Healthy Cranberry Orange Muffins

These healthy cranberry orange muffins are perfect for holiday brunches or any time you need a healthy, seasonal muffin! Fresh cranberries along with fresh orange juice & zest make these wholesome muffins burst with flavor in every bite.

Healthy cranberry orange muffin with parchment liner on white marble cake stand, with other muffins in background

Inspired by my raspberry lemon muffins, these healthy cranberry orange muffins are incredibly tender and festive for the holiday season. Make a batch for breakfast or brunch so that your loved ones can enjoy a wholesome treat with their morning coffee! Or, meal prep these muffins throughout winter for a healthy and quick breakfast that tastes like a treat.

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Ingredients
Instructions
Substitutions & Variations
Storage
Top tip
Cranberry Orange Muffin FAQs
Healthy Cranberry Orange Muffins

Ingredients

These muffins are made entirely with wholesome ingredients and unrefined sugars and flours, yet they are so flavorful and moist. You're going to love them!

White whole wheat flour - one of my favorite unrefined flours for making tender baked goods.
Baking soda
Baking powder
Fine salt
Coconut oil
Maple syrup
Eggs
Plain Greek yogurt - preferably 2% or whole milk to yield the most tender, moist texture.
Orange - for both fresh juice and zest.
Vanilla extract
Fresh cranberries
Coarse turbinado sugar - Optional, but highly recommended for sweet crunch and sparkle!

Instructions

To make these muffins, start by preheating your oven to 425 degrees and lining a 12-cup muffin tin with parchment liners.

Then, whisk together the white whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in bowl, and set aside.

Melt the coconut oil in the microwave and allow it to slightly cool (so as not to cook the eggs). In a separate large bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, pure maple syrup, eggs, vanilla extract, plain Greek yogurt, orange juice, and zest. Make sure to whisk it together until you get a smooth, uniform texture.

White whole wheat flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a clear glass bowl

Coconut oil, maple syrup, eggs, Greek yogurt, vanilla, and orange juice whisked together in clear glass bowl

Then, add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and gently mix until just combined.

Healthy cranberry orange muffin batter being mixed together in clear glass mixing bowl with metal spoon

Cranberry orange muffin batter in clear glass bowl with fork

Now, it's time for cranberries! Combine the fresh cranberries with just a bit of flour to keep them from sinking to the bottom of the muffin cups when baked. Then, fold the cranberries into the batter.

Whole fresh cranberries tossed in a bit of flour, in clear glass bowl, on light blue and white surface

Whole fresh cranberries poured onto bowl of cranberry orange muffin batter, before being stirred in

To get ready to bake, spoon the batter evenly into your prepared 12-cup muffin tin. I highly recommend lining the muffin tin cups with unbleached parchment paper, but you could also grease the muffin tin for easy muffin removal.

Also, I recently realized I do love using a cookie scoop (affiliate link) for this task! It ensures evenly sized scoops, and most of all, it's much easier to get this thick batter off the spoon when you can eject it. A cookie scoop does just that!

Cranberry orange muffin batter in muffin tin liners in muffin tin, prior to baking

Optional, but highly recommended for a sweet little crunch with each bite, sprinkle the tops of the muffin batter cups with a bit of coarse turbinado sugar before baking. Alternatively, you add this post-baking by dipping warm muffins in melted coconut oil or butter, and then dipping in the coarse sugar.

Bake at 425 for five minutes, then reduce your oven heat to 350 degrees, and bake for another 14-16 minutes, depending on your oven. You'll know they're done when the tops are slightly browned, and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with just a couple tender crumbs.

Healthy cranberry orange muffins in muffin tin

Once they're done baking, remove the muffins from the oven and allow them to cool just enough so that you can safely remove them from the pan. If they're still too hot, you can gently dump them onto to a table or counter. The muffins will continue to cook in a hot muffin tin, so it's important to take them out of the pan early to avoid dry texture.

Hint: For super tender muffins, it's important not to over-mix the batter! When you add the dry ingredients into the wet, gently stir them together until just combined (no visible flour). Over-mixing the batter can yield dry muffins, and we definitely don't want that!

Healthy cranberry orange muffins on white marble cake stand

Substitutions & Variations

Below are some substitutions you can make to accommodate dietary needs or flavors you'd like to explore.

Gluten free - Feel free to sub the white whole wheat flour for a gluten free flour blend at a 1:1 ratio. Make sure it's a gluten free flour blend that's specifically for measure-for-measure substitutions.
Nuts - Adding chopped walnuts or slivered almonds to these muffins would be delicious!
Sweetener - You can sub agave or honey for the maple syrup in a 1:1 ratio.
Vegan* - I have not tried to make these muffins vegan yet, but if you would like to try it, you could test it out by swapping a plant-based yogurt in for the Greek yogurt, as well as flax eggs for the real eggs. I can't vouch for results just yet, but I would love to hear how it goes if you try it!

Storage

Store healthy cranberry orange muffins on the countertop in an airtight container for a few days before transferring them to the fridge. They are moist, so they can get moldy when left on the counter in a container for more than a few days.

To freeze these muffins, place them in an airtight container or reusable storage bag (one that seals tightly), and store them in your freezer for up to three months. Thaw on the countertop until they come back to room temp.

Top tip

Oven times truly do vary, so I recommend is baking the muffins at 425 for 5 minutes, then at 350 for another 13 minutes. At minute 13, toothpick test a few muffins to see if the toothpick comes out dry with a few crumbs on it. If so, you can take the muffins out and allow them to cool in the pan for two minutes until you take them out. If the toothpick comes out with batter on it, bake the muffins for 2-3 more minutes. This will help you avoid drying out your muffins!

Cranberry Orange Muffin FAQs

My muffins are dry. How do I make sure they come out moist?

See my Top Tip above to avoid over-baking, which is notorious for drying out muffins! Additionally, make sure not to over-mix the batter. When you combine dry and wet ingredients, stir until the flour is just dissolved, then gently fold in the cranberries.

How do I make these muffins gluten free?

Use a gluten free measure-for-measure flour such as the kind from Bob's Red Mill. This flour is your best option for this recipe since it can be substituted in a 1:1 ratio, whereas other gluten-free flours (such as almond flour, coconut flour, oat flour, etc.) would need to be tested with other ingredient ratios.

How do I make the cranberries less tart?

The cranberries sweeten up as they bake and burst into the muffins, but they're still too tart for your tastebuds, you can chop them up a bit before adding them to the batter.