This recipe is the best! These muffins are accompanied with a hot cranberry spread and we have them every Thanksgiving in place of dinner rolls.
Well, with the suggestions and comments of others I made a few changes and LOVED these muffins! I used dried cranberrys, added 1/2c packed brown sugar to the batter along with 3/4c sour cream for moisture. I also dirzzled them with frosting made from orange juice and powdered sugar in place of the cranberry sauce. These are sinful and should be made in moderation! THANK YOU!
Read MoreWell, with the suggestions and comments of others I made a few changes and LOVED these muffins! I used dried cranberrys, added 1/2c packed brown sugar to the batter along with 3/4c sour cream for moisture. I also dirzzled them with frosting made from orange juice and powdered sugar in place of the cranberry sauce. These are sinful and should be made in moderation! THANK YOU!
These are the best cranberry muffins I've ever eaten. The addition of all the spices makes them very flavorful. My son loved them. I used 1/3 cup of canola oil in place of the shortening, decreased orange juice to 1/2 cup and added 1/3 cup of buttermilk. In addition I added 1/2 tsp. of salt and sliced the cranberries in my food processor instead of chopping them.
Very good muffins. Will make again. I used more orange zest and I used 1 cup pecans instead of the 1 1/2 cups walnuts. I also made bigger muffins 12 instead of 18 and I baked them 30 minutes.
These muffins were really tasty. I didn't have any dried cranberries, so I used 3/4 cup of cranberry sauce. The muffins were moist and delicious. I will definitely make this recipe again.
These are the best!!!! The cranberry spread is great on them, I agree, cook and watch, or they are dry, but definitely a keeper! My family raved about them. ADD: I added extra orange juice to make it 1 c. That made all the difference!!! They are moist and delicious!!
I needed these for company was coming in less than an hour and had a bag of cranberries left over from thanksgiving. I did have to make a few changes though since partly into mixing, I realized I didn't have everything! I mixed all my "wet" ingredients first along with oil (no shortening...) and then dumped the dry ingredients on top. (I do this with every single muffin recipe and it works perfectly every time, no need for 2 bowls ever). When I then noticed I was out of nutmeg to :( I found some all spice and threw that in. No orange zest to be had so just skipped that. I also added 4 tbsp sour cream just to be sure they would be super moist and then FOLDED THE BATTER WITH A FORK, GENTLY, TURNING THE BOWL, AS I CONTINUED TO BRING THE BATTER INTO THE CENTRE until it was just mixed. After spooning into the muffin pan, I sprinkled with a crumble topping of brown sugar, oats, flour and butter. PERFECT MUFFINS EVERY TIME... BE GENTLE. (also, no need to cut the cranberries up. They are wonderful whole as well. This is where people mess up their muffins. By beating the batter too hard with a fork (or worse, a mixer), you are removing the air from your muffin which is what makes them so moist, and rise perfectly when cooking. Keep it simple. Thanks for a great recipe!
These are the bomb! I put the dry ingredients in a zip lock bag a week before the holiday to allow the spices to melt into the flour. Then I grind the cranberries, add the orange juice and orange zest. I freeze that, on Thanksgiving day I then assemble these so they are fresh out of the oven. We love these muffins. I always do a double batch and bake them in jumbo muffin tins. We really like them for breakfast with a simple omelet, too. THanks for sharing!!!!
I increased the sugar by a quarter cup and didn't overbake them... then looked a little "wet" on top at 26 minutes, but they "tested" done and I pulled them out. They were sweet enough for the kids and very moist. This is a very tasty recipe.
I used chopped dried cranberries - they were excellent. Even my picky boyfriend loved them!
These muffins were great. I used half brown sugar and half white just because I like brown sugar in everything. I made 6 giant muffins and cooked them about 40 min. I may try them without the ginger next time. Love em!
This is a very good recipe. Full festive flavor that would go right along with a holiday meal. My husband says he will even enjoy them with breakfast around the holidays.
OMG! These are the best! I mix the dry ingredients together and leave them in a zip lock bag for a few days. (Usually make that up ahead so on Thanksgiving I can bake these fresh. The flavors really work thru the flower and other ingredients this way, I think it is much better.) These are very moist. I really chop the cranberries in the mini processor, then pour them in juice and all to keep them moist. Don't overbake, or they can be dry. We love these, and have had them for over 15 years at Thanksgiving. I found this in a magazine many years ago, this is a tradition at our house. To store, keep in a zip lock bag, they are moist and the flavors get better as they sit.
