Fresh cranberries are fabulous in these Cranberry Whole Grain Muffins.
Although fresh cranberries are generally tart and inedible on their own, they pair well with sweets to create a blend of sweet-tart that is quite unique and delicious. Muffins are the perfect baked good for adding fresh cranberries!
Since I have some muffin maniacs living in my house, I’m always on the hunt for muffin recipes that are a tad bit on the healthier side. My guys can down two or three muffins for breakfast sometimes, so they might as well be less like cake and more like a nutritious meal. While these Whole Grain Cranberry Muffins have plenty of sugar in them, at least they’re made with whole wheat flour and oats and minimal fat.
How to make Cranberry Whole Grain Muffins:
Dry ingredients are combined with fresh cranberries. The dry ingredients consist of whole wheat flour, quick cooking oats, white sugar, baking powder and salt. It’s easiest to chop fresh cranberries when they are frozen. Otherwise, you’ll be dealing with fresh cranberry juice all over the place. Just place the bag of cranberries in the freezer. You can store leftover cranberries in the freezer too. If you prefer, you can use dried cranberries in place of fresh cranberries.
Next, you’ll combine the dry ingredients with milk, eggs, oil (or butter) and orange zest and stir just until moistened. The batter is divided between 12 muffin cups and baked until golden brown. Then the muffins are moved to a rack to cool.
Once cooled, you’re going to dip the tops of these Whole Grain Cranberry Muffins in an orange glaze. The glaze is a simple mix of warmed orange juice and white sugar. That’s what makes these muffins special and gives them some good flavor! Cranberry and orange are great flavors to combine.
I’m pretty sure you’re going to love these muffins with the whole grain twist. Enjoy!
Here are a few more muffin recipes you might like to try:
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Apple Butter Muffins
- Bakery Style Blueberry Muffins
- Lemon Pound Cake Muffins
- Double Chocolate Buttermilk Muffins
- Blueberry Cinnamon Muffins
- Coffee Cake Crumble Muffins
- Irish Soda Bread Muffins
If you happen to be following the Weight Watchers WW plan, you’ll find a link to the WW Points on the recipe card below.
Whole Grain Cranberry Muffins with Sweet Orange Glaze
Ingredients
MUFFINS:
- 1½ cups whole wheat flour
- ¾ cup quick cooking rolled oats
- ⅔ cup granulated white sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped
- 1 cup milk
- 2 large eggs
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil or melted butter
- 1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
GLAZE:
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 3 tablespoons granulated white sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick spray, or fill with paper liners.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, and then stir in the cranberries. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, oil (or butter) and orange zest. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, stirring just until blended (don't over-mix or your muffins will be tough!) Fill the prepared muffin cups about 3/4 full.
- Bake the muffins for 15 to 20 minutes, until they're golden brown. Remove them from the oven, leave them in the pan for 5 minutes, and then transfer them to a rack to cool completely.
- In a small saucepan (or microwave) stir together the glaze ingredients. Bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Dip the tops of the warm muffins into the glaze and set right-side-up on racks to dry.
Notes
- For a sweeter muffin, use dried cranberries instead of fresh. Fresh will give them a more tart flavor.
- WW Points were calculated using 2% milk.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
