Cranberry Sauce Muffins
Transform that leftover cranberry sauce into a batch of delicious cranberry sauce muffins. These moist and flavor-packed muffins are the perfect way to repurpose your cranberry sauce and add a delightful twist to your breakfast or snack routine.
Why you’ll love this recipe:
- Easy to whip up – There is no mixer required. This recipe is completely made by hand. You simply mix the wet and dry ingredients separately, combine, fold in the cranberry sauce, and bake.
- Tastes great – These muffins are a perfect blend of sweet and tart with a burst of lemon zest. The texture is soft and moist with pockets of jammy cranberries throughout.
- No waste – If your family is like mine with only a few die-hard fans of cranberry sauce with turkey, then you probably end up with leftover sauce every holiday dinner. With this recipe there is no more waste!
Ingredients you’ll need:
- all-purpose flour
- baking powder & baking soda
- vegetable oil
- granulated sugar
- eggs
- Greek yogurt or full-fat sour cream
- vanilla extract & lemon zest (or orange zest)
- chunky whole berry cranberry sauce (canned or homemade)
- sparkling or coarse sugar (optional)
How to make cranberry sauce muffins:
(the ingredient amounts are listed in the printable recipe card further below)
- In a large bowl, whisk together the vegetable oil, sugar, eggs, yogurt or sour cream, vanilla, and lemon zest.
- In a medium bowl, toss together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.
- Gently fold in the cranberry sauce. Do not fully combine. You want swirls and chunks of cranberry sauce throughout the batter.
- Spoon the batter into a paper-lined muffin pan. Sprinkle with coarse sugar if using. Bake at 375F for 20 minutes.
FAQ:
Yes, you can! Bake the muffins, let them cool completely, and store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Certainly! These muffins freeze well. Once cooled, place them in a freezer-safe container or bag. Thaw overnight in the fridge. Reheat in the oven or microwave.
You can but you’ll have to add more sugar. Here is a recipe designed for fresh cranberries and it also happens to be one of my most popular: https://www.littlesweetbaker.com/cranberry-orange-muffins/
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Did you make this recipe? Please kindly leave a comment with your star rating below.
Cranberry Sauce Muffins
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt or full-fat sour cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp lemon or orange zest
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
- 1 & 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup whole berry cranberry sauce
- 1-2 Tbsp coarse sugar for topping, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F and line a muffin pan with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the vegetable oil, sugar and eggs.1/4 cup vegetable oil, 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar, 2 large eggs
- Add yogurt or sour cream, vanilla, and lemon zest.1/2 cup Greek yogurt or full-fat sour cream, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 tsp lemon or orange zest
- In a medium bowl, toss together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour, 1 & 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt
- Gently fold in the cranberry sauce. Do not fully combine. You want swirls and chunks of cranberry sauce throughout the batter. Spoon the batter into a paper-lined muffin pan. Sprinkle with coarse sugar if using.3/4 cup whole berry cranberry sauce
- Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Herbs & Flour
Excellent, Excellent recipe!! Thank you for sharing! I love that these are made with oil instead of butter. I made these exactly as the recipe instructs and the muffins came out moist, flavorful, and absolutely delicious! It was a great way to use up my leftover cranberry sauce. I only made one small change, I infused orange zest into the sugar I sprinkled on top before baking. I love orange.
Don’t have a printer why begrudge your viewer the necessary measurements???
Hi there! The full recipe, including all the measurements, is available right in the post—no need to print. You can either scroll down or use the “Jump to Recipe” button at the top to get straight to it. Printing is just an optional feature for anyone who prefers a paper copy. Hope that helps!
Can’t say enough good things about this recipe. Basic, easy steps. Not only are the muffins delicious with good texture, but now l have something great to do with my leftover cranberry/orange relish every year after Thanksgiving. They freeze nicely. Thank you for a great recipe.
You’re very welcome, Nancy, and thank you for your kind words. Enjoy the muffins!
De-li-cious! I made these as written and we LOVE them! I must admit, I always enjoy a sweeter muffin and check the sugar to flour ratio to see if I’ll take the time to make them (that way, they may not be a disappointment). These were really good and I’d make them again. Thank you for sharing this gem!
You’re very welcome and I’m so happy to hear that you love them!
These muffins are delicious. Light, airy, tasty, checks all the boxes. I used a Keto Sugar and cut back to a half a cup because the homemade cranberry sauce was made with Maple Syrup so thought they would be sweet enough which they were. The batter was quite thick so I added a tbsp of Egg Nog that I had. Did not alter the taste but helped in the distribution of the batter. Took 20 min in my stove with a switch and turn around of the pans. Love, this recipe and will be making again as the calorie count and Net Carbs reasonable.
Thank you for your feedback, Corrine. I’m so glad you enjoyed the muffins!