These Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins are perfect for fall and winter. Soft and fluffy and flavored with pumpkin puree, cranberries, cozy warm spices, and a touch of orange. A delicious breakfast or snack alongside a cup of coffee or tea.
These muffins are giving me major Thanksgiving vibes. Pumpkin AND cranberries in one recipe? These are pretty much made for the holidays! Delicious for breakfast, snack, or as a sweet accompaniment to dinner. You’ll love them!
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Recipe overview
I used my popular Pumpkin Muffins as the inspiration for this recipe. With a few changes I turned them into Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins!
Muffin base: This muffin batter comes together in minutes. Pumpkin puree keeps the muffins moist. Pumpkin spice, orange, vanilla, and cranberries add delicious flavors.
Topping: I sprinkle the tops of the muffins with a little coarse/sparkling sugar right before baking. You can add a crumb topping if you’d like (try the one in this recipe), or you can dust the muffins with powdered sugar after baking and cooling.
Bake: Bake time is around 20 minutes, possibly a few minutes longer if you’re using frozen cranberries.
Recipe tips
- Use canned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling (which is already sweetened).
- When grating the orange zest use a fine microplane grater. Only use the orange part of the skin, not the bitter white pith.
- Don’t overmix the batter, as this can make the muffins tough. Mix just until the dry ingredients and wet ingredients are combined.
- Use an ice cream scoop to add the batter into the muffin cups.
- Add a few minutes to the bake time if using frozen cranberries.
- Try serving the muffins with honey butter or maple butter. Yum!
What type of cranberries to use
You can use either fresh or frozen cranberries for this recipe. If using frozen you will want to add them to the batter still frozen. You’ll also likely need to add a couple minutes to the bake time.
Serving and storage
Serve muffins warm or at room temperature. Store leftover muffins in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, heating slightly before serving. Leftover muffins can be frozen for up to 2 months.
Recipe
Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins
Ingredients
Muffins:
- 1-¾ cups all purpose flour*
- 1-½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup canola or vegetable oil
- 1-¼ cups canned pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup orange juice
- ½ teaspoon finely grated orange zest
- 1 ⅓ cup fresh or frozen cranberries**
Optional toppings:
- coarse/sparkling sugar and/or powdered sugar
Instructions
For the muffins:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin or line with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, spices, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, oil, pumpkin puree, vanilla, orange juice, and zest until combined. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until just a few streaks of flour remain. Gently stir in the cranberries, reserving a couple tablespoons, if desired, for topping the muffins.
- Divide the batter between 12 muffin cups (I use an ice cream scoop). Add a couple extra cranberries on top of the muffins, if desired. Sprinkle with a little coarse/sparkling sugar. Bake for about 20 minutes (likely a few minutes longer if your cranberries are frozen), until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes, then remove the muffins from the pan and place on the rack to cool completely.
- Optional: dust the muffins with powdered sugar just before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below!
Liz says
I love pumpkin muffins but I’d never thought to add cranberries! Such a yummy idea for fall!
Gina says
Never had pumpkin muffins with cranberry before so I was excited to make these! They came out excellent. Everyone loved them!
Maggie says
I made these for Thanksgiving and my entire family is still raving about them! I omitted the orange juice (bc i didn’t feel like going to the store) and used a little applesauce instead – came out amazing!
Allison says
I’m so glad! Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
Diane T says
Can I use pumpkin pie mix instead of pumpkin purée for this recipe?
Allison says
You probably can, it will just be sweeter. Maybe reduce the sugar by a little since the pumpkin pie mix is already sweetened?
charlene carman says
Can you make small loaves of bread with this recipe
Allison Mattina says
Yes, that should work. Adjust the bake time according to the size of your loaf pans. Enjoy!