Orange Cranberry Streusel Muffins

Is breakfast a frantic, hurried pace of packing lunches and getting the kids out the door hopefully fully dressed and teeth brushed? If they have matched shoes it’s a win for the day! Let them grab a muffin or two and save one for yourself to enjoy peaceably with a cup of coffee. You will all love orange cranberry streusel muffins! They freeze beautifully, so bake a batch and pop in the freezer. Then they are ready when you’re not.

Grateful Prayer Thankful Heart is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. We will only recommend products we use, love or think are informative and helpful.

A perfect combination of orange juice and orange zest, dried cranberries and pecans go into these bright muffins. Then orange marmalade is stirred into the batter and a cinnamon sugar topping is sprinkled on top for the perfect sweetness. Serve just as they come out of the muffin pan or drizzle a light frosting on top.

The dry ingredients

Begin by zesting the orange. I like to use a microplane but you can use a fine opening grater too.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Whisk well to be sure the ingredients are well distributed.

Stir in the pecans and dried cranberries.

In a medium-sized bowl, add the egg and beat lightly. Add the orange juice, milk and  vegetable oil.

Add the orange zest and marmalade.

Stir to combine.

Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients.

Fold gently just until moistened. Do not over-stir. Spoon batter into greased muffin pans., filling two-thirds full.

Cinnamon sugar streusel topping

In a small bowl, combine 1 Tablespoon flour, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. Add the softened butter and with a fork, mash until combined.

Sprinkle topping mixture over the batter. Bake at 375 degrees until golden and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Try Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial

Orange Cranberry Streusel Muffins

INGREDIENTS

Makes 15 regular-size muffins

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 1/2 cup orange marmalade

TOPPING INGREDIENTS

• 1 Tablespoon flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 Tablespoon butter, softened

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Grease muffin pan(s)

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, pecans and dried cranberries. Whisk well to be sure the ingredients are well distributed.

In a medium-sized bowl, add the egg and beat lightly. Add the orange juice, milk, vegetable oil, orange zest and marmalade; stir to combine.

Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and fold gently just until moistened. Do not over-stir.

Spoon batter into greased muffin pans., filling two-thirds full.

To make the streusel topping: In a small bowl, combine 1 Tablespoon flour, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. Add the softened butter and with a fork, mash until combined. Sprinkle topping mixture over the batter.

Bake at 375F degrees for about 15 minutes or until golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from pans immediately to a cool on a cooling rack.

Serve the muffins as they are or drizzle on a light frosting, if desired. Combine 3/4 cup of confectioners sugar with about 1 tablespoon cream and stir until smooth, adding additional cream to desired consistency.  Drizzle on cooled muffins. 

RECIPE NOTE

The recipe yields 15 regular-size muffins. I made a dozen regular-size muffins and baked them for about 16 minutes. I used the remaining batter to make 8 mini muffins, removing them from the oven after 14 minutes of baking.