Cranberry Orange Muffins
48 Comments
Updated Feb 12, 2023
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These cranberry orange muffins are the perfect flavor pairing! Fresh cranberries and orange juice magically collide into a golden, pillowy soft, and moist muffin that’s perfect for breakfast or on-the-go.
Cranberry season is in full swing. But that doesn’t just mean a bowl of fresh cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving (which you need to make). Grab an extra bag to make these easy cranberry orange muffins! They’ll make your house smell so warm and sweet, which is my favorite thing when it comes to baking holiday desserts.
And although these muffins are gluten-free, dairy-free, and grain-free – no one will even notice. This recipe nails that soft spongy inside and perfect golden top we all love in a classic muffin.
Cranberry Orange Muffins Recipe Ingredients
Take a quick glance at the wet and dry ingredients you’ll need for these muffins. Plus, a few substitutions in case you can’t find certain ingredients.
- Dry Ingredients: Almond flour, tapioca flour, and coconut flour is the ultimate trifecta for almost all of my gluten-free baking needs. In addition to that you’ll need a dash of baking soda, salt, and fresh cranberries.
- Wet Ingredients: Eggs, maple syrup, coconut oil, and vanilla extract help to make the base of these muffins. And for that delicious pop of orange – grab a big juicy orange for fresh orange juice and orange zest.
Helpful Tips and Substitutions
- Tapioca Flour: If you can’t find tapioca flour, you can also use arrowroot flour for a similar texture.
- Cranberries: After testing with both fresh and frozen cranberries, I found that fresh cranberries are best for a muffin that’s not overly moist. But if frozen is all you can find at the moment, that’s fine. Just know they might turn out a bit more moist in the middle!
- Leftover Cranberries: If you have any leftover, whip up this delicious cranberry smoothie!
Find the printable recipe with measurements below.
How To Make Cranberry Orange Muffins
Mix the dry ingredients. But, don’t add the cranberries just yet!
Mix the wet ingredients. Do this in a separate bowl, then pour the wet mixture into the dry mix. Whisk everything together until a creamy batter forms.
Fold the cranberries into the batter. If you want, keep a few cranberries out to place on top of the muffins right before baking! I love to do this for an extra pretty muffin.
Bake the muffins! Pour the batter into each cup, until it’s about 90% full. Then bake at 350°F (175°C) for 28 to 33 minutes. Don’t forget to do the toothpick test to make sure the inside is fully cooked!
Storage Tips
- To store: If you want to leave them out at room temperature, they’ll last for about 3 days in a sealed bag. Or you can store them in the fridge for up to one week.
- To freeze: Yes, these muffins are freezable! Store them in a freezer-safe bag or container for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to enjoy them, let them thaw in the fridge or at room temperature before warming up in the microwave.
More Easy Muffin Recipes
Isn’t healthy gluten-free baking much easier than you thought? Now that you’ve got this recipe down, give these other gluten-free muffins a try!
I can’t wait to see your cranberry orange muffins this season! If you make this recipe, be sure to leave a comment below. I’d love to know how they turned out.
Cranberry Orange Muffins
Description
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups almond flour
- ⅔ cup tapioca flour
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups fresh cranberries
Wet Ingredients
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- ⅓ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- ⅔ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
- 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a muffin pan with baking cups.
- Add all of the dry ingredients (except the cranberries) to a mixing bowl and whisk together.
- Add all of the wet ingredients to a separate mixing bowl and whisk together. Then, add the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk for about 30 seconds, until you have a batter.
- Fold the cranberries into the batter. You can always reserve a few cranberries to add to the top of the muffins before baking.
- Evenly divide the batter between 12 baking cups. They should be about 85 to 90% full. *Note: these will be fairly flat muffins. If you'd like taller, more mounded muffins, fill 10 baking cups.
- Bake the muffins for 28 to 33 minutes, or until they're golden on the top and a toothpick comes out clean.
Lisa’s Tips
- For all of the flour brands I use and recommend, make sure to check out my Shop page.
Nutrition
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I love this recipe, thank you! Although I’ve never actually used cranberries- this time of the year I have so many frozen raspberries and this ends up being my go to recipe to use them up.
(Also your beet soup is amazing!) 💝
No problem, you can definitely swap out the cranberries with raspberries. So glad you enjoy it that way! And that you enjoy my beet soup recipe as well. :)
I just made these muffins. The are utterly divine! So Yummy! Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful recipes Lisa!!!!
You’re so welcome, Martha! I’m happy you love them!
I’ve been wanting to make these since you first posted the recipe. I finally made them today and they are wonderful! I’ve always loved the combination of cranberry and orange. Have you tried making a cake from this batter? Thanks again for all of your terrific recipes.
I haven’t yet, but I’ll definitely add that to my to-do list for this year’s holiday season :)
These are now my new favorite muffin from this website! I have been making the zucchini muffins for a while and just as I have done for those I make a double batch so I always have some in the freezer. Thanks, Lisa….these are great!
Happy to hear you’re loving these cranberry orange muffins!
I pulled out my printed copy of this recipe and I had written across the top “Wonderful!” They are! I am wondering if I could use this recipe to make mini loaves of bread? If so, would I keep the oven temp the same and just cook longer? Any idea how much longer? Thanks for such good, reliable recipes!
Hi Trish – I haven’t tried making mini loaves of this yet. But if you do, let us know how it turns out!
