Delicious, sweet and tart, these Cranberry Muffins are full of fresh cranberries and chocolate chips. A perfectly portable breakfast or snack!

Featured image for Cranberry Chocolate Chip Muffins recipe.

These Cranberry Chocolate Chip Muffins are a moist and delicious packed with tart fresh cranberries, semi sweet chocolate chips, and a hint of orange flavor.

Cranberry chocolate chip Muffins with chocolate and orange on a white plate.

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❤️ Why you'll love it
🥘 Ingredients
🔪 Instructions
🥄 Equipment
🥫Storage
💭 Tips
📖 Variations
📚 Related Recipes
📖 Recipe
💬 Comments

❤️ Why you'll love it

Ready in 30 minutes: Cranberry Chip Muffins are ready in under 30 minutes and can be enjoyed warm straight from the oven.

Fresh cranberries: this muffin makes great use of fresh cranberries adding moisture and tartness to a sweet muffin.

On the go breakfast: A perfect breakfast on the go, or afternoon snack.

🥘 Ingredients

Fresh Cranberries: For best results use fresh cranberries. Frozen cranberries can be substituted but should used frozen and not thawed.

Orange Zest: I love fresh orange zest, but you can substitute dried in place of it. While this is an optional ingredient, I love the combination of cranberry and orange with chocolate!

Semi-sweet chocolate chips: theses offer a sweet chocolate contrast that pairs perfectly with orange flavor and tart cranberries.

All purpose flour: makes up the structure of the muffins.

Granulated sugar: sweetens the muffins and is part of the structure of the muffin.

Baking powder: the agent that activates the rise of the muffin.

Salt: to balaance out the flavors.

Milk: to add moisture and bring the dry ingredients together. I used almond milk but you can use any dairy or non dairy milk.

Butter: adds fat, flavor, and moisture to the muffins. Can substitute with margarine or vegetable oil

🔪 Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400°F. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and grated orange rind (if using).
Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Stir in the cranberries and chocolate chips.
In a large measuring cup, whisk together the almond milk, butter, vanilla extract, and egg. Add the egg mixture into the flour mixture, stirring just until the flour has been incorporated.
Scoop the batter evenly into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray.
Bake for 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean.
Remove muffins from pan immediately and place on a wire rack. Store muffins at room temperature for 2 days, or freeze up to 3 months.

Muffin batter in scooped into non-stick paper liner liner in a muffin pan.

🥄 Equipment

12 cup muffin pan

Cupcake wrappers: I love these non-stick cupcake liners.

Mixing bowl: you will need one large bowl.

Dry measure cups and spoons: to measure dry ingredients

Large liquid measuring cup: for the wet ingredients

Wooden spoon: for mixing the ingredients together.

Rubber scraper: to scrape the bowl.

Citrus zester: to remove zest from the orange.

Baked Orange Cranberry muffins on a white tray.

🥫Storage

Room temperature: store muffins in an airtight container on the counter up to 4 days.

Freeze: store in an airtight freezer safe container up to 3 months.

Reheat: if desired, heat thawed muffins in microwave until warm.

💭 Tips

Be sure the butter is melted, but not hot.
Similar to biscuits, don't want to overwork the batter. Stir only just until the dry ingredients have combined into the muffin batter.
Use a food chopper to chop the cranberries. This releases the liquid from them and will chop them into smaller pieces. My favorite food chopper is this one!
Gently fold the cranberries and chocolate into the batter. Only a few motions should be needed to do so.

One Cranberry Muffin cut in half on a white plate.

📖 Variations

Substitute lemon zest for orange.
Make mini-sized muffins!
Use white chocolate chips in place of semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Substitute dried cranberries for the fresh.
Stir in ½ cup of your favorite nuts. We love pecans and macadamias in this cranberry muffin!
Fancy the muffin up a bit and make a glaze with ½ cup of confectioners sugar and 1 tablespoon of orange juice (more juice to thin as desired) then drizzle the glaze over top of the hot muffin. The glaze will soak in a little and infuse with more orange flavor!

Almond Joy Muffins are sweet, moist, and delicious. With coconut milk in the batter, the crumb is extra tender and the coconut flavor comes through just enough but not overly strong.

Rhubarb Crumb Muffins make use of the best of the spring crop of rhubarb with a delicious sweet crumb topping.

These Banana Walnut Muffins with Maple Icing make great use of overripe bananas!

You will want to try these Coconut Cranberry Muffins!

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