These gluten-free cranberry orange muffins are bursting with fresh cranberries and orange zest and topped with sweet streusel. Make them for a holiday treat or gluten-free Christmas breakfast!
These cranberry orange muffins will brighten up any winter day! They are full of fresh cranberries, orange zest and topped with a buttery, sugar streusel. The sweet streusel topping makes the perfect contrast to the tangy cranberries.
I experimented quite a bit to get the texture of these muffins just right. They are fluffy, moist and full of flavor without being dry or gummy.
They’re everything I expect from a good muffin! They also make a delicious gluten-free Christmas breakfast along with this gluten-free quiche.
If you like these muffins you might also like these Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins for a year-round favorite!
Ingredients You’ll Need
A few important ingredients are key to making these muffins turn out soft, flavorful and fluffy.
- Gluten-Free Flour: I like to use a high-quality 1:1 gluten-free baking flour. This is my favorite brand.
- Full-Fat Plain Yogurt: If you use low-fat yogurt the muffins may be drier. Full-fat (not greek) plain yogurt is best.
- Fresh or Frozen Cranberries: If you’re using frozen cranberries do not thaw them. Just chop them up while frozen as best you can and add to the batter as instructed.
- Orange Zest/Juice: Be sure to zest the orange before you cut it to squeeze out some juice. A combination of zest and juice gives these muffins delicious flavor!
You also might like this gluten-free cranberry orange bread or gluten-free white chocolate cranberry cookies.
Make them Dairy-Free
You can use plain dairy-free yogurt and vegan butter to make these muffins dairy-free. I like to use Kite Hill plain almond milk yogurt. I also like Earth Balance Buttery Sticks.
How to Make Gluten-Free Cranberry Orange Muffins
Start by chopping up the cranberries. I prefer the texture of these muffins when made with chopped cranberries rather than whole berries. That way every bite is bursting with cranberry flavor!
Next, whisk together the dry ingredients in a small bowl.
In a larger bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients.
Add the dry to the wet and mix together with a rubber spatula.
IMPORTANT! Let the batter rest for 30 minutes before baking. The 30-minute rest is important so the batter has time to hydrate. Gluten-free flours need more time to absorb liquid and this will prevent dry muffins.
While the batter is resting mix together the streusel topping until it forms pea-sized clumps.
Scoop the muffin batter into a muffin pan lined with paper liners. I like to use a large cookie scoop for this. Then top with the streusel (press it slightly into the batter) then BAKE!
MUFFIN LINERS: I highly recommend this brand of muffin liners for gluten-free baked goods. If you are using another brand, you may want to spray the liners with cooking spray before filling them.
Make-Ahead/Storage Tips
MAKE-AHEAD: You can make this batter the night before and store it covered in the fridge overnight.
STORAGE/FREEZING: These gluten-free cranberry muffins are best served the day they are made. They can be stored in a ziploc-bag at room temperature for up to 1 day. They can also be frozen by wrapping each muffin individually in plastic wrap then storing in a ziploc-bag. To reheat from frozen, remove the plastic and microwave the muffin for 20 to 30 seconds, until thawed.
Happy Baking! I hope you love this recipe as much as we do. If you try it, please leave me a comment/rating below!
More Gluten-Free Muffins Recipes:
Gluten-Free Cranberry Orange Muffins
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 1 ¾ cups gluten-free 1:1 baking flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Other Ingredients:
- 6 ounces cranberries (1 1/2 cups) fresh or frozen
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup full fat plain yogurt
- 1 stick butter (1/2 cup) melted
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
Streusel Topping:
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup gluten-free 1:1 baking flour
- 1/3 cup butter cold and chopped into small pieces
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Finely chop the cranberries.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, brown sugar, eggs, yogurt, butter, orange juice and orange zest until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula until fully combined. Fold in the chopped cranberries.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes (or in the fridge overnight). (This is an important step to allow the batter to hydrate.)
- Meanwhile, make the streusel topping. In a small bowl, add all the topping ingredients and cut the butter into the mixture using a pastry cutter, two forks, or just your fingers until you have pea-sized clumps.
- Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a standard muffin pan with paper baking cups. Using ice cream scoop or large spoon, portion batter evenly into prepared muffin tin. Top with the streusel topping, pressing the topping lightly into the batter.
- Bake for 18-22 minutes, until golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling. Enjoy!
Notes
- This recipe works best with full-fat plain yogurt. If you use low-fat yogurt the muffins may be drier.
- This recipe with fresh or frozen cranberries. If you’re using frozen cranberries do not thaw them. Just chop them up while frozen as best you can and add to the batter as instructed.
Nutrition
This post was originally published in December 2014. It was updated with new photos and instructions in December 2020.
Used 50/50 GF AP flour, almond flour, to make it a bit less gummy and more crumby. Turned out amazing! One star off just because that substitute was even better.
Hi Luke, glad to hear that worked for you! Thanks for leaving a review!
Didn’t work for me at all. Formed a flat mess across a 12-hole muffin tin. They didn’t come out of the muffin tin nicely so I threw them all away. Very disappointed.
Hi there, so sorry these didn’t turn out as expected! Thanks for letting us know. It sounds like the batter may have needed a longer rest time to fully hydrate and create more structure. If you try it again, resting the batter in the fridge may work better as well.
Entire family loved these muffins! Really easy and delicious
That’s great to hear! Thanks so much for your review and comment, it means a lot!
Great recipe; make them in the pm and leave them overnight in refrigerator .bake in the am. Great breakfast treat. I share with none gf friends and the love them as much as me. Use dairy free yogurt
Thank you for the positive review, Diane! We’re so happy to hear the muffins have been such a hit!
Really tasty and moist…we let the batter rest for 30 minutes. Had never heard of this but will be using that for gf baking. Thx for the tip! The amount of sugar is perfect. We did a few things differently: I always use whole cranberries and my kids prefer that also, We add walnuts and also substituted 1/4 of 1:1 flour with ground flax seed and used coconut sugar instead of regular sugar. Will be making these again.Thx!
We’re so glad you loved the recipe, Tricia! Thank you for sharing your positive experience with us. Happy baking!
Love your gluten-free cranberry orange muffins as did everyone in my home including those who are not on a gluten free diet. My question is, if I have the batter in the refrigerator and want to make only a few muffins a day, how long can the batter remain in the refrigerator?
Hi Maria, we’re so glad everyone loved the muffins! The batter can be refrigerated up to 1 day before baking. For long-term storage, freezing baked muffins works best. Happy baking!
I love everything you make
The banana and orange-cranberry muffins are great. How long are they good if I don’t freeze them?
Hi Debra, we’re so glad you enjoyed them! They are best served the day they are made, but they can be stored in a Ziploc-bag at room temperature for up to 1 day if you don’t wish to freeze them.
Hi! How long/temp for mini muffins?
Excited to try today! Thank you!
I would bake mini muffins at 375F for 12-17 minutes. I hope this helps!