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    Home » Recipes » Baking

    Published: Dec 23, 2016 · Modified: Dec 21, 2021 by Usha Rao

    Christmas Morning Muffins ~ Cranberry Orange Muffins

    Jump to Recipe

    Christmas morning muffins or cranberry orange muffins are easy and light muffins to bake for Christmas morning breakfast or on any day. These muffins are fruity, spicy and just a perfect bake for a holiday breakfast.

    Cranberry orange muffins are butter-less and bake in 20 minutes. From start to finish, it is 30-35 minutes recipe. Butter-less muffins are a light breakfast for a festive morning before the big feast.

    4 Christmas Morning Muffins  with a kitchen towel on the side.

    Orange zest and freshly squeezed orange give a citrusy flavor, dried cranberries, nutmeg and cinnamon powder give the festive flavor to the muffins. I use less cinnamon but you can add more for additional cinnamon flavor.

    When baking the muffins, the aroma of spices and flavors fill the house gives a holiday feel. Muffins are soft, moist and spongy. Recipe is adapted from Nigella Lawson’s cranberry orange muffins recipe.

    Collage of Cranberry orange Muffins.

    If planning on baking these for Christmas morning breakfast, measure the dry ingredients and line the muffin pan the night before. This makes baking the muffins much more faster in the morning. Wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday Season!!

    Christmas Morning Muffins, Cranberry Muffins, Bakeathon, Muffins, Orange Cranberry Muffins, Nigella Lawson's Christmas Morning Muffins,

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    Cranberry Orange Muffins Recipes

    📖 Recipe

    Christmas Morning Muffins, Cranberry Muffins, Bakeathon, Muffins, Orange Cranberry Muffins,

    Christmas Morning Muffins

    Butter-less, easy moist cranberry orange muffins are perfect for Christmas morning breakfast.
    No ratings yet
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    Course: Breakfast
    Cuisine: American
    Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes
    Servings: 12
    Calories: 175kcal
    Author: Usha Rao

    Equipment

    • Mixing Bowl
    • Handheld mixer or Stand Mixer
    • 12 cups Muffin Pan

    Ingredients

    • 250 grams All Purpose Flour (approx. 1 ¾ cup)
    • 2 ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
    • ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
    • 100 grams Superfine Sugar approx. ½ cup
    • 1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon I used ½ – ¾ tsp.
    • ¼ teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
    • 1 Orange, zest and juice
    • 125 ml Whole Milk less or more depending on the citrus juice
    • 75 grams Vegetable Oil (approx. ⅓ cup oil)
    • 1 Large Egg
    • 175 grams Dried Cranberries approx. 1 cup firmly packed
    • 3 teaspoon Granulated Sugar for topping

    Instructions

    • Preheat the oven to 400F.
    • Line 12 cups regular muffin pan. I used a ½ dozen muffin pan and ½ dozen paper muffin cups.
    • Measure all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon powder and nutmeg powder. Sieve all these ingredients together or take all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk until well combined.
    • Add superfine sugar, orange/clementine zest to flour bowl and whisk or mix until combined. If doing the prep work ahead of time, that is night before, leave out the orange zest. Add the zest next morning, just before baking.
    • Squeeze the juice from orange/clementines. Take it in a measuring cup or a jug. I got about 120 ml of orange juice.
    • Fill the juice cup or jug with milk until the mark reads 200 ml, less than 1 cup.
    • Add egg and oil to juice+milk mixture and lightly beat until combined.
    • Pour this egg juice mixture into dry ingredient bowl and stir with a fork or a spoon until everything is combined. Do not over mix and a slightly lumpy batter is ok, though my batter was lump free.
    • Fold in the cranberries and spoon the batter into lined muffins pan.
    • Sprinkle demerara sugar on top, ¼ teaspoon per muffin and bake in a preheated oven for 20 minutes or until tooth pick inserted in the middle comes out clean and muffins are light golden brown. I forgot to sprinkle sugar on before baking hence my muffins aren’t golden brown.
    • Serve the muffins hot as is or with some butter or jam.

    Notes

    • Whenever a recipe has weight measures, I prefer those over cup measurements. Cup measures listed below are approximate measures.
    • Suggestion - Walnuts would be a nice addition or perhaps some choco chips.
    • Nutrition - Values listed are approximate.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 175kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 15mg | Sodium: 145mg | Potassium: 68mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 62IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 74mg | Iron: 1mg
    Tried this recipe?Share a photo! Mention @usha_myspicykitchen or tag #Usha_MySpicyKitchen!

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    1. Priya Srinivasan says

      January 20, 2017 at 9:12 am

      Pretty Bake usha, love that beautiful color . Mixed spices aroma always feels like festive!!! Bookmarking this to try!!

      Reply
    2. Srivalli Jetti says

      January 20, 2017 at 1:32 am

      5 stars
      Another excellent one Usha..I love the concept of morning muffins, especially those that can be baked within 30 mins...I am always on the lookout of such healthy bakes..I won't mind doing this as well..

      Reply
    3. Pavani says

      January 07, 2017 at 6:49 pm

      Lovely looking muffins Usha. Love the combination of orange and cranberries.

      Reply
    4. Amara says

      December 27, 2016 at 3:07 am

      Love the presentation of these beauties.

      Reply
    5. Priya Suresh says

      December 25, 2016 at 12:44 pm

      5 stars
      Wow, very pretty and absolutely stunning muffins. I can start my with these beautiful bakes.

      Reply

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    Hi, I am Usha! Welcome to my space. I am the content creator and photographer here. I love cooking and all the recipes on the site are tried and tested in my kitchen.

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