Add these beautiful cranberry orange poppyseed muffins to your holiday baking list this year. They are light and fluffy with big, golden, sugary crisp muffin tops!
Looking for more baked goods recipes? Try my overnight cinnamon rolls, pecan sticky buns, banana bread or blueberry coffee cake.
This recipe was first published on December 6, 2018.
These cranberry orange poppyseeds muffins have big bursts of cranberry tart flavor and subtle hints of orange, poppyseed and vanilla. They are so much fun to make around Christmas because of the bright red color and sparkly sugar tops!
Bake up a batch of these for breakfast on the weekend when it's chilly outside and you'd like something to pair with your hot coffee or tea.
Super easy to make, and they bake up beautifully with big muffin tops. Your family with love the crisp sugary tops. Don't skip the sparkling sugar on top, that's what helps the muffins gets that beautiful golden and crisp top.
You can buy sparkling sugar at a lot of places around the holidays but I've always had the best luck finding it at Michaels crafts store or online.
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Ingredients Needed
Here is a quick overview of what you will need to make the muffins. For a full list of ingredients, amounts and also the direction please refer to the recipe card near the end of the page.
- milk
- butter
- eggs
- vanilla extract
- all purpose flour
- baking soda
- baking powder
- poppyseeds
- cinnamon
- salt
- milk
- orange - zest and juice of
- cranberries - fresh or frozen
- white sparkling sugar
How To Make Cranberry Orange Poppyseed Muffins
Preheat oven to 425.
Cream together the butter and sugar for 2 minutes.
Mix in the eggs and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, poppyseeds, cinnamon and salt.
Measure out the milk and add the orange juice and zest.
Alternating, stir in the flour and the milk to the wet ingredients until just combined.
Stir in the cranberries.
Line a muffin tin with muffin liners.
Add a large heaping scoop of batter to each muffin well. Sprinkle the tops with white sparkling sugar.
Bake at 425 for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 and continue baking for 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool and serve.
Tips
Want to know a muffin secret? If you start the oven temperature higher (425 degrees), cook them for a bit then lower the temperature (375 degrees) you'll get big tall muffin tops!
The super hot heat makes them rise rapidly. Just don't forget to lower the temperature.
Another tip for big muffin tops is to fill your liner up so it's full.
Make sure to check that the baking powder and baking soda you will be using aren't expired. Nothing is more disappointing than baked goods that have not risen due to old leavening agents.
FAQ
Make sure you are using baking soda and baking powder that are still fresh. Old leavening agents are the number one culprit to flat baked goods. Check baking powder by sprinkling it on top of water, it should fizz. Check baking soda by sprinkling it on top of vinegar, it should fizz.
Yes! Don't bother defrosting them, add them right into the muffin batter. Increase the bake time at 425 from 5 minutes to 7 minutes.
More Recipes
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Mom's Basic Quiche
- Pecan Sandies Cookies
- Raspberry Jam Thumbprints
- Cranberry Cheesecake Bars
- Big Fat Pecan Sticky Buns
Cranberry Orange Poppyseed Muffins
Add these beautiful cranberry orange poppyseed muffins to your holiday baking list this year. They are light and fluffy with big, golden, sugary crisp muffin tops!
Ingredients
- ½ c butter, soft
- 1 c cane sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 c all purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 ½ tsp poppyseeds
- ⅛ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ c milk
- Zest of 1 orange
- Juice of ½ orange
- 1 ½ c fresh or frozen cranberries
- White sparkling sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425.
- Cream together the butter and sugar for 2 minutes. Mix in the eggs and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, poppyseeds, cinnamon and salt.
- Measure out the milk and add the orange juice (about 2 tbsp orange juice) and zest. Alternating, stir in the flour and the milk to the wet ingredients until just combined. Stir in the cranberries.
- Line a muffin tin with muffin liners. Add a large heaping scoop of batter to each muffin well. Sprinkle the tops with white sparkling sugar.
- Bake at 425 for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 and continue baking for 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool and serve.
Notes
Bake until they look crisp and golden on top, if they are pale then they still need longer in the oven. The sparkling sugar helps promote the golden crisp top.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 251Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 52mgSodium: 280mgCarbohydrates: 40gFiber: 1gSugar: 22gProtein: 4g
This information comes from online calculators. Although moderncrumb.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
Portia
Came out really great! Was looking for an easy to follow recipe and came across this one online. Next time I make them I will use twice the orange juice and zest for more flavor.
Tara Moore
Thank you Portia! A little extra orange could never be bad, right! 🙂