Vegan Cranberry Orange Muffins with fluffy sponge, bursts of juicy, sticky, jammy cranberries, an irresistible crumbly streusel topping, and an over-the-top drizzle of orange icing. Perfect for the holidays!
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Holy smokes these Vegan Cranberry Orange Muffins are good and so perfect for the holiday season. Fluffy, fragrant, bursting with juicy cranberries, covered in delicious nubbly streusel and rivers of orange icing, joyful, unnecessary (but necessary 😜), comforting, and very festive!
These are perfect for holiday brunches but make sure you stash one away to enjoy in a quiet moment with a nice cup of coffee during this busy time of year!
Mel x
Ingredients
Here is what you need at a glance, along with some important ingredient notes:
Important
I highly recommend using tulip-style muffin liners when making this recipe. While regular liners stop the bottom and sides from sticking, they don't stop the tops from sticking. Without tulip liners these muffins get big muffin tops and any cranberries at the top near the sides get really baked onto the top surface of the pan. This makes it impossible to remove the muffins in one piece. Tulip liners contain the muffin tops and stop this from happening. Most grocery stores sell them in the baking aisle. If you can't find them it's really easy to make your own if you have some parchment paper. You can find a tutorial here.
- Flour - This recipe works best with all-purpose flour (plain flour in the UK).
- Sugar - This should be white or cane sugar. Don't use darker sugar as it will affect the color and detract from the orange flavor. We are also using powdered sugar in the orange glaze.
- Cranberries - These can be fresh or frozen.
- Oranges - Use real oranges (not store-bought orange juice) because you need juice and zest. The zest holds the most flavor so if you don't use it your muffins won't be as tasty.
- Oil - Any neutral oil such as vegetable,. canola, light olive oil, or sunflower oil. Oil gives the muffins the softest texture so is a better choice than vegan butter.
- Baking soda & baking powder - Both are necessary in this recipe for lightness and a good rise.
- Cornstarch - This is key to the perfect texture in this recipe. It binds (like eggs in a non-vegan recipe) and creates a very tender, soft, crumb. It's a trick I tried in my vegan chocolate chip muffins and is one that will be standard practice in all of my muffin recipes from now on as it works so well!
- Dairy-free milk - Any such as almond milk, soy milk, oat milk or cashew milk is fine.
- Vegan butter - This is for the streusel and is essential (unless you omit the streusel completely). Oil does not work.
Let's Make Vegan Cranberry Orange Muffins!
Can't wait to make them? The full printable recipe is below, but first, let me walk you through the steps to set you up for success in your kitchen:
1 - First stir the streusel ingredients together (be sure to use a fork not a spoon or it won't get those gorgeous crumbles!) then put the bowl in the fridge while you make the muffins.
2 - Whisk the dry muffin ingredients together. Make a well in the center and add the wet ingredients. Stir together gently, then add the cranberries and fold them through the batter.
3 - Spoon into a lined muffin pan. Fill almost to the top. I recommend using tulip muffin liners for this recipe because if you don't the cranberries make the muffin tops stick to the top surface of the pan. This makes them impossible to remove without damaging them. There's more info on that below.
4 - Top with the streusel then bake. You need to give the muffins an initial, very hot blast in the oven then turn the temperature down after 5 minutes. This creates a blast of steam which will raise those muffin tops right up from the inside out. It will ensure that the batter won't overflow because the other trick for the best muffin tops is to fill your wells right up.
5 - Give them 5 to 10 minutes to settle in the pan then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. They will be fragile while hot so use the liners to lift them out.
6 - Mix up the easy orange icing and drizzle all over the cooled muffins.
My Secret Tricks For Tall Muffin Tops
Want my top tips for perfectly domed, tall, muffins? Here we go!
Don't over-mix your batter. You don't want to activate the gluten in the flour (you're not making bread!). Over-mixing or beating the batter will affect the rise and texture of your muffins so treat that batter gently. Use a metal muffin pan (not silicone) and fill the wells right to the top. I love and highly recommend USA Pan Muffin Pans.
Start the muffins off with a blast of high heat (425°F) for 5 minutes, then cook for the remaining time at a lower temperature (375°F). This creates steam that will raise those muffin tops right up from the inside out giving you an amazing light texture and a beautiful appearance. I do this with all of my vegan muffin recipes and it really works!
Recipe FAQs
I haven't had time to test this recipe with gluten-free flour but a good GF all-purpose flour that contains xanthan gum like Bob's Red Mill 1 for 1 baking flour (in the blue bag) usually works well in my muffin recipes.
If you end up with oranges that don't produce enough juice make it up with some dairy-free milk in the muffin batter or the icing.
Recipe
Vegan Cranberry Orange Muffins
Author:Ingredients
For the muffins
- 2¼ cups (281 grams) all-purpose flour (plain flour in the UK)
- 1 cup (200 grams) cane or white sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda (bicarb in the UK)
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¾ cup (180 ml) dairy-free milk
- ½ cup (120 ml) liquid oil , such as vegetable, canola, sunflower, avocado, or light olive oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- the zest from 1 large orange , buy 2 large oranges so you have enough juice for the muffins & icing
- ¼ cup (60 ml) orange juice
- 2 cups (200 grams) fresh or frozen cranberries , don’t defrost if frozen
For the streusel
- ¼ cup (60 ml) melted dairy-free butter
- packed ⅓ cup (64 grams) white or cane sugar
- ⅔ cup (84. grams) all-purpose flour (plain flour in the UK)
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- small pinch fine sea salt
- OR omit the streusel & sprinkle with coarse sugar crystals instead
For the icing
- 1 cup (125 grams) powdered sugar
- about 2 tablespoons orange juice
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C) and place muffin liners in your muffin pan.
- Make the crumb topping ingredients together roughly with a fork (not a spoon) and refrigerate while you make the muffins.
- To a mixing bowl add the flour, sugar, cornstarch, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Whisk together to combine.
- Make a well in the centre then pour in the milk, oil, vanilla and orange zest. Mix gently with a spatula until just combined and you can't see any dry flour. Don't beat it or over-mix.
- Add the cranberries to the batter and fold through.
- Spoon evenly into the muffin pan filling all the way to the top. Top with streusel or coarse sugar.
- Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F (218°C), then turn the oven down to 375°F (190°C) (do not open the door), and bake for another 22 to 25 minutes or until well risen, gently golden, and a toothpick or sharp knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Leave in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
- Make the icing and drizzle over the tip of the muffins.
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Fran says
Absolutely delicious!
Melanie McDonald says
So pleased you’re enjoying them!
Mandy says
The Best! Bursting with cranberries and orange flavour, moist and fluffy. Absolutely the BEST I've ever had, let alone made!!!thank you Mel!!!
Melanie McDonald says
Love that! Thank you, Mandy!
Lisa says
Always love your recipes and looking forward to this one. One question - why not a silicone muffin pan?
Melanie McDonald says
I never recommend silicone bakeware. It generally doesn't have enough structure/support (unless it's the rare one's you can get with built in metal supports) and it doesn't radiate heat like metal. I've compared like for like (baking the same muffins in both) and results in a good quality metal pan are WAY better than in silicone. You get better shaped muffins that rise better, are lighter and fluffier, and that color better and cook more evenly.
If you're looking at purchasing new muffins pans you really can't beat USA Pan muffin pans. I have no affiliation with them at all, I just love them. After working my way through so many cake/muffin pans I can honestly say that you can't beat them for quality and results. I hope that helps!
Lisa says
Thanks a bunch for the explanation. Greatly appreciated!