These moist and fluffy Healthy Oatmeal Cranberry Orange Muffins are packed with bright orange flavor, are lower in sugar, and include nothing but wholesome ingredients! Made with whole grain oats instead of flour!
For me there is one clear answer when it comes to choosing my favorite kind of muffin: Cranberry Orange Muffins.
No deliberations, doubts, or denial about it!
The combination of vibrant citrus flavor with tangy cranberries makes these healthy muffins exceptionally tasty.
Well, I’m here with my go-to healthy cranberry orange muffins recipe. Made with whole grain oats instead of flour and sweetened with pure maple syrup, this easy muffin recipe is a mindful treat.
If you love baking muffins with oats, also try my Blueberry Protein Muffins.
Let’s discuss the wholesome ingredients for healthy cranberry orange muffins.
Cranberry Orange Muffins Ingredients:
Quick Oats: Taking the place of all-purpose flour, we use whole grain quick cooking oats. Old fashioned rolled oats work too here.
For gluten-free cranberry orange muffins, use certified gluten-free oats. I use gluten-free sprouted oats.
Eggs: A couple of large eggs help the muffins rise for a fluffy texture. I haven’t tested this recipe using an egg replacer like flax eggs.
For those looking for an egg-free recipe, you might have success using a flax egg replacement but the muffins will likely turn out very dense. For fluffy muffins, stick with regular eggs.
Pure Maple Syrup: Taking the place of white sugar, I like using pure maple syrup or honey to sweeten the muffins. You can also use ½ cup of regular cane sugar, brown sugar, or coconut sugar in place of the liquid sweetener.
Avocado Oil: The moist crumbs and rich flavor of these muffins is attributable to the addition of fat.
I like using avocado oil due to its neutral flavor and contains a decent amount of omega-3 fatty acids. The added healthy fats makes for moist muffins, so I don’t recommend replacing it with a lower fat or nonfat alternative.
Unsweetened Applesauce: Bringing moisture without a lot of excess fat, unsweetened applesauce is a miracle ingredient here!
It adds a subtle natural sweetness without a lot of excess sugar, zero fat, and minimal calories. It also brings an added flavor that I find to be appealing.
Orange Zest: This crucial ingredient is what brings a pop of citrus flavor to these cranberry orange muffins. You’ll need two navel oranges and a fine grater or zester to extract lots of orange flavor.
Dried Cranberries: The cranberry portion of these cranberry orange muffins. I like using dried cranberries over fresh cranberries because they taste sweeter and add a lovely texture.
Fresh cranberries work too, though I recommend adding some extra granulated sugar to offset the tartness of the cranberries.
Baking Powder: The leavening agent here. Baking powder helps the batter rise and ensures the muffins hold together and peel away from the muffin liners properly.
Sea Salt: Salt enhances all of the flavors, making the muffins taste sweeter and more citrusy. Don’t skip it! If you use regular table salt (iodized salt) instead of sea salt or kosher salt, add ¼ teaspoon instead of ¾ teaspoon. Sea salt tastes less salty than regular salt.
Looking for different ways you can customize this healthy muffin recipe? Here are some great options.
Recipe Adaptations:
- Replace the pure maple syrup with ½ cup of regular cane sugar, brown sugar, sugar-free sweetener, or coconut sugar.
- You can replace the avocado oil with 1/2 cup of olive oil, melted coconut oil or 10 tablespoons (a little over ½ cup) of melted butter. I don’t recommend using vegetable oil due to its pro-inflammatory omega-6 fats.
- Replace the applesauce with 2 large ripe bananas (or 3 medium-sized ripe bananas) if you love banana muffins.
- Use fresh or frozen cranberries instead of dried cranberries if you’d like. If you do so, I recommend adding a few tablespoons of brown sugar to offset the loss of sweetness from the dried cranberries.
- Sour cream or Greek yogurt work as a replacement for the applesauce.
- Make an optional sweet orange glaze by combining 1 cup of powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons of fresh orange juice. Drizzle the glaze over the muffins for even more orange flavor and extra sweetness!
- Make a crumb topping by combining 1/3 cup of oat flour, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, and 3 tablespoons melted butter (or avocado oil) in a medium bowl. Sprinkle the topping over the muffin tops prior to baking.
