I'm pretty sure I just created my new favorite muffin: tart cranberries and dark chocolate with orange. I'm in love. I can't decide if these are more suited for breakfast or dessert. I sprinkled powdered sugar on them for dessert, but my husband, who insists on dessert at all hours of the day, eats these for breakfast.
I love this time of year because I love fresh cranberries. I've been eating them pureed into a smoothie with an orange, a scraped vanilla bean, and a splash of water to bring it all together. I never knew you could eat them raw until recently. Cranberries and oranges were made for each other. And what isn't improved with a little dark chocolate?
I adapted this recipe from my small-batch blueberry muffins recipe, but I decided to use the entire egg instead of just the egg white. I like the color that you get from using the entire egg.
Speaking of parts of eggs....I have a new section on my site that I'm excited to share with you! Since my dessert recipes are scaled down, frequently I call for just an egg yolk or egg white. And how annoying is it to have part of a leftover egg? (I know, Mom. This is for you). I went through my entire recipe collection and compiled a list of recipes that will help you use up a leftover egg yolk or egg white.
Recipes to use an extra egg yolk
Recipes to use an extra egg white
These are just two of the new categories in my recipe index, so don't worry about losing those links. Click on my RECIPE INDEX and you'll see a new list of subcategories that includes egg yolk /egg white recipes. Note that it doesn't mean that the recipe only calls for an egg yolk---sometimes, like in the case of my mini lemon layer cake, the recipes uses whole eggs plus an egg yolk.
Let me know if y'all have any questions about the new recipe index and categories, or if I made a mistake somewhere along the way. Thanks, friends! Happy baking!
DARK CHOCOLATE CRANBERRY ORANGE MUFFINS
I’m pretty sure I just created my new favorite muffin: tart cranberries and dark chocolate with orange. I’m in love!
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- ¼ teaspoon fresh orange zest
- ¼ cup + ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- heaping ½ teaspoon of baking powder
- pinch of salt
- ¼ cup buttermilk, at room temperature
- ½ cup fresh cranberries
- ¼ cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 and line 4 muffin cups with liners.
- In a small bowl, stir together the butter and sugar very well. Add the egg and orange zest, and stir until it's incorporated.
- Next, sprinkle the flour, baking powder and salt on top. Stir a few times, then add the buttermilk. Stir just until combined, do not over mix. Finally, stir in the cranberries and dark chocolate chips.
- Divide batter between 4 cupcake liners and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the tops spring back and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 291Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 78mgSodium: 146mgCarbohydrates: 33gFiber: 2gSugar: 23gProtein: 4g
Nadia says
What is that mean by 1/4 cup + 1/3 cup APF?
Christina says
Put 1/4 cup of flour in a bowl. Add another 1/3 cup. Add the two together. 1/4 cup is 4 tablespoons of flour. 1/3 cup is 5.33 tablespoons.
Nadia says
Is that mean i shouldn't put all of the amount all at one?
Antonia says
These are amazing. I quintupled the recipe to make them for my students before Thanksgiving. I was a bit worried about the raw cranberries as hadn't cooked with them before - I halved the big ones and put in a bit of agave nectar on the mix but realize I was being overly cautious after I tasted the finished product - would have been fine without as the sour is the key (the agave didn't hurt them though). The buttermilk made them so fluffy! I almost never bake and never comment on recipes, but this was so good and easy to make I had to!!!
Nutmeg Nanny says
These look wonderful :) I am really excited to get a taste of this recipe! I love cranberry and orange together, I bet the dark chocolate is a perfect touch.
Jayne @ Tenacious Tinkering says
This looks really nice with pops of tang! I might just double this and give a couple away to my dear neighbour.
Jenny says
Hey, I found this recipe a month ago and love them! I love the orange zest. I buy cranberries when there in season and freeze them for baking year round. The muffin part of this is perfect! Moist, fluffy, the best muffin I've had in a long time! So thank you for making not only my new favorite muffin, but making it so there are no leftovers! I made them in paper liners and the first time they spilled over so the second time I made 6 and they worked out perfect. My new oven is odd so cooking time was the same. I usually have to put butter on my muffins but these don't need it, so they help cut down on my butter intake :)
Thanks for doing all the work to scale down and test all these recipes. I've made Dr.pepper cake, one bowl chocolate cake and the creamsicle cake so far. All were good! Tomorrow I'm making the tin roof cheese cake, just hunting for a 5" spring form pan.
Lily says
Hi there - love the recipe - BUT does it work with dried cranberries?? Im from Australia and have never seen freshies here........... :)
Christina Lane says
I think so! Try it :)
Brigette Durocher says
I made these exactly as written and I am very pleased with this recipe, no surprise. Everything I've tried on this site has turned out wonderfully.
Christina Lane says
Why thank you, Brigette! :) <3
Neha Gattani says
My 4 year old boy and I are planning on making these as a weekend mom-son activity. Can I skip cranberries? Also can I sub milk with yogurt for buttermilk?
cma says
OH my word, these are MARVELOUS! I even messed up the process and they STILL came out great. I always spray muffin liners just because they come out of the wrappers so nicely. I know the point of using them is that you shouldn't have to do a lot of spraying and buttering but I figured if I spray parchment for cookies, might just as well spray parchment liners, too. It works. I added 1/4 C chopped walnuts and ran the knife through the big chocolate chips and the slightly thawed cranberries then dusted all the add ins with a little flour so they wouldn't sink. I did, as someone else suggested, make 6. The walnuts added a little bulk and it worked out fine. And as someone else said, I have a new stove I am learning, too, because I never had convection before. Per the stove technician, I preheat to 25 degrees higher than I need and I don't start prep until that is reached then drop back to the temp I want and go to town. I'm still learning the timing and this was a raging success! THANK YOU SO MUCH!