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Cranberry Muffins are soft, fluffy, and perfectly tangy. Drizzle them with a 3-ingredient almond glaze, and you’ll have muffins perfect for a quick snack, breakfast on the go, or Christmas morning!
Love cranberries? Be sure to try my Cranberry Bliss Bars or Cranberry Walnut Quick Bread next!
Why We Love This Recipe
- We Love Muffins – My family is a huge fan of all kinds of muffins. They’re perfect for snacking or packing in lunches.
- The Perfect Holiday Bite – It’s officially cranberry season, and these Cranberry Muffins are bringing all the cozy holiday feels! They are perfect alongside a cup of hot coffee or tea.
- Quick and Easy To Make – These simple muffins come together fast and use basic ingredients. Plus, they freeze beautifully if you happen to have any leftover.
RECIPE WALK-THROUGH
How To Make Cranberry Muffins
See the recipe card below for full, detailed instructions
These muffins are flavored with almond extract, studded with tart cranberries, sprinkled with coarse sugar, and drizzled with a powdered sugar glaze. They bake up moist, tender, and perfectly sweet.
- Combine dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt) in a large mixing bowl.
- Combine the wet ingredients (buttermilk, oil, eggs, and almond extract) in another bowl.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients, then stir in the cranberries.
- Divide the batter between 12 standard muffin cups and sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar.
- Bake as directed and let cool before drizzling with a quick glaze made from powdered sugar, milk, and almond extract.
No Buttermilk? No Problem!
Buttermilk helps to make these muffins light and tender. If you don’t have any on hand, you can make a buttermilk substitute with milk and something acidic, like lemon juice or vinegar. Check out my post on How to Make Buttermilk.
Variations
Orange Cranberry Muffins – I love the combination of almond and cranberries together, so these muffins have a fairly prominent almond flavor. If you’d prefer the traditional orange-cranberry flavor combination, you can swap the almond extract for vanilla extract and add the finely grated zest of one large orange right into the batter.
Storage Tips
The Best Way to Store Muffins
Storage: Like any bread, muffins will dry out quickly if refrigerated. Keep muffins fresh by storing them in a sealed plastic bag or airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Allow muffins to cool completely before storing.
Freezer: Cool completely, then place in plastic freezer bags. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months. If you need to keep them longer than that, wrap them individually in plastic wrap to keep them safe from freezer burn.
Recipe Tips
- Don’t Overmix – Be careful not to overmix the batter, or your muffins will be dense. Combine the wet and dry ingredients just until the flour has disappeared. The batter will be lumpy, and that’s ok!
- Use An Ice Cream Scoop – This helps to portion out the batter evenly among the muffin cups.
- Line or Grease The Pan – You can use paper cupcake liners, but I prefer to just grease the cups with cooking spray. This will ensure they come out perfect without tearing up your muffins.
- Frozen Cranberries – Frozen cranberries are easy to use in place of fresh cranberries. If you’d prefer to use frozen cranberries, keep them frozen and stir them into the batter straight from the freezer. Note: You might need to increase your bake time a minute or two.
- Dried Cranberries – Dried cranberries are a great addition to baked goods and you can absolutely use them as a substitute. You’ll want to reduce the amount by about a third. This recipe calls for 1 ½ cups of fresh cranberries, so you’ll only need 1 cup of dried.
- Make These Muffins Year-Round – Look for frozen cranberries in the freezer section of your grocery store, or stock up during fall and winter months and freeze them yourself.
More Muffins and Quick Bread Recipes
- Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Zucchini Carrot Oatmeal Muffins
- Starbucks Copycat Lemon Loaf
- Apple Bread
- Banana Nut Muffins
- Apple Cinnamon Muffins
Cranberry Muffins
Ingredients
Muffins:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- ½ cup vegetable or canola oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoons almond extract
- 1 ½ cups fresh or frozen cranberries
- 3 tablespoons sparkling sugar or coarse/raw sugar
Icing:
- 5 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon milk
- Drop of almond extract
Instructions
Muffins
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, granulated sugar, and salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk buttermilk, oil, eggs, and almond extract.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until mostly combined. Add cranberries and stir until just combined, being careful not to overmix.
- Grease 12 standard muffin cups or line with paper liners. Divide the batter between the 12 cups, filling each about ¾ full. Sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Place the pan on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes, then carefully remove each muffin and place directly on the rack to cool completely.
Icing
- Whisk all ingredients until smooth. If necessary, add more powdered sugar to thicken, or more milk to thin. Drizzle the icing on the cooled muffins.
Notes
- If you don’t have almond extract, you can substitute with vanilla.
- For an orange-cranberry flavor combination, you can swap the almond extract for vanilla extract and add the finely grated zest of one large orange to the batter.
- Be careful not to overmix the batter, or your muffins will be dense. Combine the wet and dry ingredients just until the flour has disappeared. The batter will not be completely smooth.
- Use an ice cream scoop to portion out the batter evenly among the muffin cups.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer Kristin Maxwell of “Yellow Bliss Road” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. For accurate calorie counts and other nutritional values, we recommend running the ingredients through your preferred online nutritional calculator. Calories and other nutritional values can vary depending on which brands were used.
Great recipe. I used a kefir and frozen cranberries. Also I added a little bit of walnuts. Thanks!
You are so welcome Viktoriya! Thanks for stopping by.
I was gifted some cranberries and was looking on the internet for a recipe for muffins that used ingredients I had on hand and came across yours. Easy to make and very tasty–a keeper for sure!
That’s awesome Gayle! great feedback, thanks for stopping by.
I’m 14 and I just made these muffins. They are so delicious and my family loved them!
Nice! Thank you so much Riley for taking the time to share.
Excellent recipe! I had to substitute oil with 4oz melted butter since I was out, but it was exactly what I was looking for; a way to get rid of my extra buttermilk and utilize my cranberries. I will use this recipe again. Thank you!
You are so welcome Julie! Thank you for the awesome feedback.
Can you use dried cranberries and put in a little water to plump them. Can’t find frozen or fresh ones
You can use dried cranberries. I’d recommend using about 1 cup.
Thank uou.