- Replace the oats with 1 2/3 cups of gluten-free all-purpose flour blend. Bob’s Red Mill’s gluten-free 1-to-1 baking flour is one of my all time favorite gluten-free flours.
- If you don’t have muffin tins, you can bake this recipe in a loaf pan for 45 to 60 minutes to make a loaf of cranberry orange bread.
Now that we’ve covered the ingredients for cranberry orange muffins, let’s bake a batch!
How to Make Cranberry Orange Muffins:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a muffin tin with paper liners.
Transfer the oats to a high-powered blender and blend on a low speed for 1-2 minutes, until a flour forms.
Add the baking powder and sea salt to the blender and blend a little longer to combine all of the dry ingredients.
Mix the unsweetened applesauce, eggs, pure maple syrup, avocado oil and pure vanilla extract in a large bowl. Whisk until the wet ingredients are well combined.
Add the flour mixture into the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix until a smooth batter forms.
Mix the orange zest and dried cranberries into the muffin batter.
Pour muffin batter into the prepared muffin tray, filling the muffin holes all the way up.
If you’d like, sprinkle more dried cranberries on the tops of the muffins. Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 20-22 minutes, or until the muffins are cooked through.
Insert a digital thermometer into the center of one of the muffins to take its internal temperature. Muffins are cooked through when they reach an internal temperature of 190 degrees. The texture of muffins is best between 190 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit.
Allow the muffins to cool completely before removing them from the muffin pan and peeling the muffin papers off to eat the muffins. If you peel off the paper liners when the muffins are still warm, you’ll lose a good portion of the muffin to the paper.
If you have a wire rack, you can transfer the muffins to the wire rack after they have cooled for 15 minutes.
Storage Tips:
- Room Temperature: Store the muffins in a sealed container on the counter for up to 3 days. If you live in a humid area, I recommend storing the muffins in the refrigerator.
- Refrigerator: Refrigerate muffins in an airtight container or a large zip lock bag for up to 5 days.
- Freezer: Freeze muffins in a freezer bag or freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
The next time you’re craving cranberry orange muffins, whip up this simple wholesome recipe. Lower in added sugar, this healthy muffin recipe is ideal for daily enjoyment to tame the sweet tooth.
These delicious muffins make an amazing afternoon snack no matter the time of year! I love them during the holiday season to enjoy with breakfast, or to have on hand to tide guests over between meals.
Ideal for busy mornings as a grab-and-go breakfast, these healthy cranberry muffins are perfect alongside some form of protein, like eggs or Greek yogurt.
If you love this cranberry orange muffin recipe, also try these healthy muffin recipes.
More Healthy Muffin Recipes:
- Almond Flour Morning Glory Muffins
- Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins
- Peach Baked Oatmeal Muffins
- Healthy Oatmeal Carrot Muffins
- Oatmeal Chocolate Banana Muffins
- Coffee Cake Muffins
- Grain-Free Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Enjoy the bright citrus flavor of these moist and fluffy muffins!
Cranberry Orange Muffins
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups quick oats
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup pure maple syrup
- ½ cup avocado oil
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract optional
- 2 Tbsp orange zest *
- ⅔ cup dried cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a muffin tin with paper liners.
- Transfer the oats to a high-powered blender and blend on a low speed for 1-2 minutes, until a flour forms.
- Add the baking powder and sea salt to the blender and blend a little longer to combine all of the dry ingredients.
- Mix the unsweetened applesauce, eggs, pure maple syrup, avocado oil and pure vanilla extract in a large bowl. Whisk until the wet ingredients are well combined.
- Add the flour mixture into the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix until a smooth batter forms.
- Mix the orange zest and dried cranberries into the muffin batter.
- Pour muffin batter into the prepared muffin tray, filling the muffin holes all the way up.
- If you’d like, sprinkle more dried cranberries on the tops of the muffins. Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 20-22 minutes, or until the muffins are cooked through.
- Insert a digital thermometer into the center of one of the muffins to take its internal temperature. Muffins are cooked through when they reach an internal temperature of 190 degrees. The texture of muffins is best between 190 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Allow the muffins to cool completely before removing them from the muffin pan and peeling the muffin papers off to eat the muffins. If you peel off the paper liners when the muffins are still warm, you’ll lose a good portion of the muffin to the paper.
Notes
Nutrition
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