These cranberry orange muffins are rich and moist thanks to the addition of ricotta cheese. Use your favorite gluten-free cup-for-cup flour to make a GF version that won’t be dry and crumbly.
Cranberry Orange muffins are my favorite breakfast treat. When I worked at Atlanta Bread Company in college I would eat one after every morning shift. Oh to have the metabolism of my 20s!
I stick to daily oatmeal or green smoothies for a high fiber breakfast these days but once in a while, I will savor a cranberry orange muffin for old time’s sake.
The closest Atlanta Bread Company is an hour away from my house so I make this cranberry orange muffin recipe at home instead. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Scroll to the end for the complete recipe and a printable recipe card.
Cranberry Orange Muffins
Ingredients
- fresh or frozen from fresh cranberries, thawed – I like to buy fresh bags around Thanksgiving and Christmas and toss a couple in the deep freeze for later. No prep work required! Just thaw them out and you’re ready to roll.
- ricotta cheese
- eggs
- vanilla extract
- melted butter, cooled
- orange juice
- granulated sugar
- zest from one small orange
- flour
- baking powder
- salt
- baking soda
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Prepare a 12-cup muffin tin by spraying with non-stick cooking spray.
Wisk together ricotta, eggs, orange juice, and vanilla. Stir in melted (but not hot!) butter. Room temp or slightly warmer is fine. You just don’t want the eggs to start cooking due to the hot butter.
In a small bowl, use a fork to mix the orange zest and granulated sugar. Set aside
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
Add the zest mixture and combine.
Gently fold in the ricotta mixture until just combined. Don’t overwork it.
Fold in cranberries.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin and bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
Allow the muffins to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Enjoy your cranberry orange muffins warm from the oven or save them for an easy grab-and-go breakfast during busy mornings.
Cranberry Orange Muffins Recipe with Ricotta
Ingredients
- 1 cup cranberries
- ¾ cup ricotta cheese
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 stick butter melted and cooled
- ⅔ cup sugar
- zest from one orange
- 3 tablespoon orange juice
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Prepare a 12-cup muffin tin by spraying with non-stick cooking spray.
- Wisk together ricotta, eggs, orange juice, and vanilla. Stir in melted (but not hot!) butter. Room temp or slightly warmer is fine. You just don’t want the eggs to start cooking due to the hot butter.
- In a small bowl, use a fork to mix the orange zest and granulated sugar. Set aside
- In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
- Add the zest mixture and combine.
- Gently fold in the ricotta mixture until just combined. Don’t overwork it.
- Fold in cranberries.
- Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin and bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
susan says
The list of ingredients does not show how much orange juice to use.
Jenn says
Thank you for catching that! I updated the recipe card to include 3 Tbsps orange juice.