Fluffy Cranberry Orange Muffins

Close up of the inside of a cranberry orange muffin stacked on top of another muffin on a rack.

Fluffy Cranberry Orange Muffins

These are the best fluffy and tangy orange cranberry muffins studded with fresh cranberries, orange zest, orange juice, and greek yogurt.

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Course: Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine: American

Servings: muffins

Calories: 142kcal

Author: Morgan Peaceman

Equipment

2 muffin tins
Muffin liners
mixing bowls
measuring cups and spoons
whisk
spatula

Ingredients

256 g all-purpose flour 2 cups
150 g granulated sugar ¾ cup
2 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon fine salt
2 tablespoon orange zest
1 cup plain full-fat Greek yogurt room temperature
2 large eggs room temperature
⅓ cup neutral oil
¼ cup fresh orange juice about 1 medium orange
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups fresh whole cranberries

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375°. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with liners. In a large bowl, combine the orange zest and the cane sugar together by gently rubbing the zest and sugar together with your fingers. This releases the oils from the orange and gives the muffins a vibrant citrus flavor.
To the sugar and orange zest, whisk the wet ingredients (greek yogurt, eggs, sugar, oil, fresh orange juice, and vanilla) until smooth and uniform.
Pour in the all purpose flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Fold the cranberries into the dry mix. Gently fold with a spatula until just combined. The batter should be slightly lumpy; do not over mix.
Divide batter evenly among 12 cups, then bake for 20-23 minutes, rotating the pan once front-to-back at 10 minutes for even color. Muffins are done when tops are golden and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs (no batter).
Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then move to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Notes

Switch from the whisk when mixing the batter to a spatula as you fold in the flour. A whisk is intended to whisk volume to the eggs, and over-whisking or mixing can cause the batter to get gummy. A spatula does a better job and combining the ingredients without over-mixing

Prior to folding in the cranberries, toss a little bit of the flour into the cranberries so that they do not sink into the bottom of the muffin tin when they bake.

Leave room in between the muffins in the muffin tin itself. That will mean using more than one muffin tin to bake with. This gives the muffins some room to rise up higher and fluffier when they bake.

USE A SCALE! I highly recommend investing in a good quality kitchen scale. Measuring in grams versus a regular measuring cup yields such different and varying results when you bake. Baking is science, so using a scale will give accurate measurements every single time.

Nutrition