Substituted 1/3 c. oil for shortening. Dried cranberries (a chopper or processor is easier than manual chopping). Used 1/2c. white sugar and 1/2 c. brown, omitted ginger and added 3/4 c. sour cream. Used the zest and juice from a large naval orange. This made 48 mini muffins. Reduce baking time to 20 min. Perfect for office snacks!
These are out of this world and everyone who has tried them yet has raved about them and asked for more. I look forward to making these a yearly tradition around the holidays in my family! I haven't found anyone who didn't like them yet, unless they just can't bring themselves to eat cranberry.
I did make several changes..I made them with Namaste gluten-free baking mix, part orange juice/part milk for the liquid as I only had one orange at home for juice,( no orange zest), used a scant 1/2 cup vegetable oil instead of shortening, used 1/2 cup white sugar and 1/2 cup Splenda for baking, and added a dash of lemon extract. Used thawed frozen cranberries and cut them in half and all the walnuts. They came out really delicious! And the cranberries and walnuts are so good for you! Gonna be great for breakfast.
Just got these out of the oven and they are awesome. I didn't have any baking soda so used 3 tsp baking powder and used 1 cup orange juice. They are so moist with a little softened butter on them they are delish. Thanks for the recipe.
I made these muffins with 1/3 cup of canola oil instead of shortening, and I chose to omit the topping as well. They were really really good and I loved the spices! The fact that they were dairy-free was an added bonus too.
Very tart with the cranberries. I think the muffin base on this recipe would go better with something less tart, such as apples or pumpkin. I would adjust the muffin base to have less spices, more sugar.
WONDERFUL recipe though I did make a couple teeny tiny changes: (1) I did not have nuts so I left them out but they were good all the same :). (2) I did not have oranges to zest so I left them out but they still had a strong citrus flavor so I may continue to leave it out in the future. (3) I added salt, even if you use salted butter/margarine/shortening/etc always add a dash of salt to boost the flavors. (4) I added a dash of molasses to the mix to add depth to the spices. I also left out the spread as they are just fine on their own or with butter. I made a giant batch of mini-muffins with recipe to snack on :D
Excellent recipe! I made a dozen and they were gone in one day! I really like the mix of spices & the orange zest. I replaced 1/3 cup unsaturated oil for the shorting.
Great recipe! It sort of reminded me of fruit cake.
Really liked this recipe!!! Very moist and easy to do. I added 1/4 t of salt, and next time I make them I'll do a little less nutmeg. It seemed to be the dominant flavor and had a slightly bitter aftertaste.
These were SO good- the spices are perfect! I used the 1/3 cup of canola oil, and increased the OJ to 1/2 cup like others had suggested. I didn't have any orangs for the orange zest, but I will make sure I have it next time. I will definitly be making these over the holidays. Thanks for a great muffin recipe!
very very sweet!!! a little too sweet and i did the orange juice suger glaze on them as suggested, it didnt turn out very good, too sticky with it :(
made the recipe just as described, sans walnuts, and an estimated (so maybe a bit more than called for) amount of orange zest. muffins were excellent! everyone loved them :)
I just ate one of these about 2 minutes out of the oven, and it is EXCELLENT tasting! I kept the recipe pretty much as is, just put slightly more than 3/4 c of orange juice and no nuts (cause the kids won't eat them with nuts). Oh, and I used evaporated cane juice crystals instead of white sugar. They are FANTASTIC! My kids are gonna love these tomorrow morning. Thank you!
This review is somewhat biased because I didn't follow the instructions exactly. I didn't want to bake with shortening, so I did what another reviewer suggested and substituted it with 1/3 cup of canola oil, reduced the OJ and added buttermilk. While the muffins were moist they seemed to lack flavour. I'll definitely eat up this batch as they weren't a total waste, but I won't make this recipe again.
I couldn't believe how delicious and moist these muffins were. I used dried Cranberries in place of fresh or frozen.
Made these as mini-muffins in Christmas muffin papers. Pretty color and tasted really good. Accidentally left out the spices and used pecans instead of walnuts. I chopped the pecans and then the cranberries in the food processor so pretty quick to put together.
