This cranberry orange muffins recipe is moist and sweet, with pops of tart berries and zingy orange zest. They’re perfect!

Here’s a muffin recipe that shot to the top of our favorites list: these Cranberry Orange Muffins! They’re soft and fluffy, scented with zingy orange zest and pops of sweet tart cranberries. The best part? A sweet orange icing glaze brings in just the right extra pop of sweetness to balance the berries. They’re ideal for fall and winter when cranberries are seasonal, but we love them so much we make them year round: the sweet tart flavor is just that good! We might like them even better than blueberry muffins (gasp!).

Ingredients in cranberry orange muffins

These cranberry orange muffins are a riff on our classic blueberry muffins recipe: fluffy, tall muffins with just the right moist crumb. It’s our preference to use oil in muffins instead of butter, which keeps them extremely moist and makes the baking process easier: you don’t have to use a mixer to cream the butter and sugar! Just a bowl and a whisk will do.

We made this recipe for our family over Thanksgiving and they raved about these muffins! We hope you’ll love them as much as we do. They’re ideal for a special breakfast or brunch (like Christmas breakfast). Here’s what you need for this recipe:

All purpose flour
Sugar
Cinnamon
Baking powder
Salt
Eggs
Honey
Vegetable oil
Greek yogurt
Milk
Apple cider vinegar
Orange zest
Fresh or frozen cranberries
Powered sugar

Tips for baking cranberry orange muffins

These cranberry orange muffins are simple to put together, as most muffin recipes are. Mix the dry ingredients, mix the wet ingredients, combine, and bake! Here are a few notes on the process:

Add a hefty amount of orange zest. 2 tablespoons orange zest might seem like a lot, but it’s crucial for the orange flavor. You’ll need 2 medium oranges for this amount (or 1 very large).
Resist the urge to overmix. Overmixing muffin batter causes holes in the crumb and a denser texture. Mix just until the streaks of flour disappear.
Baking at 400 degrees makes a taller muffin. After experimenting for years, our favorite temperature for baking muffins is 400 degrees Fahrenheit (versus 350 which is standard). It makes a taller and fluffier muffin: and it’s quicker to bake!

Notes for the icing glaze

These cranberry orange muffins aren’t complete without the orange glaze: it adds just the right pop of sweetness. It’s like adding a few more pinches of salt to a savory dish to bring out the flavor even more.

All you need are powdered sugar and orange juice, which you’ll mix into a thick icing. You can use the fresh juice from one of the oranges you zested for the muffins. Or, milk works too!
Make sure to let the muffins cool completely before drizzling the icing. Otherwise, the icing will melt and not hold up.
A fork makes the best icing drizzle. Nope, not a spoon! Using a fork makes the best drizzly icing lines.

Storage info

The glaze adds a little complication to the storage for cranberry orange muffins. You can store them without a paper towel at room temperature, but the glaze can become very sticky. Here’s what we recommend:

Room temperature: Store at room temperature in a sealed container lined with a paper towel to absorb extra moisture. Iced muffins last about 2 days and un-iced last about 4 days.
Refrigerator: Store refrigerated for up to 1 week or more (allow to come to room temperature before serving).
Frozen: Freeze un-iced muffins in a sealable container and store up to 3 months. Add the glaze once they are defrosted. You can also freeze iced muffins: the glaze can just become sticky after defrosting.

More cranberry recipes

Got cranberries? Here are some favorite cranberry recipes to sample:

This cranberry orange muffins recipe is…

Vegetarian.