Cranberry Muffins
Start your morning with these tender cranberry muffins, bursting with fresh cranberries and bright orange zest. Each muffin is crowned with a buttery, cinnamon-spiced streusel topping that perfectly balances the tart fruit.
Equipment
- small, medium, & large mixing bowls
- mixing spoons
- measuring cups
- citrus zester
- measuring spoons
- pastry cutter
- 2 muffin pans (lightly greased with butter, or lined with paper liners, lightly spritzed)
- large, rimmed cookie sheet
- wire rack
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Ingredients
Crumble Topping
- ¼ cup (½ stick) butter melted
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Cranberry Muffins
- ¼ cup (½ stick) butter softened at room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs at room temperature; slightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- ½ cup milk
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 cups fresh cranberries if using frozen, do not defrost before adding
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉.
- Make the crumb topping first. Microwave ½ stick butter in a small heat safe mixing bowl; add ½ cup sugar, ⅔ cup flour, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon; mix with a fork just until crumbles form; cover and refrigerate.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream ¾ cup sugar with remaining ½ stick softened butter. You may do this with a spoon, or use a pastry cutter to mash it up more in the bowl.
- Add the slightly beaten eggs, orange zest and milk to the bowl and stir.
- In a separate medium mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt. Then add this mixture to the large bowl. Stir until just combined.
- Fold in the cranberries. Gently mix, but do not over stir.
- Fill each muffin cup ⅔ full with batter (approx. 3 tablespoon in each).
- Press 1-2 tablespoon cold crumble on top of each muffin.
- Place muffin pans on rimmed cookie sheet and bake for 18-23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean (muffins may take a little longer to bake if you used frozen cranberries).
- Let baked muffins stand for 5 minutes in the muffin pan; then use a knife to loosen them around the edges. Lift them out of the pan and allow muffins to cool on a wire rack for an additional 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
It's important to make the crumble first so you can refrigerate it while you make the muffin batter. Placing chilled crumbs on top before baking the fresh cranberry muffins avoids less crumble spillage.
Fill the muffin cups only ⅔ full with batter (about 3 tablespoon each). This leaves room for the crumble topping to expand as the muffins bake. As they bake, the cold crumble melts and spreads, so giving it space to rise along with the batter means less spillover.
Keep the muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2-3 days, or in the fridge for up to a week.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 muffinCalories: 213kcalCarbohydrates: 35gProtein: 3gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.4gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 37mgSodium: 183mgPotassium: 56mgFiber: 1gSugar: 17gVitamin A: 228IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 50mgIron: 1mg
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