Healthy Cranberry Orange Muffins

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One word for these muffins… RIDICULOUS! I knew the combination of orange and cranberry would be over the top superb, but I wasn’t prepared for the firecracker of flavor.

These healthy cranberry orange muffins are made with whole wheat pastry flour, two whole oranges pureed right into the batter and tart cranberries, all sweetened with honey. There are no eggs and no butter, and the wet ingredients come together in the blender in about a minute.

The Best Healthy Cranberry Orange Muffins (Whole Wheat and Honey Sweetened)

POP! Citrusy, bright orange. BAM! Tart and tangy cranberry. POW! A sweet, moist, honeyed muffin. These cranberry orange muffins are ridiculously flavorful, and they are still one of my favorite muffins I have ever shared.

Like I mentioned in my Blueberry Banana Muffins, I’ve tried baking with several different whole wheat flours. The flour you bake with will either leave your muffins hard and dense or soft and moist. Whole wheat pastry flour is the one I’ve grown to love and use when baking anything with flour, and it is the reason these muffins stay so tender.

Readers have made these for Easter dinner, swapped in chia seeds for the flax and called them “outstanding.” I’ll be honest with you, though. Whenever I make a batch of my muffins, I clean out the whole batch myself throughout the day. I can’t resist their fluffy goodness!

Every bit of flavor comes from real fruit: two whole oranges blended right into the batter, tart cranberries folded in at the end and honey for sweetness. Flaxseed, applesauce and olive oil stand in for the eggs and butter, so these are as simple as they are bright.

Why You’ll Love These Cranberry Orange Muffins

• Big orange flavor. Two whole oranges are peeled and pureed into the batter, so every bite tastes like fresh citrus.
• Tart and sweet. Chopped cranberries pop against a soft, honeyed muffin.
• No eggs or butter. Ground flaxseed, unsweetened applesauce and olive oil do the work.
• Quick to bake. About 18 to 20 minutes at 375°F, and the blender does most of the mixing.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Here is what goes into these whole wheat cranberry orange muffins and why each one is there. Exact amounts are in the recipe card below.

• Whole wheat pastry flour: Finer and softer than regular whole wheat flour. It is milled from soft wheat, which has less protein, so it forms less gluten and keeps the muffins light and tender instead of heavy. Regular whole wheat flour gives a denser, sturdier muffin.
• Flaxseed or flaxseed meal: Helps hold the batter together in place of eggs. Ground flax soaks up liquid and turns into a soft gel that binds the batter the way an egg would. A reader made these with chia seeds instead and loved them.
• Baking powder and baking soda: Both give the muffins their rise and a nicely domed top. The baking soda reacts with the acidic orange and applesauce, and the baking powder adds extra lift once the pan hits the oven.
• Salt: A little salt sharpens the citrus and keeps the honey from tasting flat.
• Oranges: Two oranges, peeled and blended until smooth. If you have one ginormous orange, one is enough. Too much orange makes the batter runny, so stick close to two medium oranges. Pull away as much of the white pith as you can, since it tastes bitter and the whole fruit goes into the batter.
• Unsweetened applesauce: Adds moisture and natural sweetness without any butter. It also helps the flax bind the batter. Choose unsweetened so the honey stays in charge of the sweetness.
• Honey or agave: The only sweetener in the batter. Use whichever you have. Honey adds a warm, floral note and helps the muffins stay moist.
• Olive oil: A light olive oil keeps the crumb moist. Oil stays liquid at room temperature, so oil based muffins stay soft even after they cool.
• Pure vanilla extract: Rounds out the orange flavor and softens the sharp edge of the cranberries.
• Cranberries: Fresh cranberries are my favorite because their tartness really complements the orange. They’re only in season from about September to February, so frozen work great too. There’s no need to thaw frozen berries; chop them and fold them in straight from the freezer so they don’t bleed into the batter. Dried cranberries will work, but they aren’t as tart, so the flavor is milder.

How to Make Cranberry Orange Muffins

1. Heat the oven. Preheat to 375°F and lightly spray a muffin pan with olive oil cooking spray, or line it with muffin cups. Let the oven heat all the way, because a hot oven gives the batter the quick burst of rise that makes domed tops.
2. Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, flaxseed, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk well so the leaveners are spread evenly and you don’t end up with bitter pockets.
3. Blend the wet ingredients. In a blender (I use my Vitamix), blend the peeled oranges until smooth. Add the applesauce, honey, olive oil and vanilla and blend on low until well mixed. The mixture should look smooth and juicy with no chunks of fruit left.
4. Combine. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir just until blended. A few streaks of flour are fine. Use a spatula and fold from the bottom of the bowl up. The batter will be thick and a little lumpy, and that is exactly right.
5. Fold in the cranberries. Coarsely chop them first so you get a little burst of tartness in every bite. Smaller pieces also spread more evenly, so every muffin gets its share. A few gentle turns of the spatula is all it takes.
6. Scoop and bake. Fill each cup with about 1/4 cup of batter and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until the tops spring back when lightly touched. Even scoops mean the muffins all finish baking at the same time.

Cranberry Orange Muffins FAQs

• Can I use dried cranberries instead of fresh? Yes, but the muffins will taste milder. The tartness of fresh or frozen cranberries is what really complements the orange, so use those when you can find them.
• Do these muffins have eggs or butter? No. Ground flaxseed and unsweetened applesauce take the place of eggs, and olive oil replaces butter.
• What size oranges should I use? Two medium oranges, peeled and pureed. If your orange is very large, one is enough.
• Why is my batter runny? Usually too much orange. One reader used one and a half large oranges, found the batter thin and added a little more flour, and the muffins still came out great.
• Can I use chia seeds instead of flaxseed? Yes. A reader swapped in chia seeds and said the muffins were outstanding.
• How do I know when the muffins are done? Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until the tops spring back when you press them lightly with a finger.
• Can I use regular whole wheat flour? You can, but the muffins will be denser and heavier. Whole wheat pastry flour is finer and softer, and it is the reason these stay so tender.
• Why did my muffins turn out tough? Most often the batter was overmixed. Whole wheat batters get tough when stirred too much, so stop as soon as the flour disappears and fold the cranberries in gently.

Whole Wheat Orange Cranberry Muffins

Healthy cranberry orange muffins made with whole wheat pastry flour, two whole pureed oranges, tart cranberries and honey. No eggs or butter, and the batter comes together in the blender.

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Ingredients

  

• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 Tbs flax seed or flaxseed meal
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 oranges peeled and pureed
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup honey or agave
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup frozen or fresh cranberries coarsely chopped

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a large bowl, combine flour, flax seed, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir well.
• In a Vitamix blender, blend oranges until smooth. Add applesauce, honey, oil, and vanilla. Blend on low until mixed well. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Stir just until blended.
• Fold in cranberries.
• Lightly spray muffin pan with olive oil cooking spray or use muffin cups. Scoop about 1/4 cup of batter into each cup.
• Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until the tops of the muffins spring back when lightly touched.

Made these muffins? Leave a star rating in the recipe card and tell me how they turned out in the comments below. Your feedback helps other bakers, and I love hearing about your swaps.

More Recipes You’ll Love

• Blueberry Banana Muffins
• Banana Zucchini Muffins
• Pumpkin Banana Muffins
• Cranberry Relish

Love a bright citrus muffin? Try the Lemon Blueberry Muffins over on our sister site, Everything Muffins.