Name: Cranberry Walnut Muffins
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 2 cups flour (all-purpose); ¾ cup sugar; ½ teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon baking powder; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1 cup Greek yogurt (2% or higher fat, vanilla or plain); 2/3 cup canola oil; 2 eggs (large); 2 tablespoons vanilla extract; 1 ½ cups dried cranberries; ½ cup walnuts (chopped); 1 tablespoon orange zest ((from 1 large orange)); ¼ cup oats; ¼ cup brown sugar; ¼ cup flour; ¼ cup walnuts (chopped); optional: 1 tablespoon butter, melted

Jump to Recipe

When asked to name the flavors of fall, many of us will turn to apples and pumpkin. Well, I propose we add cranberry to the mix! To start, these Cranberry Walnut Muffins.

I love cranberries for that unique tart-and-sweet they provide to baked goods. And I like to add plenty of orange zest because, well, it works! You could almost call these Cranberry – Orange Muffins.

But walnuts are also a key ingredient. Chopped walnuts added to both the batter and the streusel topping give this muffin a fullness of texture and flavor that is uniquely satisfying.

Why I love these muffins

Tart cranberries work unusually well in baked goods. The play of tart and sweet is a natural delight to the taste buds!

Cranberry muffins are my guy’s favorite, and I’ve been playing with this recipe for a couple years, working to get it right. I am finally happy, and so is he!

Using dried cranberries (Craisins) means I can make these delicious muffins any time I want, not just in fall. And that’s a real win!

Ingredients

How to make these dried cranberry muffins

Muffins are pretty easy to make, but there is one rule you need to remember: do not over-mix. Over-mixing can result in a “tough” muffin, which no one wants. Treating this batter gently helps to ensure a deliciously tender crumb.

Start with the dry ingredients. Mix them together and set aside.

Then, in a large mixing bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Add the Greek yogurt, canola oil, and vanilla. Mix these well to combine.

Now, add the bowl of dry ingredients and mix just enough to blend.

Fold in the flavor: dried cranberries, chopped walnuts, and orange zest.

adding dried cranberries, walnuts, and orange zest to muffin batter.

Spoon the batter into a muffin pan lined with paper liners.

spatula dropping batter into muffin cups.

And then, streusel topping

In theory, the streusel could be considered optional I suppose. But not for me! Streusel totally makes the muffin for me. 😃

I combine equal amounts of flour, brown sugar, oatmeal, and chopped walnuts for this streusel topping. Optionally, I sometimes add a little melted butter. When you combine these ingredients, the butter helps make the streusel a little “sticky”, for lack of a better term. It will stay on top of the muffin as the batter rises in the muffin cup.

If you don’t add the butter, the streusel will just be a little drier and messier when you eat the muffin. But it is delicious either way. 😀

Expert Tips

Using dried cranberries (Craisins) instead of fresh means that you can enjoy these muffins year-round, not just when fresh cranberries are in the grocery stores.

Mini muffins can also be made with this recipe! Simply spray the pan first with cooking spray (I find the mini paper liners too annoying to deal with LOL). The baking time is shorter, please refer to the notes in the recipe card. This batter will make about 32-36 mini muffins.

More recipes that use dried cranberries (Craisins)

3 cranberry walnut muffins on a blue plate.

5 from 41 votes

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