Vegan Cranberry Orange Muffins

These delicious vegan cranberry orange muffins are super easy and quick to make, plus they make for such a nice winter treat. Made with fresh cranberries and freshly pressed orange juice, they are so full of fresh flavor! Perfect holiday breakfast or brunch idea and makes for a tasty afternoon snack.

These vegan cranberry orange muffins are right in time for the holiday season! Fresh cranberries aren’t just meant to make cranberry coulis or cranberry sparkly drinks once a year during the holiday celebration, they are AMAZING in baked goods too!

I originally wanted to make some vegan orange muffins because I like everything orange-flavored, especially this dark chocolate orange cake and these chocolate orange overnight oats, but I sneaked in some fresh cranberries in the muffin batter for a nice festive dessert perfect for Thanksgiving and Christmas season. They are so delicious!

They make for a perfect afternoon snack with a cup of milk tea or a tasty light breakfast served with coffee.

Hope you like them! ❤️

🗒 Ingredients (+substitutions)

• Fresh cranberries: available a little bit everywhere in the produce section usually once November comes. If you cannot find them, then simply use frozen cranberries (no need to thaw them first)!
• Fresh oranges: freshly pressed orange juice is better compared to store-bought. I highly recommend choosing sweet and juicy Navel oranges. You will need 1 ¼ cups of freshly pressed orange juice, which means about 2-3 large oranges, but plan on having more if yours are small.
• Flour: I used unbleached all-purpose flour to make them. I haven't tried using whole wheat flour yet, but usually, you can substitute up to 50% of the amount of flour with a whole wheat version. The muffins will be more dense and a little less fluffy in that case.
• Baking soda and baking powder: make sure you use an aluminum-free baking powder to avoid a metallic flavor and check the expiration date!
• Ground flax seeds: act as a binder to replace the eggs.
• Coconut oil: use refined coconut oil to avoid a coconut flavor. I haven’t tried using any other kind of oil yet, but I think that a neutral-flavored oil should work fine.

⭐️ Complete list of ingredients with quantities down below in the recipe card!

Are you looking for a recipe to make with cranberry juice, then check out this holiday cranberry mocktail recipe!

🍽 How to make vegan cranberry orange muffins

Step 1: In a large bowl, add the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt, then stir to combine.

Step 2: To a medium bowl, combine the ground flax + water and let it sit for 5 min. Then, add the orange zest, orange juice and melted coconut oil, and stir to combine.

Step 3: Pour the wet mixture over the bowl with the flour, then stir to combine.

Step 4: Roughly chop the cranberries and incorporate them into the batter.

Step 5: Use an ice cream scoop to divide the batter in between 12 muffin paper liners.

Step 6: Bake in a preheated oven (350ºF) for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

⭐️ Detailed recipe down below in the recipe card!

💡 Baking tips

• Do not overmix the batter! Over mixing a batter can remove/crush the bubbles of air forming, which would result in dense and heavy muffins. Simply fold/stir the batter with a spatula until you cannot see any dry spots of flour anymore and then stop, that way you will have fluffy and light delicious muffins!
• For best result, measure the flour using the spoon and level method. Here is a quick visual showing how to do that. If you over pack the measuring cups with too much flour, then you will end up with muffins that are too dry.
• Do not overbake! Mine are perfectly done after 25 minutes in the oven, but every oven is different! So, check for doneness using a clean toothpick by pocking into the muffins: it should come out clean!
• Fresh cranberries can be tricky to chop as they just bounce around when you try to slice them with a knife. I recommend slicing them one-by-one before chopping them a little more (see video). You could use a food processor to chop them, but the batter might turn a little pink-ish and you will end up with more dishes to clean. If using, then only pulse a few times so it is not over processed and you still have some larger pieces of fruit.

❗️Storage tips

These vegan cranberry muffins can be kept on the countertop covered for about 3 days. For longer storage, then transfer in the fridge for up to 7 days.

You can also freeze them for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight and even microwave for a few seconds to help loosen them up before enjoying.

❓ FAQs

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