These fresh cranberry muffins are one of my all time favorite recipes. Fresh, tart cranberries are packed in a soft, tender and perfectly sweet muffin. These aren’t packed with heavy spices, but just let the pure delicious flavors shine through!
I count down the days each year until fresh cranberries hit the shelf at the grocery store. I need them because I HAVE to make these muffins as soon as those berries hit the shelves. They are good. And by good I mean they are THAT good. If you are a cranberry lover you are going to want to add these muffins to your must make list!
Now I am pretty picky about my muffins. I don’t like them to taste like a box of cake mix. That actually kind of grosses me out. The have to have this special balance of a tender crumb with the perfect amount of fluffiness and moist, all while not being dense in a bad way. Does that make sense to anyone else?
All that to say that these are pretty much perfection in my book. I have been meaning to share this recipe with you for 3 years now, and somehow the holidays always get so chaotic that it never happens, but thank goodness I made it a priority this year so hopefully the world can love these as much as me.
I have been making these for years, but this year I did one thing different, and I am absolutely in L-O-V-E. Recently,Demarle at Home sent me one of their signature flexipans. To me this looked like a silicone muffin pan. If you have ever cooked with a silicone muffin pan you might be just as not excited as I was. I have tired to bake with silicone muffin pans a few times and it has never been good. Although I adore the idea of popping out anything in a muffin tin with little to no effort, I absolutely loathe the way whatever is baking spreads over the top instead of rising in every silicone muffin tin I have ever used.
Demarle at Home is not a cheap-o silicone muffin pan. If you have ever used a Sil-Pat pan liner these are very similar to that. I have to be honest here… I fully expected to hate it. But I love it. So so much. Like used it 3 times in the past 2 days loved it.
TheDemarle at Home flexipans have a few things that really make all of the difference. I am not quite sure the science behind it all but as far as a home cook is concerned these are awesome. First the cups of the pan are super deep which give you plenty of room for raising whatever is baking up super high. Next when it does reach the top, it doesn’t just spread, it continues to bake up into a perfect domed top. Third, and maybe most importantly, the pan transfers heat beautifully and allows not only the exposed top to brown, but also the sides and bottom. It is a beautiful sight. A deliciously, beautiful sight!
Fresh Cranberry Muffins – Recipe Step by Step
{Scroll to bottom for a full printable recipe card}
Now, back to these little gems. The Cranberry muffins come together easily with just a few ingredients. Gather these:
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup sour cream
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cups fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
To make the muffins:
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl, then add the eggs one at a time and once mixed well, add the vanilla and mix to combine. Stir in the sour cream to the mixture and set aside.I love the addition of sour cream to this recipe. It really gives the muffin the tender crumb that makes them so special. Make sure that you use either regular or light sour cream and not fat free for the best result. I personally always use regular sour cream in these.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt.I love that these muffins are not too heavily spiced. I am a fan of more crisp and true flavors and the nutmeg and salt are enough to just give the muffin some complexity but not overwhelm them with a spiced flavor. If you are looking for those warm tones of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, these are not the muffins for you. These show off everything cranberries are meant to be!
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in thirds, mixing just until moistened.For this step, pour 1/3 of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Use a wooden spoon, or large spatula to gently mix the flour mixture in until it is all moistened. Repeat until the flour is completely combined. The most important thing here, and really a key to the muffin is DO NOT over mix. Just mix gently until combined. Once it is combined just stop mixing, The less mixing the more soft and tender the muffin will be.
- Rinse and roughly chop the cranberries, then fold them into the muffin batter.Now I like my muffins packed with cranberries so this is the perfect amount for me. If you really, really love them, you could add a few more. The batter is really sweet so it balances the tart cranberries nicely, but they do a a tart bite when you eat them in the muffin. If you have little ones eating these, or you don’t like too much tartness, you can reduce the number of cranberries, or toss them in some extra sugar before adding them to the batter.When you fold the cranberries in, remember, don’t over mix! Just mis as little as necessary to get everything combined and then stop.
- Fill each cup in the Demarle at Home muffin tray 2/3 full and bake on the middle rack for 15-20 minutes or until the tops of the muffins are golden brown and the muffins are set.The muffins will raise quite a bit in baking so give them room to do that! Don’t over fill the pan and as a bonus you will get even more golden delicious cranberry muffins!
- Cool muffins on a wire rack and eat warm or store in an airtight container or in freezer until ready to serve.I usually let them cool in the pan a minute or two and then pop them out to cool on a wire rack. If you leave them in the pan they lose a little of the crispness they get from baking so I prefer to cool them on a rack.
You can grab the printable recipe below. And as always, if you try out the recipe, I would love to hear about it in the comments or tag me on Instagram @easyfamilyrecipes so I can see what you are enjoying! It absolutely makes my day to hear people enjoying my recipes!
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Fresh Cranberry Muffins
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup sour cream
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cups fresh cranberries coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup walnuts chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl, then add the eggs one at a time and once mixed well, add the vanilla and mix to combine. Stir in the sour cream to the mixture and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in thirds, mixing just until moistened.
- Rinse and roughly chop the cranberries, then fold them into the muffin batter.
- Fill each cup in the Demarle at Home muffin tray 2/3 full and bake on the middle rack for 15-20 minutes or until the tops of the muffins are golden brown and the muffins are set.
(Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.)
Dee T says
Can I use muffin liners for these muffins?