These dried cranberry muffins with pecans make a perfect festive season breakfast or snack. Lightly spiced and with a hint of orange they are easy to make and super delicious!
Today I am posting a simple recipe for dried cranberry muffins with a festive touch. These lightly spiced cranberry orange muffins make a fantastic breakfast idea for the holiday season. They are super quick and easy to make and are a great way of using up extra cranberries left over from making Christmas stuffing, festiveroasted brussels sprouts and braised red cabbage.
If you love easy festive baking you might also like this gingerbread muffins recipe.
Dried cranberry muffins ingredients
These muffins are sweetened with cranberries and a moderate amount of sugar. I flavoured them with a combination of cinnamon, ginger and orange zest and added a handful of pecans for texture.
Step-by-step recipe instructions
1.Preheat the oven to 375 F/ 180 C/ gas mark 5 and line the muffin pan with 12 paper cases (or lightly grease if using a non-stick pan). In a bowl combine the flour, baking powder, ginger and cinnamon and stir using a whisk.
2. In another bowl whisk together the egg, sugar, oil, milk and orange zest until smooth.
3. Add the cranberries and pecans into the flour mixture and stir.
4. Pour into the egg mixture and stir just to combine. Do not overstir.
5. Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases and bake in the centre of the oven for 25 minutes or until the tops are lightly browned. Remove from the oven and leave in the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.
6. Make the orange icing by stirring the icing sugar and orange juice until smooth and drizzling over the top of the muffins. Sprinkle with more orange zest if you like and enjoy!
You might also like persimmon bread recipe which comes with a similar icing drizzle.
Top tips
- Substitutions: Use any nuts you like, not necessarily pecans. You could also use lemon zest instead of orange zest if you prefer.
- Spices: I used a combination of cinnamon and ginger but you could use either one or the other or use mixed spice/pumpkin spice instead. You could also omit these spices altogether and just add a teaspoon of vanilla bean paste (or extract) into the muffin batter.
- Batter: The batter should be lumpy. Stop stirring as soon as the dry ingredients have been incorporated.
- Best served a little warm. Pop in the microwave for a few seconds before serving. Keep in a plastic container for up to 3 days.
- Freeze for up to 3 months.
More dried cranberry recipes
- Rooibos Infused Cranberry Loaf
- Healthy Fruit Cake Tray Bake with Nuts
- Quick Vegetarian Christmas Stuffing
- Ground Turkey Stuffing Balls with Cranberries & Chestnuts
- Marinated Red Cabbage Sprouts Slaw Recipe (Christmas)
You may also like this collection of easy vegetable breakfast recipes.
Keep in touch!
If you make these cranberry orange muffins I'd love to know how they turned out for you. Did you use different spices or nuts? Let me know in the comments below, thanks!
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Recipe
Dried Cranberry Muffins with Pecans
Equipment
- 12-hole muffin pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup (120 g) dried sweetened cranberries
- 2 cups+1tbsp (260 g) plain/all-purpose flour
- 2½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon and ginger each
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 cup+1tbsp (250 ml) milk
- ⅓ cup+1½tbsp (100 ml) vegetable oil
- ½ cup less 1tbsp (80 g) sugar
- Zest of 1 orange
- ½ cup (70 g) pecans roughly chopped
For the orange icing
- 4 tablespoons confectioners sugar/icing sugar
- 1 tablespoon orange juice plus more orange zest for decorating (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 F/ 190 C/ gas mark 5 (fan 180 C). Line a muffin pan with 12 paper muffin cases (or lightly grease if using a non-stick pan).
- Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and ginger and stir using a whisk.
- Whisk together the egg, oil and sugar. Whisk in the milk and orange zest. Add the cranberries and pecans into the flour mixture and stir well to combine. Combine both dry and wet mixtures and stir only until the dry ingredients are no longer visible.
- Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases and bake in the centre of the oven for 25 minutes or until the tops are lightly browned. Remove from the oven and leave in the pan for 5 minutes then place on a cooling rack.
- To make the orange icing combine the icing sugar with the orange juice and stir until smooth. Drizzle over the top of the muffins, sprinkle more orange zest if you like and enjoy!
Notes
- Substitutions: Use any nuts you like, not necessarily pecans. You could also use lemon zest instead of orange zest if you prefer.
- Spices: I used a combination of cinnamon and ginger but you could use either one or the other or use mixed spice/pumpkin spice instead. You could also omit these spices altogether and just add a teaspoon of vanilla bean paste (or extract) into the muffin batter.
- Batter: The batter should be lumpy. Stop stirring as soon as the dry ingredients have been incorporated.
- Best served a little warm. Pop in the microwave for a few seconds before serving. Keep in a plastic container for up to 3 days.
- Freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is automatically generated and should be considered as an estimate.
**A note about baking: If using a fan-assisted oven refer to your appliance's instructions and adjust the temperature accordingly.
Geraldine Orman
This is now my go to muffin recipe. The important thing is that you give both weight and cup measurements. I feel safer with weight. Perfect every time except the last batch when I forgot to turn the oven down from 7 to five and they got a bit dry and singed. Still edible though. You also encourage experimentation so being short on pecans added some walnuts. Then I went a little mad and added a teaspoon of orange juice and a quarter teaspoon of bicarbonate with the baking powder plus orange peel and some glacé cherries cut up small. These are now my tutti fruit is for Halloween. Little yellow icing and these will pass as “snot” cakes. for Halloween. Thank you so much for this lovely versatile recipe.
Monika
Thank you! I am glad you are finding these muffins so versatile. Your Halloween twist on this recipe sounds fantastic!
Kat (The Baking Explorer)
They look so delicious and what a great healthy alternative at Christmas!
Monika
Thank you Kat!
Nico @ yumsome
These look so lovely, Monika!
#CookBlogShare
Monika
Thanks Nico! Glad you like it:) And thanks for stopping by!
Mandy Mazliah
Must give this a try. #CookBlogShare
Monika
I hope you like it!
Angela / Only Crumbs Remain
Ooh these look gorgeous Monika!
Monika
Thanks Angela!
Eb Gargano / easypeasyfoodie.com
What a lovely way to use up leftover cranberries...of which I seem to have mountains, thanks to all my various cranberry recipe inventions this year! Thanks for linking up to #CookBlogShare 🙂 Eb x
Monika
Thanks! I went a little cranberry crazy this Christmas too and still have some leftover, though I am sure they won't go to waste:)
hijackedbytwins
We have matcha and I have used it in baking but I love that you have combined it with mascarpone! I bet it was delicious! Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare and merry Christmas x
Monika
Thanks Kirsty, it was really good and so nice and green too! Merry Christmas to you too:)