Cranberry Muffins Recipe

Cranberries are not just for holiday dishes at Thanksgiving and Christmas, according to registered dietician Kristen Carli. She created a recipe for cranberry muffins that make a delicious, quick meal or snack any time of year. "I love to make these on the weekend for easy grab-and-go breakfasts throughout the busy workweek," Carli told us.

That said, you could easily bake up these sweet little treats on any weeknight or morning, given how fast they come together — you'll only need a little over half an hour from start to bite — and how accessible the ingredient list is. In fact, chances are, you have every single ingredient needed to bake up these colorful muffins except perhaps the frozen cranberries. And guess what? These cranberry muffins freeze like a dream, so keeping some on hand is as easy as adding a single item to your next grocery delivery order.

To get your cranberry muffins from pantry to palate, simply gather from your kitchen arsenal all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, canola oil, milk, eggs, and almond extract. Then, shop for your frozen cranberries. One batch of 12 muffins calls for a cup of cranberries, so a bag of the frozen variety will yield several batches. As for why the recipe uses frozen fruit, Carli explains to Mashed, "I recommend using frozen cranberries because you can typically find them year-round. Fresh cranberries are typically only available at the holidays." Noted!

Meanwhile, we also wondered why she chose almond extract for these muffins. "I love almond extract!" Carli simply noted, but added, "It is the best flavor to add to certain baked goods." And in this case, she told us, "I believe it helps to balance the tartness of the cranberries." Don't have any on hand? Try substituting vanilla extract.

Step one to baking these simple, scrumptious cranberry muffins is to preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Carli recommends lining a muffin tin with muffin tin liners, but you could always grease your pan with nonstick cooking spray if you prefer. 

Next, you'll grab a large bowl and combine your dry ingredients: the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Now, whisk all of these together to combine, and set this bowl aside for a while. Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer, you'll combine your wet ingredients — so, in goes the canola oil, milk, eggs, and almond extract. You'll mix these ingredients until they are well-combined, and then add in the dry ingredients — Carli notes you should do this gradually. Mix the batter well.

The final, pre-bake step is to go ahead and add in those frozen cranberries. Stir the batter gently with a large spoon to fold in the berries.

The batter now gets divided evenly among your 12 muffin tins. You will bake the cranberry muffins for about 25 minutes, with Carli noting that to avoid burning your batch, you should, "Make sure to remove the muffins from the oven when they are golden brown."

Of course, you can spread a little butter or jam on a muffin and enjoy one right away. But if you are taking Carli's advice and prepping this pastry ahead of time, she told us, "These keep in an airtight container or Ziploc bag at room temperature for up to seven days." Her recipe also freezes well, and she added a word of advice if you will be storing your yield in the freezer: "Be sure to thaw the muffins in the fridge first before eating them."

So, there you have it — muffins that make today, tomorrow, or a day down the line a bit sweeter!