These festive Cranberry Orange Muffins feature fresh cranberries, fresh orange juice, and a touch of orange zest! Frozen cranberries can be used, but I don't suggest using dried cranberries. Bust out your muffin pan and treat yourself to a batch today!
8tablespoons(4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1cupgranulated sugar
1/3cuplight brown sugar, packed
1Tablespoonorange zest, finely grated
2large eggs, at room temperature
2teaspoonspure vanilla extract
1/2teaspoonorange extract, optional
1cupfull-fat sour cream, at room temperature
1/3cuporange juice
2cupscranberries, fresh or frozen
For the Orange Glaze (Optional):
1cupconfectioners' sugar, sifted
1tablespoonfreshly squeezed orange juice
1teaspoonorange zest, finely grated
2teaspoonswhole milk, more if needed to achieve desired consistency
Instructions
For the Cranberry Orange Muffins:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F). Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners and spray lightly with non-stick baking spray. Set aside until needed.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cardamom; set aside.
In a separate large bowl using a handheld electric mixer, or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugars, orange zest, vanilla extract, and orange extract. And beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, and scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
Turn mixer off and set batter aside for a moment. In a spouted bowl or measuring cup, add the sour cream and orange juice and whisk well to combine.
With the mixer speed on low, alternate adding the flour mixture and the sour cream mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Be sure not to over mix here. Fold the cranberries into the batter, mixing just until evenly combined.
Divide the batter evenly among prepared muffin tins.
Bake for 25 to 27 minutes, or until the tops are lightly golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, or with a just a few moist crumbs attached. Cool muffins 10 minutes in the pan before transferring to a cooling rack.
For the Orange Glaze:
In a medium mixing bowl combine the confectioners' sugar, orange juice, zest, and milk; whisk until smooth, adding more milk as needed to reach desired consistency. Drizzle over the muffins right before serving.
Tried it and loved it?Snap a picture and share it with me on Instagram @Bakerbynature and by using the hashtag #BakerByNature