My Mom originally gave me this recipe and it has been a staple on Thanksgiving in our house for years!
i dident really like this recipe that much it dident have that great of test. It was ok in time and macking.If you like cranberrys and muffens this is the recipe for you.
Different and delicious - especially while still warm! And my kitchen filled with a delicious aroma that smelled like cinnamon doughnuts. Rather than walnuts I added some white chocolate chips.
The spread for these is definitely tasty. I thought the muffins themselves were okay but not wonderful. Everyone else, including our 2 year old liked them so I went ahead and gave them 4 stars. I probably wouldn't make them again though, as they took considerably longer to make than most muffins. Chopping the cranberries in a food processor would speed things up a bit.
came out a little dry, but definitely tasty!
Very good orangy taste, cranberries work great with it. They are somewhat light (which can be good) but I think I'll try some sour cream in them next time for a little more denseness. Thanks for the recipe!
Pretty good; but I feel it needs some sweetened cranberry snacks (for example, Craisins TM) added for a little more sweetness...
Seems too sweet, and too much nutmeg for our liking. maybe salt would help, too.
My son and I whipped these up this afternoon and we ate half of them still warm. We both agree that they are wonderful. We used half brown and half white sugar and 1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice. I also did not have shortning, so I used vegtable oil. They are moist and so tasty. These may be the best muffins I have ever made.
Great recipe. These muffins are more on the spicy side rather than tart though.
These were excellent, I made a few changes, I omitted the orange zest, and added an additional 1/2 c. brown sugar, plus 3/4 c. sour cream. Fantastic!!!
These muffins were quite dry and overly sweet. They also needed more salt. If I make them again I will be modifying the recipe as others have reviewed and suggested.
These muffins came out prety good but not great. I added a little buttermilk since some reviews said they were a little dry so they came out moist BUT I feel they need a little salt. I think that is what makes this recipe less than perfect- no salt. I think a 1/2 teaspoon of salt would do the trick.
The muffins were an absolute hit with my family this holiday season. I spent two mornings in a row making them because the first batch was devoured by nighttime! Few tweaks I made to the recipe were eliminating the orange zest and adding 2 cups of whole cranberries with 1/2 cup chopped cranberries. I also eliminated the nuts. To mix things up a bit, I also added some fresh blueberries to make a mixed berry version- they were delicious! These cranberry muffins will become a holiday tradition in our house!
Only 3 starts because I made changes, based on other reviewers, so it's really a different muffin recipe. BUT, it is good, esp if you like tart food. I used only 1/2 c brown sugar, canola oil instead of crisco, 1.5 t cinnamon, 1 t nutmeg, 1/2 t ginger, 1/2 c sour cream.
4 stars as is. Nutmeg overwhelmed the other flavors. I cut nutmeg to 1 tsp, used oil instead of shortening, 1/2 tsp of orange extract instead of zest, and 2/3 cup honey instead of sugar. Wow - 5 stars now!
Great recipe! From reading previous comments, I substituted 1/3 cup Becel oil for the shortening and added 2 heaping tbsp. of sour cream. I didn't make the spread and they were tasty on their own. Next time I might mix some of the sugar with the cranberries first as mine were tart. Thanks for posting!
Love the flavor, but if you're not a nutmeg fan, you will want to cut the amount in half. I used fresh cranberries leftover from the holidays, so I didn't go all out and make the cranberry butter spread. Instead, I glazed the muffins with an orange cream cheese glaze which suited them very well. They definitely need some type of butter or cream cheese spread to serve on the side as they are on the dry side. Mine were fully baked at about 18min, so I can't image baking the full 25 min.
I read some of the other reviews before making these muffins and added the 1/2 cup of sour cream to try and help with the texture. I also added a cup of white chocolate chips. The recipe made 24 good side muffins and while I liked the taste I found even with the sour cream these were a little on the dry side, ok recipe but not a keeper for me.
