Cranberry Muffins Recipe

This photo shows an open cranberry vanilla muffin sitting on top of more muffins.

4.50 from 2 votes

These Cranberry Muffins are a quickly made treat for anytime of the day. Tart and vibrantly red cranberris give a boost of flavor to this tender muffin.

Prep Time30

Cook Time25

Total Time55

Course: Cranberry Muffins, Easy to make, Muffins

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cranberry muffins, easy to make, muffins

Servings: muffins

Calories: 192kcal

Author: Helen S. Fletcher

Equipment

2 12 well regular size muffin tins OR
2 6 well Jumbo muffin tins

Ingredients

Topping

3 tablespoons granulated sugar (40 grams)
1 teaspoon nutmeg

Cranberry Muffins

12 ounces cranberries, fresh or frozen
1 cup granulated sugar (200 grams)
½ cup unsalted butter, softened (114 grams)
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour (280 grams)
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla paste or extract

Instructions

Topping

The cranberries should be picked over to remove any less than good ones. It is easiest to do this on a rimmed baking sheet so they don't roll away. Freeze the until hard.

Cranberry Muffins

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line cupcake wells with paper liners. Set aside.
Cream the sugar and butter together until light, scraping down as necessary.
Add the vanilla paste or extract, blending well.
Add the eggs, beating until combined. The mixture may curdle but this will be taken care of in the next step.
In the meantime, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the flour and milk alternately, starting and ending with the flour. Three flour and two milk additions are fine.
Place the frozen cranberries in the bowl of a processor. Pulse to chop them coarsely. Add them to the batter and mix just until combined. The batter will be very firm and cold at this point.
Fill the paper cups almost to the top, pressing the batter down to make sure they are filled well. Sprinkle heavily with the nutmeg sugar.
Bake the regular size muffins for about 15 to 18 to minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Bake the Jumbo muffins for 24 to 26 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
Cool about 5 minutes in the pans, then turn them out to finish cooking on a rack.
Yield: 15 to 16 regular size muffins or 9 to 10 Jumbo muffins.
Store at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for longer storage. Thaw at room temperature.

Notes

There is always an abundance of photos to guide you in the post above.

As always, I recommend using a scale for accuracy and consistency. Flour, in particular, is difficult to measure by volume. For my recipes, I use 140 grams per cup of unsifted all-purpose, bread or whole wheat flour and 125 grams of cake flour. Others may use different weights so use whatever they suggest.

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The softened butter should be about 75°F to blend well with the sugar.

The cranberries need to be frozen hard before processing. Use immediately, do not let them thaw.

The batter will be very cold and firm. When filling the cups, press the batter down into them to make sure they are filled well. Fill almost to the top.

Bake them immediately so the cranberries do not start to melt.

Nutrition