I hope this gets to you. I just finished the muffins. Wonderful. I just think you’re awesome. I love your book. Thank you for doing that for us all who buys it. And last Thursday IT at the Greek pot chic. Oh my gosh in the leftover I had today for Sunday dinner wonderful I am not disappointed. Thank you so much for doing this and explaining a lot because for a lady like me I don’t understand too much so I just wanted to tell you thank you for all that you put into that it’s a lot of work and I love you for it. I hope she can see us because she keeps sending me to go back because somethings wrong and then you say it’s a duplicate, so I hope she gets this.
Thanks for leaving a comment Debbie! I’m thrilled to hear you’re enjoying this muffin recipe, along with many others in my new cookbook :)
Amazing!!!
These came out perfectly! Not too sweet, and I loved the combo of cranberries and citrus. So easy to make! I actually cut each cranberry in half, lol, as they seemed too huge to me.
I am just starting to navigate gluten-free baking, and you make it seems so easy. Thank you, Lisa!!!
Yay!! Glad these muffins turned out perfectly Olya.
Had extra cranberries so I decided to give these muffins a try. I brought them to Thanksgiving and my non gluten free brother in law came up to me and said “those muffins… win!” He says I’m taking a bunch to have them for breakfast tomorrow. “Can’t wait” thank you, Lisa, for another “win”!!
Amazing! Glad everyone enjoyed these muffins Eileen.
Yum!
Like many others, I did not have tapioca flour or coconut flour. I used 2 cups of 1:1 gluten free flour and added 1/4 cup of flax seed. I used melted butter in place of coconut oil (not sure if the butter was a good substitute). With these substitutions they still turned out good. They baked a little faster than the time specified and were a little dry (not crumbly or intolerable) but the flavor is spot on! Excellent muffin recipe.
Delicious! Not to sweet, with the perfect combination of flavors and perfect consistency.
Hi Veronica – so happy you loved these muffins!
Very easy and delicious! Made exactly as listed and got 11 nice-sized muffins and 1 smallish one. They were done the first time I checked at 24 minutes (probably start checking at 22 min. next time). ❤️
Wonderful! So happy you loved the recipe Michelle!
These were delicious! Perfect balance of flavors!!
So happy you loved them Donna!
Easy to make and absolutely delightful! Just ate 2 …. oops!
But they’re soo good. I used 1 cup of dried cranberries and half a cup of fresh blueberries (that’s what I had) and it worked well.
another delish recipe. keep an eye on the time mine cooked in 24 minutes.
Glad you enjoyed these muffins Grace! And thanks for pointing the timing out as everyone’s oven cooks differently.
Could I use King Arthur GF flour instead of the almond, tapioca and coconut flour?
I haven’t tried this recipe with just gluten-free flour, but I know you can probably sub the tapioca flour for a gluten-free flour blend.
These muffins are delicious! Easy to make, my house smells amazing, and I am so excited for my family to try them! Thank you for your delicious and healthy recipes!
They really do make your house smell so delicious!
I realized I did not have tapioca and coconut oil, so used 1:1 gluten free flour in lieu of tapioca flour and olive oil in lieu of coconut oil. They Turner out extremely moist and yummy! 💯 recommend.
Planning on trying this recipe with melted butter instead of melted coconut oil! Any thoughts?
That’s a perfect swap and will turn out just fine.
Looks delicious! Is there something I can use to replace the coconut flour?
Unfortunately not, as coconut flour is quite unique in baking.
I used metric, as I prefer to weigh out ingredients. Turned out delicious! I don’t typically make gluten-free bakes, but the texture was a bit grainy. Perhaps I should have pulsed the fine almond flour so it was even finer??
I am not sure if it would have made a difference, but I did toss my cranberries with a bit of the flour mixture to keep them from sinking.
Also, maybe my muffin tin is smaller in size. I filled 12 cups full and still had a bit of batter left over.
Oh Lisa, you hit another one out of the park. At this point, I sound like a broken record because all your recipes are amazing, and this one is no different. Followed the recipe almost to a tee, except I like my cranberries sliced in half, but that is just my personal preference. Fluffy with a wonderful cranberry orange taste that reminds me of the bread my mom used to make for Christmas, but this is even better because I can share it with my gluten free daughter. Thanks for all your hard work in sharing all these delicious recipes.
Thrilled to hear these muffins were such a hit! Hope your daughter enjoys these as well Alison.
Sooooo good! This is one of my favorite flavor combinations so I had to make this as soon as I saw the recipe posted. It made 13 very full muffins for me, absolutely delicious! Another flawless recipe—thank you!!
Amazing! Glad these muffins were a success Alexis :)
Hi! Can I use dried cranberries instead? Same ratio?
I guess you can, but you wouldn’t get that same juicy cranberry texture. As for the ratio, I would stick to the same.
Hi Lisa! I absolutely love your recipes! Unfortunately, I am allergic to almonds and therefore unable to make many of your baking recipes. Is there a good substitute for almond flour in your recipes, especially the muffin recipes?
Unfortunately, I haven’t tried this without almond flour yet. But if you do, let me know how it is!
Im also allergic to Almonds Wendy! Would love a good substitution so I can try some of the baking recipes!!
Hi! I am going to try them surely! I will use whole rice flour instead of tapioca flour.
Keep attention to Celsius degrees that are 175° and not 275°! Ciao ciao! Laura
Thanks for that temp catch Laura! Just fixed the metric conversion. Let us know how the muffins turn out with rice flour!