First off, I must disclose I seldom make a recipe without altering it; usually it's because I'm lacking some ingredients, making flavor changes or better health choices. I needed to make a cranberry "something" for my daughter's party at school. These turned out very well! I used 1/2 cup more flour for bigger muffins, subbed in 1/4 cup light brown sugar and used 3/4 cup of reg. sugar, added both the orange rind and the whole orange in bits of peeled and finely segmented and diced orange pieces into the mix, along with the cranberries. I never use shortening, so I used 1/2 cup apple sauce. I didn't add nuts for allergy reasons. I topped the muffins with sugar in the raw before baking, and baked them for 27 minutes. They taste great and look so good. I can only imagine how wonderful the sauce would be on them, but passed on that this time to keep the mess down in the classroom. Next time I make these, I'll decrease the spices to 2 tsp. and add 2 Tbsp of oil to improve the texture and mouth feel, which I admit leaving all the fat out, it could have been better. Live and learn. I'll also try subbing in 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and maybe sub. in rum extract instead of the vanilla. Great recipe that can tolerate a variety of changes and still turn out wonderful! I'll try and add a picture later, as this time the app isn't working.
Made these the other night looking for a new muffin recipe. For some reason I could not see the reviews so I just followed the recipe to the T all in all they are good but I found them to be very dry... Still can't see the reviews of what others have done so the next batch I think I will be doubling the OJ we shall see. Note I did not add the sauce on to them, thought it was a bit much.
These muffins were delicious! I followed the advice of a few others and added 1/3 cup oil instead of shortening and a little over 1/2 cup of sour cream and pecans instead of walnuts. I only added about 1 cup each of nuts and cranberries and the muffins were filling and fluffy. Lastly, I made a glaze of cream cheese, powdered sugar and orange juice that really brought all of the flavors together. Thank you for this great recipe. Yum!
fantastic muffin! did not use the zest though, no biggie. used walnuts and dried cranberries.....tasted amazing!!
Wow! There are a lot of nuts in these. Even though I am a fan of nuts, I thought they overpowered the muffins. I thought these were just okay. A few of the older ladies liked these when I served them at Thanksgiving, but I had a lot left. Nobody went for the cranberry "spread" either. These muffins were a little dry and stuck to the muffin pan. If I were to make them again, I would definitely use liners.
I was pretty disappointed with this recipe. It sounded wonderful, I did add the bit extra of orange juice, & 1/2 cp sour cream. The result was they didn't rise, even though I put all ingredients in. Even after adding in the extra moisture, I found them terribly dry. Didn't Rise and dry. I won't keep this recipe
I had these orange cranberry muffins from the store, and they were really good for store bought. I couldn't taste the orange though and I did not like them so big. I liked them for breakfast and I like it when you can grab it and go. So I wanted to make my own so I coud make them more orangy and put nuts and all that. I came across this recipe and thought it was worth a try! By the way I have never made muffins so this was fun! I made it like the recipe said but I made a few changes. I added to the dry ingrediants 1/4c lightly packed brown sugar and 3/4c cinnimon applesauce, I took out the orange zest and a little less orange juice and added DOTERRA esential oils of 11 drops of wild orange and 5 drops of tangerine (Cause I had it from DOTERRA and thought it might tast good) also put in about 2c of chopped pecans Well these were so moist and had a hint of orange, oh my I will make thes again they were so yummy :)
Increased orange juice to 1 cup, and zest to 2 T. Used half oil and half butter for the shortening. Added 1/2 tsp salt. Spices adjusted to : 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, 1/4 ginger, 1 tsp cinnamon. Reduced baking powder to 1 1/4 tsp for altitude. Very tasty and moist! Will make again!
Very tasty! Muffins were not dry and cooking time of 25 min was perfect! Based on preference and health considerations, I made the following changes: Decreased nutmeg to 1/2 teas. Increased cinnamon to 1 1/2 teas. Used 1/2 C. butter instead of shortening Used dried cranberries and hazelnuts Decreased sugar to 1/2 C. Added 1 teas. orange extract and didn't use zest Used spelt flour I used muffin cups instead of spraying the pan and muffins didn't stick at all to the paper. The hazelnuts gave the muffins a nice crunch. The orange extract was really flavorful with the cranberries and hazelnuts and I still added the vanilla extract. I will definitely make these again!
Moist but seemed rather bland.
I followed the recipe except I reduced the amount of walnuts from 1 1/2 cups to 1 cup and used cupcake cups. The muffins came out moist with great flavor but not as sweet as I had hoped to match the tart taste of the cranberries. Good tasting breakfast muffin but I might add brown sugar to the mix as others have suggested or increase the amount of sugar for a sweeter muffin. I did not try the spread which might have added the extra sweetness I was looking for with this muffin.
