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Featuring a chocolate batter filled with cranberries, pecans, orange zest, and white chocolate chips plus a crunchy streusel on top, this cranberry orange muffin recipe makes a lovely choice for a festive breakfast or holiday brunch.
Why Make This Cranberry Orange Muffin Recipe
I love making this cranberry orange muffin recipe because it combines so many of my favorite holiday flavors: bitter dark chocolate, tart cranberries, bright citrus, and buttery pecans. The finished muffins strike a balance between dark cocoa and citrusy orange, with bursts of juicy cranberry and creamy white chocolate in every bite.
This recipe comes together in about an hour, and aside from the cranberries, you probably already have many of the ingredients in the fridge or pantry, so it’s easy to whip up a batch without the need for special tools or fancy ingredients. (You don’t even need a mixer for this one!) These muffins make a nice addition to a Christmas morning breakfast or a holiday brunch spread, and are equally great as an afternoon snack. Plus, they’ll fill your home with the festive scents of chocolate, orange, and cranberry, putting friends and family in the holiday spirit.
Ingredients for Making Chocolate Cranberry Muffins
To make these cranberry muffins, start by gathering the following ingredients:
- Sugars – This recipe requires dark brown bugar for the streusel topping, and granulated sugar for the batter.
- Cocoa Powder – You’ll need natural cocoa powder (not Dutch processed) for both the topping and the muffin batter.
- All Purpose Flour – All purpose flour (plain flour) for the topping and batter, plus another teaspoon to coat the berries.
- Chopped Pecans – Pecans add a pleasant crunch to the streusel topping and the chocolate muffins. If you don’t like pecans, you can use an equal quantity of chopped walnuts or pistachios.
- Unsalted Butter – For the streusel topping. The butter should be cold, rather than at room temperature.
- Oranges – Orange zest adds a bright, citrus-y flavor to both the batter and the topping. I recommend grating the zest on a Microplane rather than a box grater.
- Leavening Agents – Baking powder, baking soda, and a large egg give these muffins their lift.
- Whole Milk – Or your favorite plant milk of choice.
- Canola Oil – You can also make the batter with vegetable oil or coconut oil. Avoid olive oil, which will change the flavor.
- Cranberries – Fresh or frozen cranberries will both work. See my notes below.
- White Chocolate Chips – You’ll need 85 grams, or about 3 ounces, of white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate. If you aren’t a white chocolate fan, feel free to substitute dark chocolate instead.
Fresh or Frozen Cranberries?
These chocolate orange cranberry muffins work nicely with either fresh or frozen cranberries.
I tested this recipe using frozen berries because they’re easier to find and more economical, but feel free to use fresh cranberries if you happen to have some on hand. If using frozen cranberries, do not thaw before adding to the batter.
I don’t recommend using dried cranberries for this muffin recipe.
Cranberry Orange Muffin Recipe Tips and Tricks
Don’t Overmix the Batter: The batter should be lumpy—don’t overmix or your muffins will be heavy and dense. Instead, stir the wet and dry ingredients together just until combined.
Use Silicone Muffin Liners. Silicone muffin liners make it easy to remove the muffins after baking. The second best option is a silicone muffin pan, but paper liners will also work in a pinch. Do not bake these muffins in an unlined metal tin.
Coat the Cranberries with Flour: Before folding in the cranberries, toss them in a teaspoon of flour to keep them from sinking to the bottom of the muffin cups.
Don’t Overfill the Muffin Cups: Fill each siilicone muffin cup about 3/4 of the way full, but not to the very top. And make sure the batter isn’t spilling over, or it will adhere to the pan as the muffins bake.
Let the Muffins Cool: Cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack (this prevents the muffins from getting soggy and allows everything to set properly) but do not cool completely in the tin or they’ll be difficult to remove.
Make-Ahead and Storage Suggestions
These cranberry orange muffins are best enjoyed on the day they are made. Leftover muffins can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days.
Homemade cranberry muffins also freeze well. To freeze, allow the muffins to cool completely, remove the silicone liners (if using paper liners, you can freeze directly in the paper), wrap the muffins individually in foil, and freeze for up to three months. Thaw at room temperature.
Other muffin recipes you might enjoy:
Strawberry Muffins
Lemon Poppyseed Muffins
Mixed Berry Oatmeal Cornmeal Muffins
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins
And if you do make these, or any of my recipes, don’t forget to tag me @bastecutfold or use the hashtag #bastecutfold on Instagram. I always love to see what you’re making!
Chocolate Cranberry Orange Muffin Recipe
- Total Time: About 1 hour
- Yield: 12 muffins 1x
Description
Chocolate muffins filled with cranberries, pecans, orange zest, and white chocolate chips, plus a crunchy streusel topping.
Ingredients
Streusel topping:
45 grams dark brown sugar (3 tablespoons, packed)
12 grams cocoa powder (2 tablespoons)
20 grams all-purpose flour (2 tablespoons)
15 grams chopped pecans (2 tablespoons)
30 grams unsalted butter (2 tablespoons), cold and cubed
Zest of 1/2 orange
Muffins:
160 grams all-purpose flour (1 1/4 cup), plus 1 teaspoon for coating the cranberries
35 grams cocoa powder (1/4 cup)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg
105 grams granulated sugar (1/2 cup)
120 milliliters whole milk (1/2 cup)
45 milliliters canola oil (3 tablespoons)
Zest of one large orange
100 grams fresh or frozen cranberries (1 cup)
30 grams coarsely chopped pecans (1/3 cup)
85 grams white chocolate chips (3 ounces; about 1/2 cup)
Instructions
Streusel topping:
In a small bowl, whisk together brown sugar, cocoa powder, flour, and pecans.
Add the orange zest and whisk to combine.
Add the cold butter. With your fingertips, rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
Refrigerate the streusel topping while you prepare the muffins.
Muffins:
Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper or silicone baking cups. Preheat oven to 350° F / 175° C.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, granulated sugar, milk, canola oil, and orange zest.
In a small bowl, combine cranberries with 1 teaspoon flour, and toss with a fork.
With a rubber spatula, fold dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Do not overmix. (Batter will be lumpy.)
Fold in the cranberries, white chocolate chips, and chopped pecans, reserving a few of each for the tops of the muffins.
With a teaspoon, spoon the batter into prepared muffin tin.
Sprinkle with the streusel mixture.
Bake in preheated oven for 22-24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Serve immediately. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 22-24 mintues
- Category: Muffins
- Method: Oven