Looking for a deliciously creative way to use that bag of leftover cranberries? Bake up a batch of our streusel-topped orange cranberry muffins inspired by Budget Bytes and give your family a lip-smacking good breakfast treat.
Fresh cranberries are a hallmark of the holiday season, and they are most often transformed into a zingy cranberry sauce to grace the Thanksgiving table. But these mouth-puckering berries are begging to be used for so much more. Though they require at least a modest amount of sugar to balance their tart flavor, their snappy taste never fails to get attention. These beautiful red berries bring life to every dish.
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Not convinced? Put our orange cranberry muffins on your morning menu, and you’ll find your family leaping out of bed for breakfast. Fresh cranberries add a tasty zip, and they brighten these baked treats with their rosy color. The scatter of streusel on top delivers a lovely crunch with every hungry bite.
Streusel makes every muffin special. It’s amazing how a simple crumble of sugar, butter, and flour can make the most mundane muffins become suddenly irresistible. We add orange zest and a pinch of salt to give our streusel just a bit more flavor.
Make extra streusel. Don’t just make enough streusel for this batch of muffins. Mix up a triple batch and keep it in your freezer. You can scatter streusel on muffins, quick breads, coffee cakes, or pies.
Fix and freeze your muffins. In addition to making extra streusel, you can make more than one batch of these mouthwatering muffins, store them in your freezer, and pull them out on those mornings you need to feed your family but don’t have time to bake.
Make the streusel
A simple streusel makes these muffins extra special. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, granulated sugar, orange zest, salt, and melted butter. Add the flour and stir until the mixture becomes a paste. Set aside.
Mix together the dry ingredients for the muffins
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add chunks of butter and cut them into the dry ingredients until the mixture is crumbly.
Whisk together the egg and orange juice in a small bowl
After the ingredients are whisked together pour the juice mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until the ingredients are moist.
Gently fold in the fresh cranberries until they’re incorporated
Don’t overmix or you’ll end up with dense muffins.
Transfer the muffin batter to a muffin pan and top with streusel
Scoop the muffin batter into the paper-lined muffin pan, evenly filling each cup. Top with a generous sprinkle of streusel.
Bake the muffins
Bake the muffins at 350 F for 30 minutes or until they are golden brown. Cool them in the pan for a few minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Scrumptious warm muffins right from the oven!
These festive treats make for the perfect holiday breakfast
Tart cranberries, zesty orange and sweet streusel make for the perfect muffin!
Enjoy at home or take some to a friend
Simply delicious!
Orange cranberry muffins
Yield 12 muffins
Ingredients
Streusel
- 1-1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1-1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon orange zest
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Muffins
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup (half a stick) butter, cut into chunks
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup orange juice
- 1-1/2 cups fresh cranberries, whole or chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and place muffin papers in a muffin pan.
- For streusel: In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, granulated sugar, orange zest, salt, and melted butter.
- Add the flour and stir until the flour creates a paste with the butter and sugars. Set aside.
- For muffins: In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well.
- Add the butter in chunks and mix it into the dry ingredients until the mixture is crumbly.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and orange juice.
- Pour the juice mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir just until the mixture has moistened. Do not overstir.
- Add the cranberries and fold them into the batter.
- Scoop the muffin batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups, then top with a generous sprinkle of the streusel topping.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until the muffins are golden brown on top.
- Allow the muffins to cool before removing from the pan.
- Serve.
Courses Breakfast
