Y’all have been clamoring for this cranberry orange muffin recipe. I can’t say I blame you.

Cranberries are the ultimate fall fruit. I just discovered that a few weeks ago, when I bought two pounds of cranberries and ended up only using one to make cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving. I had a whole pound left, so I decided to put them in everything.

I hadn’t baked much with cranberry before, but now that I have, there’s no going back. I absolutely love them in everything from scones to cake. They add little pops of tartness to sweet things, and they look great in baked goods. They’re like little cute polka dots you didn’t know your muffin or cake needed.

This recipe came to me because I wanted to have something to eat for breakfast all week, and I wanted to use up cranberries and oranges sitting in my fridge.

I also wanted to use up some yogurt, and so I mixed a bunch into the muffin batter. The result is a very tender crumb that practically melts in your mouth.

I glazed these muffins but you could always omit the glaze if you don’t want extra sugar. I might experiment with a crumb topping next time because I feel like these muffins have coffee cake vibes without actually being coffee cake. They’re great with a strong cup of coffee in the morning.

You can use fresh or frozen cranberries in the batter. I used fresh because that’s what I had, but you could mix frozen berries and it would still turn out great. Avoid using dried cranberries unless you want to sprinkle some on top for decoration. They don’t have the same pop of flavor as fresh cranberries.

Here’s a song to get you started on your cranberry orange muffin journey.

Cranberry Orange Muffins

Ingredients

for the muffins:
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs at room temperature
1/2 cup yogurt (I used 2%, but whole is great, too)
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
zest of 2 oranges
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp orange juice (mine was fresh squeezed, but it doesn’t have to be)
2 Tbsp whole milk
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries (do not thaw)

for the glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
3 Tbsp orange juice

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F with a rack in the middle. Grease a muffin pan or line it with paper cups.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar on high until creamed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the eggs, yogurt, vanilla extract, and orange zest. Beat on medium speed, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary, until the mixture is well combined.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt until well combined. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in the bowl of the stand mixer and mix until just combined. Add the orange juice and whole milk and mix again until everything is well combined. Fold in the cranberries with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.

Scoop or spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin. I like to use an ice cream scoop, but regular spoons work well, too. Make sure the cups are 3/4 way full.

Bake the muffins for five minutes at 425 degrees F, then turn down the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 15-18 minutes more, or until the tops are golden brown and spring back to the touch. You can also check doneness by inserting a toothpick in the center of a muffin. If it comes out clean, you’re good to go.

Let the muffins cool completely. Once they’re cool, whisk together the powdered sugar and orange juice. Use a spoon to drizzle the glaze on top of the muffins.

These will keep for a few days tightly sealed at room temp. Enjoy!