Love the flavors of cranberries and citrus? These Healthy Cranberry Orange Muffins are for you! Made with fresh, quality ingredients and no refined sugar, these healthy cranberry muffins are the perfect breakfast option or snack to power your day!
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Light, fluffy and flavorful, these healthy cranberry orange muffins are great during the holidays or any time you’re looking for a lighter muffin recipe.
Made with whole wheat flour, almond milk, fresh cranberries and oranges, this healthy muffin recipe also has no refined sugar, making it a great healthy breakfast option!
In this post I’ll show you how to make these cranberry orange muffins as well as what you need and answer all your most frequently asked questions.
Dry Ingredients Needed:
- Whole wheat flour
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Granular Monk Fruit Sweetener – I like and use Lakanto Monk Fruit Sweetener
Wet Ingredients Needed:
- Unsweetened Almond Milk (the less ingredients listed on the product label, the better!)
- One Orange – you’ll need the juice and zest
- Unflavored Coconut Oil – I like Carrington Farms Unflavored Coconut Oil, which is great for baking!
- Egg
- Vanilla Extract
- Fresh Cranberries – halved
For exact ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions, be sure to reference the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Thank you!
The muffin batter comes together quickly and easily. You’ll start by combining the dry ingredients and then, adding the wet ingredients. Lastly, fold in the halved cranberries and orange zest.
Optional Ingredient: Fold in a 1/2 cup of chopped pecans. This will add a nice crunch to muffins. It brings a nice texture to the muffins, along with the pop of the cranberries.
Love recipes using fresh cranberries? Check out some of my other recipes using fresh cranberries:
Once the batter is stirred together with all the ingredients, line a muffin/cupcake pan with paper liners or silicone baking cups. Using a ladle or medium ice cream scoop, add the batter to each cup, filling to nearly full. Top each muffin with a few extra sliced cranberries and a sprinkle of the granular monk fruit sweetener.
The cranberry orange muffins will bake to a beautiful golden brown color. To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center of a muffin – if the toothpick comes out clean and crumb-free they are done baking.
Love a great muffin recipe? Check out some of my other healthier muffin ideas:
- Banana Protein Muffins
- Healthy Blueberry Muffins Recipe
- Banana Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins
- Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- Healthy Pumpkin Muffin Recipe
- Healthy Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
- Healthy Peach Muffins
- Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins
Frequently Asked Questions about making Cranberry Orange Muffins:
When using the ingredients listed in this recipe, each muffin is 148 calories. It has 7 grams of fat, 24 grams of carbs and 3 grams of protein.
Yes! There is a 1/4 cup difference when substituting dried for fresh. For example 1 cup of fresh cranberries will equate to 3/4 cup when making the dried substitution.
It’s not critical to soak dried cranberries, but it’s highly recommended. Soaking cranberries before baking will add moisture to the berries and plump them up. Sometimes dried fruit hardens and becomes chewy after baking.
To soak cranberries, add to a bowl and top with hot water. Let soak 20-30 minutes, then drain off water before adding the berries to your recipe.
Store bought dried cranberries are typically loaded with sugar, and therefore not very healthy. On average, store-bought dried cranberries contain about 26 g of sugar per 1/4 cup serving. If you enjoy dried cranberries as a snack or in muffins, breads, oatmeal or yogurt, I recommend making and drying your own.
Love dried cranberries but not all the refined sugar that store-bought dried cranberries contain?
Making your own dried cranberries is quite easy. No dehydrator necessary – you can easily use your oven. You need just three ingredients – fresh cranberries, powdered sugar substitute, like Swerve, and avocado oil.
Check out my post for the easy steps and recipe for how to make dried cranberries!
If you loved this healthy cranberry orange muffin recipe, check these out:
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Healthy Cranberry Orange Muffins
Equipment
- Muffin Pan This non-stick muffin pan by Wilton is ideal for any muffin or cupcake recipe.
- Silicone Baking Cups These silicone baking cups eliminate the need for paper liners or greasy non-stick spray. Muffins and cupcakes slide right out – no sticking!
- Mixing Bowls These stainless steel mixing bowls are an essential cooking tool for every kitchen.
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup granular monk fruit sweetener like Lakanto
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients:
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1/3 cup unflavored coconut oil
- 1/3 cup fresh squeezed orange juice juice of 1 medium orange
- 1 egg
- 2 Tablespoons orange zest zest of 1 medium orange
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup fresh cranberries rinsed and halved
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a muffin tin/cupcake pan with paper liners or silicone baking cups. Set prepared pan aside.
- To a mixing bowl, measure out the dry ingredients and whisk together to combine. Add in the wet ingredients: almond milk, orange juice, oil, egg and vanilla. Whisk together until batter becomes smooth and well combined.
- Fold in the haved cranberries and orange zest.
- Using a ladle, ice cream scoop or spoon, fill each cup in the prepared muffin tin nearly full with batter. You’ll have enough batter to make 12 full muffins.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. Test for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of a muffin. If toothpick comes out clean and crumb-free, the muffins are done.
- Cool 10-15 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
I made these muffins this morning for my family visiting for Christmas week and they were wonderful! We liked them so much, I may make another batch to take to our Christmas Eve brunch at my in-laws. Merry Christmas!
Yeah!! So glad you and your family loved these. They went pretty quickly at our house too. Happy New Year, Sheila!
The recipes are delicious and healthy.thankyou.