Orange Cranberry Muffins Your Family Will Love!

When it comes to winter flavors, one of the first things I start to crave each year are fresh cranberries. By themselves these tiny tart berries are a bit hard to handle, but once you start mixing them into delicious recipes? Boy, howdy, I’ll be one of the first to gobble them up. These orange cranberry muffins are so good your entire family is going beg you for more! They use a mixture of granulated and brown sugar to give them almost a caramelized flavor, and if you bake them in cute papers, this is one food gift everyone will love! Enjoy!

Orange Cranberry Muffins Your Family Will Love!

What you need to make orange cranberry muffins:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar packed 
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons grated orange peel
• 1/2 cup butter (one stick)
• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups coarsely chopped fresh cranberries
• 1-1/2 cups chopped pecans

How to make orange cranberry muffins:

This will make about 1 1/2 dozen muffins!

Preheat oven to 375°

Line 2 muffin pans with 18 pretty paper muffin cups

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugars, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, baking soda, ginger, salt and orange peel.

Cut in butter until crumbly.

Stir in orange juice, eggs, and vanilla just until moistened.

Fold in cranberries and nuts.

Fill each cup 2/3 full.

Bake at 375° for 18-20 minutes or until golden.

Pro Tip: Freeze the butter before using it. When it comes time to add it to the recipe, grate it on a cheese grater and then mix in. This will leave little chunks of unmixed butter in the mix and once cooked, they will melt into the muffins and keep them from tasting dry!