These soft and fluffy Cranberry Orange Muffins are studded with fresh cranberries, bursting with zesty orange flavors, and decorated with a sweet orange glaze. An easy festive treat made in one bowl!
If you love muffins, you’ll also love my 1 Bowl Pumpkin Muffins, Best Ever Apple Muffins, and Vegan Chocolate Chip Muffins.
Like peanut butter and chocolate and caramel and apples, cranberries and oranges are absolutely perfect together. Bright and sunny citrus meets sour and tart cranberries—add a little sugar in there and you have a mouthwatering balance of flavors! These two ingredients always get together during the winter and holiday season, which makes these Cranberry Orange Muffins a delicious cold-weather treat.
I made these easy vegan cranberry orange muffins with freshly squeezed orange juice, orange zest, and fresh cranberries to give each bite a burst of festive flavor. And with a moist and fluffy crumb and the sweet orange glaze drizzled on top, they’re just plain irresistible!
Why you’ll love these cranberry and orange muffins
- Simple seasonal ingredients – Just like my Cranberry Orange Bread, these muffins are loaded with classic winter flavors thanks to fresh orange juice, orange zest, and whole cranberries.
- Tart, sweet, and tangy – Combining the seasonal ingredients with vegan baking staples gives these muffins the perfect balance of bright, zesty, sweet, and tart flavors.
- Easy to make in 1 bowl – Just toss all of the ingredients in a bowl, mix mix mix, then bake! You’ll have a warm and cozy batch of muffins in less than 1 hour.
How to make cranberry orange muffins
Find the complete recipe with measurements in the recipe card below.
Combine the sugar and orange zest in a large bowl. Use your hands to work the zest into the sugar until it feels like wet sand.
By working the citrus zest into the sugar, you release its natural oils and flavors to give the muffins even brighter and more noticeable orange flavors. You can use this technique with any baked goods made with citrus zest, like my Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins and Vegan Lemon Cupcakes.
Add the soy milk, vinegar, orange juice, oil, and vanilla to the bowl with the sugar and whisk until well combined.
Gently fold the cranberries into the muffin batter.
Fill the muffin liners with muffin batter, then bake the muffins until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Allow the muffins to cool slightly in the cups before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
While the muffins are cooling, make the glaze by whisking the powdered sugar and orange juice together until smooth.
Drizzle the glaze over the slightly warm muffins, let them cool for a few minutes, then serve and enjoy.
Frequently asked questions
No, do not thaw the frozen cranberries before adding them to the batter. Thawed cranberries will bleed into the batter and turn the muffins red or pink.
Yes, you can use 3/4 cup of dried cranberries instead of the full amount of fresh cranberries. They’re a bit dry, but you can soak them in a bowl of water for 10 minutes to make them softer and chewier.
You can! Bake the mini cranberry orange muffins for only 15 to 18 minutes instead.
I haven’t tested gluten-free cranberry orange muffins but replacing the all-purpose flour with a quality gluten-free flour mix should work well.
The glazed or unglazed muffins will stay soft and sweet in an airtight container on the kitchen counter for 2 to 3 days. For longer storage, store them in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Transfer the cooled and unglazed muffins to a freezer-safe container or ziplock bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
Cranberry Orange Muffins
Ingredients
Orange Cranberry Muffins
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon orange zest from about 2 oranges
- 3/4 cup unsweetened soy milk
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries or frozen
Optional Orange Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons orange juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a standard muffin pan with liners and spray them lightly with oil.
- In a large bowl, combine the sugar and orange zest. Work the zest into the sugar with your fingers until it feels like wet sand.
- Now add the soy milk, vinegar, orange juice, oil and vanilla and whisk until well combined.
- Add the flour, baking powder, salt and cornstarch and stir with a large spoon to combine, being careful not to over mix the batter.
- Gently fold the cranberries into the batter.
- Using a large cookie scoop or ice cream scoop (or spoon), fill the liners with batter up to the top.
- Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Make the glaze by whisking the powdered sugar and orange juice together until smooth. Drizzle over the warm muffins and let cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Notes
- May use another milk such as oat or almond milk.
- You can use melted vegan butter or another oil like avocado or even olive oil if desired. I haven’t tried these oil free but applesauce might work okay.
- For gluten free, use a quality gluten free all purpose flour.
- May leave out the cornstarch if needed or use tapioca starch instead.
- You can use dried cranberries instead, but only use about 3/4 cup. Soak in warm water to soften first, if desired.
I made this and it was amazing! (I ended up making it gluten free) I’m so happy I have an amazing version of my favorite muffin. Thank you so much!
You are welcome! I’m so glad you loved the muffins! Thanks for your awesome review and feedback!
sounds amazing (like all of your recipes!) can this be a loaf, and if so how long to bake please? Thank you as always for your wonderful recipes!!
Sure, around an hour. You might also like to just make my Cranberry Orange Bread instead. Thanks so much!
Se ve muy 😋 rico
Can this recipe be done in a loaf pan instead? If so, what would be the bake time?
Sure, around an hour. You might also like to just make my Cranberry Orange Bread instead.