.
📞 Chiacchierata (chat)
I don't know about you, but there's something magical about the cozy flavors of fall baked into a cute little muffin! 🧡 These Mini Cranberry Orange Muffins are a breeze to make, perfect for sharing, and bring such a cheerful sparkle to any mattina (morning).
Whether you're serving them for a cozy colazione(breakfast), a festive fall brunch, or just sneaking one with your afternoon caffè (no judgment here!), I promise they'll disappear fast. Give them a try and let your cucina (kitchen) smell like pure autumn happiness. Buon appetito, amici! 🍊🧁
Tutti a tavolo, è pronto!
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.
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📖 Recipe
Mini Cranberry Orange Muffins
Equipment Needed
- Batter/Cookie Scoop #60 scant 1 Tablespoon amount
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1½ tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
- ¼ tsp. each baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 egg
- ½ cup buttermilk
- ½ cup granulated sugar divided
- ¼ cup canola or vegetable oil
- ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
- Minced zest of 1 orange
- ½ cup minced dried cranberries
- Sparkling or granulated sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°. Line mini muffin pans with liners.
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
- Whisk together egg, buttermilk, ¼ cup granulated sugar, oil, vanilla, and zest; stir into dry ingredients until combined.
- Toss cranberries with ¼ cup of remaining granulated sugar and stir into batter.
- Scoop batter using a #60 scoop (scant 1 Tbsp.) into muffin liners and sprinkle with sparkling sugar.
- Bake muffins until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean, 15 minutes.
