Cranberry Orange Muffin Recipe (with Yogurt)
This cranberry orange muffin recipe with yogurt results in muffins so moist and delectable, you won’t even care that they’re actually quite healthy, too! No butter, a whole cup of yogurt and very little sugar make them a perfect breakfast treat. or afternoon snack. Just read the reviews!
If you haven’t tried my perfect plum muffins, then maybe this cranberry orange muffin recipe will convince you to try them. No matter which fruit I use, they always turn out–well, perfectly!
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I found some frozen cranberries in my freezer, and decided I’d make some orange cranberry muffins. They are my favorite bakery item to order whenever I go to Homegirl Cafe in downtown Los Angeles, one of my favorite charities.
As you can see from the photos, using the perfect plum muffin recipe, but adding cranberries and orange rind instead of plums was a good call.
Healthy Cranberry Orange Muffin Recipe?
Yes, these muffins are truly full of nutrients and health benefits from cranberries, orange rind, yogurt and eggs. They’re also low in sugar, and contain no butter.
These cranberry orange muffins tasted awesome, and this will not be the the last time I make them! (Updated 4/2026: I cannot count how many times I’ve made these!)
Baking Options
I made six really huge muffins, lined with squares of parchment paper. and one mini-loaf pan. However, you can also make 12 regular cupcake sized muffins from this orange cranberry muffin recipe. I’ve also baked the entire batter in a regular sized loaf tin.
Again, I highly recommend using a scale for best results.
Cranberry Orange Muffin Recipe (with Yogurt)
Adapted from my plum muffin recipe Makes 6 jumbo or 12 regular sized muffins
FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW
Ingredients
- all purpose flour
- baking powder
- baking soda
- sugar
- eggs
- olive oil
- Greek yogurt or labne
- buttermilk (or milk with a squeeze of lemon)
- fresh or frozen cranberries (I’ve also used 1 cup dried cranberries)
- grated rind of one orange (preferably organic)
- Swedish pearl sugar or Demerara sugar (Sugar in the Raw) for topping
Directions for Cranberry Orange Muffin Recipe
Sift first 3 dry ingredients into a large bowl, then stir in sugar. (<– DO NOT FORGET THE SUGAR)
Place the cranberries (toss with a tiny bit of flour, which will stop them from falling to the bottom) with the grated orange peel in a small bowl, and set aside. (You can use a fine grater for the peel, I just did larger peel this time.)
In a large measuring jug, combine the eggs, oil, yogurt and buttermilk and whisk to combine.
Stir the yogurt mixture into the dry ingredients, just until barely combined (do not mix until the flour is completely cleared).
Add the cranberries and orange peel, and continue to fold the mixture until just combined.
Do not over stir muffins or they will not be light in texture.
Bake the Cranberry Orange Muffins
Put the tray into the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until muffins and golden brown (if making one loaf, bake for about 50 to 55 minutes) and a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the center.
Try to let the cranberry and orange muffins cool slightly before digging in with a hot cup of tea
You simply won’t believe the texture of these muffins! Best I’ve ever tasted!
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LA Living…
a winter sunrise.
Homemade Cranberry and Orange Yogurt Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour good quality
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ½ cup light olive oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup greek yogurt or labne (if using regular yogurt, omit the buttermilk/milk)
- 2 Tbsp buttermilk
- 2 cups cranberries fresh or frozen (I've also used 1 cup of dried cranberries)
- 2 tsp grated rind of one orange preferably organic
- 2 Tbsp Swedish pearl sugar or Demerara sugar (sugar in the raw) for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C)
- Sift first 3 ingredients into a large bowl, then stir in sugar.
- Place the cranberries (toss with a tiny bit of flour, which will stop them from falling to the bottom of the pan) with the grated orange peel in a small bowl, and set aside.
- In a large measuring jug, combine the eggs, oil, yogurt and buttermilk and whisk to combine. Stir the yogurt mixture into the dry ingredients, just until barely combined (do not mix until the flour is completely cleared).
- Add the cranberries and orange peel, and continue to fold the mixture until just combined. Do not over stir muffins or they will not be light in texture.
- Place the mixture into the muffin cups or mini-loaf pans, or one large loaf tin, then sprinkle with sugar.
- Bake for about 20 minutes or until muffins and golden brown (or 50 to 55 mins if making one loaf) and a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the center.
- Try to let them cool slightly before digging in, with a hot cup of tea!
Notes
- These muffins are not very sweet at all. If you omit the sugar topping, I advise adding a little more sugar to the batter.
Nutrition
Pin for later.
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What do you have your muffin tins lined with?
Oops! I should have specified, Pam! Sorry! I cut squares of baking parchment and put them inside the tin. Works great.
So, the kids’ friends all turned up out of the blue, had precisely nothing to feed them so whipped up a batch of these! Ready in no time, and they vanished in seconds. Shared the recipe with one boy who declared them ‘exquisite!”!!!!!😄
OMG, how cute is that? Exquisite? I love it! Thank you for sharing this lovely comment with me, Lisa! I so appreciate it! :)
Just made these with blueberries absolutely delicious with a cup of Yorkshire tea!
Good for you, Kate! Don’t know if you’re on Instagram, but I made a loaf of this recipe and put it on my story yesterday using teeny tiny wild blueberries. Don’t try it, didn’t work. Needs normal blueberries! :) Enjoy and thank you for the comment/review! :) CC
Had baked these a couple of times with blueberries and cranberries. They are moist and light
My dad loved them.
This is one of my most popular recipes, for the exact reason that you stated. They are so moist and light! Thanks, Mi Mi!
This is a favorite flavor profile for me, especially in the winter. I’ve been using the recipe from a childrens’ literature book called, A Cranberry Thanksgiving. I’m pinning this to use up my stash of cranberries. How large did you cut the wax paper muffin liners? I like the looks of it. T Y
I LOVED cranberry Christmas as a kid. Years later when my son was born I found cranberry thanksgiving. Great books!!
I’ve never heard of these books! Must research!
Thanks, Vicky! I used the big muffin tins, so probably about 4 x 4 or 5 x 5. I just eyeballed it. Tip: if there’s too much paper sticking up above all the muffins when you’re done, cut the paper down a bit as it will impair the baking (can you guess how I know?) :)
I made these today and holy cow are they easy and good!! I actually scraped some of the juice and pulp into the batter just cuz I love orange. I made little mini muffins and it made nearly 3 dozen! The orange/cranberry combo is so good together. I bet this could easily adapted to other citrus and fruit flavors like lemon blueberry, lime strawberry, grapefruit and..??? What goes good with grapefruit??
Not sure Esther will see this but i used to use a powdered buttermilk mix when a recipe called for it in the bread machine. Might work in this too. Certainly better than throwing away good buttermilk. The fat free buttermilk freezes ok but gets grainy.
Oh this is one of my favorite recipes, Beverly! And YES, you can make any sort of flavor you like! Try it as the original recipe intended, with plums! You won’t believe how yummy they are. Not sure what you could do with grapefruit, but you’ll enjoy, no matter what you put in them, I’m sure. :) Thanks for reporting back!!
When you us dried cranberries did you rehydrate them? If so, in what? Seems to me, OJ would be a good choice for this.
Hi Candace, I’ve actually used the dried cranberries both ways (as is, and I’ve rehydrated them also). YES! Hot orange juice is a great option, just be sure to drain them well. Enjoy!