Very good. Will definitely make again. I added 1/4 c brown sugar and 1/2 c heavy whipping cream and they came out very moist and fluffy. I thought the nutmeg was a little overpowering - will cut that back next time.
The reason I am giving it only a 3 is because I made them with shortening. No one in my family liked the muffin. Made it again with butter and everyone liked them. Made with butter and a bit of applesauce would be worthy of a five.
Very good. I implemented the suggestions of others (dried cranberries, 1/2c brown sugar, 3/4 sour cream). Next time, I will definitely use cupcake liners and spray them, because these were difficult to remove from muffin pan.
very good and moist. i made these for a baby shower and did not use the cranberry sauce but an orange glaze. made them, froze them and defrosted them naturally. very good.
The muffin recipe called for a topping, not needed. The muffin was moist and delicious on its own. I would totally make these muffins again!
It's a really good recipe; however, as per the first reviewer's suggestion, I added 1/2c brown sugar and 3/4 sour cream (I used plain Greek yogourt). They are way too sweet for my taste, so next time I'll use 3/4 white sugar and won't be adding any brown sugar.
Tasted a lot like spice cake, great flavors. Cranberries were out of season, had to use dried cranberries instead. I made muffin tops in a special muffin top pan, which was only 20 mins baking time. The yield was weird, I doubled the recipe and got only 40 muffin tops. Hmm...gave them to teachers during teacher appreciation week and got zero compliments, but my family liked them. Will probably make them again using fresh cranberries I bet they taste way better.
I substituted canola oil for the shortening as some reviewers mentioned they were dry. I also left off the topping. They were delicious and moist. They didnt really rise much over the top of the muffin tins. I didnt see any salt in the ingredients...was there supposed to be any? Just wondering. Very good...with the rave reviews from my family, I will make again.
Used gluten-free flour, should have added salt. NOTE: I am rating it a 3-star because it lacks salt. I didn't notice because I was in a hurry, but once I tasted the batter I realized it didn't even benefit from the salt in salted butter because it calls for shortening, not butter. I quick sprinkled a bit on the tops of all the muffins before they went in the oven, and I'll be darned if that top layer wasn't the best part of the whole muffin. Now truly it was easily remedied by slathering butter on the muffin before eating it, and everyone at Thanksgiving loved these muffins. I made them with King Arthur's Measure for Measure gluten-free flour, and the moisture and texture were fantastic. Baking time was about as expected, maybe 23 or 25 minutes. I cannot speak for the sauce because I was throwing it together with what I already had on hand and I didn't have cranberry sauce. I would definitely make these again with that one tweak of adding maybe 2/3 tsp of salt.
These were amazing! I didn't have ginger or nuts so left those out. I used half brown sugar and half white, dried cranberries. I added 3/4 cup buttermilk. I think I would have used canola oil instead of shortening but I didn't have any. I also didn't have any cranberry sauce so I didn't make the spread. I don't buy orange juice really, so I just bought an orange, squeezed the juice out of that and grated the zest of course. Cooked giant muffins and they were great! Next time maybe I can add nuts and make the spread also.
Really good, although we were a little disappointed, following the recipe, it wasn't till afterwards when we took them out of the oven, that the muffins didn't raise, even though baking soda & baking powder was used in it. Then we looked at the recipe & there had been no salt added. So that is why they didn't raise like muffins are supposed to do. They were good though, they were baked through
These muffins are amazing! SO moist and flavorful! The orange juice and zest really make these muffins. My family loved them. Hot out of the over they are dangerous!!! I can't wait to make them again! Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe!
Following the other reviewers' advice, I added 1/3 cup of brown sugar, and they turned out great!
I used the fresh cranberries and added white chocolate chips. I also made a fresh cranberry marmalade with cranberries, sugar, and clementines. Great brunch recipe. Many compliments.
A great muffin recipe. Just made these with 1/2 cup brown sugar and 3/4 cup sour cream added per recommendations. Will go to split 1/2 cup white and 1/2 cup brown sugar for the next time as the seemed a bit sweet with the added sugar. The sour cream made for a nicely moist muffin. Also used dried cranberries that might also be sweeter than fresh.
I followed modifications, suggested by others. The muffins where easy to prepare, but unimpressive in flavor. I'm not sure if I want to bake them again.
