Vegan Orange Cranberry Muffins
‘Tis the season for holiday breakfasts and brunch! Vegan Orange Cranberry Muffins are the perfect baked good to serve for both vegans and non-vegans alike! Fresh cranberries and orange zest work together to create scrumptious, fluffy vegan muffins. Whether you’re hosting an at-home brunch, a play group or making a holiday breakfast for your family (or yourself), Vegan Orange Cranberry Muffins are the perfect wintery recipe to bake and serve!
I’m a sucker for all things calling for fresh cranberries during the winter months. (Orange Cranberry Cream Cheese Thumbprint Cookies? Check. Cranberry Cinnamon Rolls? Check. Cranberry Orange Ginger Biscotti? Check.)
Why should it be a surprise that I’d come at y’all with a Vegan Orange Cranberry Muffin recipe before the end of the season?
(Also, shout out to my Instagram followers, who chose this recipe to go live today!)
You should know I’m not a vegan. No one in my family eats a vegan diet. But I have vegan friends, and I love having a solid recipe in my back pocket that I can feed them when they come to visit.
It also makes me happy to have a versatile recipe that feeds both vegans and non-vegans alike. (Bonus points if it doesn’t call for hard-to-get ingredients because I don’t have my act together to have those and “regular” baking stuff, too.)
I guarantee if I hadn’t told my family these muffins were vegan, they’d never know.
They were that good.
If you like the cranberry and orange combination, this recipe is going to knock your socks off.
The muffins are fluffy and tender. The cranberries are super tart. That orange zest adds zip and some much-needed acidity to balance out that tartness. And the vanilla bean paste just adds a little something extra!
In other words: You should make these muffins, whether you’re feeding your family or friends, serving yourself or prepping for a holiday breakfast.
Just sayin’.
I’m not vegan. Will I like these Vegan Orange Cranberry Muffins?
We’re not vegan, either. Several years ago, I created my Vegan Blueberry Muffin recipe when we were planning to host vegan friends for brunch. That recipe has been well-loved ever since by vegans and non-vegans alike.
These muffins are similar in the sense that if you don’t know they’re vegan, chances are you won’t think they are. They’re light and fluffy, but they don’t need any animal products to make them utterly scrumptious.
These muffins lasted less than 24 hours in my household. I bet they’ll last the same amount of time in yours, whether or not you follow a vegan diet.
I’m vegan. Why should I trust a non-vegan to make a good vegan muffin?
I’ve tested these Orange Cranberry Muffins multiple times to ensure they’re 1. edible, 2. delicious and 3. good for everyone to enjoy, no matter their dietary preferences. (Working on this for my gluten free friends, too, but I haven’t perfected it yet.)
I love to entertain, and part of entertaining is ensuring I have food to serve to guests whose diets aren’t the same as mine. Since brunch is one of my favorite meals to host, vegan muffins have become a go-to in my house.
The added bonus is I don’t have to make other muffins for non-vegans, and my vegan friends know they will get a solid muffin when they come for brunch!
Since they don’t have eggs, what makes these muffins rise?
I use a combination of baking soda and vinegar to make my vegan muffins fluffy. Why? When the two get together, they fizz and create a gorgeous rise in the muffins.
As an added bonus, they’re ingredients most of us have lying around, assuming we cook on a semi-regular basis, and they make for a beautiful muffin.
Why aren’t my muffins rising?
There are several different factors that might go into this.
Here are a few things to check:
- Is your baking soda old?
- Is your baking powder old?
- Does your oven run at the correct temperature? (Vegan muffins struggled to rise in my 1960’s oven because the oven never ran at a consistent temperature.)
I don’t have fresh cranberries to use in these vegan muffins. Can I use frozen? What about the dried variety?
The thing I love about these muffins is that the cranberries are fresh and tart. If you want to make this recipe and fresh cranberries aren’t available, I advise purchasing unsweetened frozen ones and letting those thaw a little before throwing them in the batter.
I do not recommend adding dried cranberries to this recipe because they will make the muffins super sweet. Also, the berries won’t burst in your mouth when you bite into them.
What do I need to make these Vegan Orange Cranberry Muffins?
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- Glass bowls
- Liquid measuring cup
- Measuring spoons
- Zester
- Vanilla bean paste
- Hand mixer or Whisk
- Muffin/Cupcake tin.
- Parchment paper cupcake liners
- Cookie scoop
- Wire cooling rack
What are some other vegan breakfast dishes I could serve at brunch?
Now who’s ready to bake up some muffins?
Scroll on down to learn how to make ‘em…
Vegan Orange Cranberry Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsweetened non-dairy milk
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
- 1 cup cranberries fresh
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Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with baking cups. (I really love these parchment paper baking cups.) Set aside.
- In a large glass mixing bowl, whisk the flour, ginger, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Set aside.
- In another large bowl, combine the sugar, non-dairy milk, orange zest, oil, vinegar and vanilla bean paste. Using a hand mixer or a whisk, beat until light and fluffy.
- Sprinkle the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, stirring until just combined.
- Fold the cranberries into the batter with a rubber spatula.
- Immediately dollop the batter into the prepared baking cups using a tablespoon measure or a cookie scoop.
- Bake for 20-23 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through, then enjoy warm!
Notes
Nutrition
About the Author:
Erin Parker is a Southern gal living in Texas with her husband and two daughters. She started The Speckled Palate to share what she was cooking as a newlywed… and over the years, it’s evolved to capture her love for hosting. Specifically, the EASIEST, lowest key entertaining because everyone deserves to see their people and connect over good food. Learn more about her…
Sorry, but I bake often and these didn’t work at all. They didn’t rise and taste like pure sugar. Maybe there’s supposed to be more flour involved? I don’t know.