Cranberry Muffins
Updated Oct 14, 2025
These cranberry muffins are made with fresh cranberries, sliced almonds, and lemon zest. Everything comes together easily and bakes in under 30!
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Make a batch of my cranberry lemon muffins!
I started making these cranberry muffins because I always end up with extra cranberries around the holidays and hate wasting them. They’re a mix of sweet, tart, and a little crunch from the almonds, plus the lemon keeps them bright and fresh.
This cranberry muffin recipe couldn’t be easier. I just mix everything in one bowl, bake it, and let the smell do the rest. They’re the kind of muffin that makes it hard to wait for them to cool before grabbing one.
Happy Cooking!
– Yumna
Cranberry Muffins Ingredients
- Cranberries: You can use either fresh or frozen cranberries.
- Lemon: Read my tips on how to juice a lemon and how to zest a lemon, because I use both in this recipe.
- Toasted sliced almonds: Here’s a quick tutorial on how to toast almonds. Any nut works, like toasted walnuts or toasted pecans.
- Coconut oil: You can also use vegetable oil or melted butter.
- Dry ingredients: All-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Wet ingredients: Maple syrup, eggs, and Greek yogurt.
How to Make Cranberry Muffins
Cranberry Muffin Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup coconut oil melted
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- ½ cup Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1 lemon zested
- 1 cup cranberries halved
- ½ cup toasted sliced almonds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a muffin tin or line it with muffin cups.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld mixer, whisk together the maple syrup and coconut oil until combined. Add the eggs, Greek yogurt, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
- Add the flour mixture and stir just until combined. Then, fold in the cranberries and sliced almonds.
- Scoop the batter into the muffin tin, filling each muffin cup all the way to the top. Bake for 23–27 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean and the muffins are lightly browned on the edges. Cool in the muffin pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Equipment
Notes
- My Top Tip: If you use frozen cranberries, don’t thaw them. Use them right from the freezer and fold them quickly into the batter before baking. If they start to thaw, the color will leak and turn your muffins pink.
- Storage: Store the muffins in an airtight container with a paper towel under them to absorb any moisture. Fresh cranberry muffins keep well at room temperature for 2–3 days and in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Freezing: Freeze the muffins solid on a baking sheet before transferring to a freezer bag or container. Frozen cranberry muffins keep well for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature and enjoy.
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
Recipe Variations
- Add a cranberry jam core. Place a spoonful of cranberry jam in the center of each muffin before baking for a surprise filling.
- Make them even sweeter. Add a handful of white chocolate chips to the batter and top the cooled muffins with a homemade glaze.
Recipe Tips
- If you use frozen cranberries, don’t thaw them. Use them right from the freezer and fold them quickly into the batter before baking. If they start to thaw, the color will leak and turn your muffins pink.
- Don’t overmix the batter. When you add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, fold gently until just combined. If you overmix, the muffins can turn out dense.
- Let the muffins cool completely on a wire rack. The wire rack lets cool air circulate all around, so you don’t get soggy bottoms.
FAQs
Fresh or frozen works best, but you can use dried cranberries if that’s what you have. I recommend rehydrating them in hot water or orange juice for about 10 minutes before adding them to the batter.
Toss them in a bit of flour before folding them into the batter. This helps them stay evenly distributed.
Comments
Yummy muffins. Not too sweet.
So happy you liked them, Maryanne! Thanks!!
I made these muffins with gluten free flour and used olive oil because I didn’t have coconut oil. They were awesome. I froze them and then had them thawed a week later, over the course of a 4 day road trip and they held up so well.
Thanks for sharing!!
These were really good, however, as soon as I added the yogurt to the maple syrup and coconut oil, the oil hardened 🙁 I had already added the eggs so couldn’t microwave or heat it. Next time I’ll know.
Oo that’s a great point! The cold Greek yogurt could cause the coconut oil to seize.
Can you use Almond Flour instead?
Yes, you can, but I have not tested this recipe with Almond flour so I am not sure what the exact ratios would be.
Hi, can I use oat flour or Whole White flour in place of all-purpose?
Hi Bonnie! I’ve never made this recipe with either, so I am not really sure how it would turn out. That being said I don’t see why you couldn’t, you may need to adjust the ratios a little though.
This afternoon I made these muffins (6 jumbo)….so darn delicious! I made them vegan with two flax eggs and coconut yogourt. Since I had a handful of blueberries left, I threw them in. The hint of maple coming through is just lovely. Thank you! Definitely a keeper 🙂
You’re so welcome! I bet the pop of blueberry was just perfect too! Thank you for sharing.
Is it possible to substitute the maple syrup for golden syrup? It’s a bit difficult to get hold of maple syrup here in the UK and I’m keen to try out this recipe!
I haven’t made this with golden syrup yet, but I think it should work!
I made these today without the yogurt since I had none at home. Even without the yogurt, these are sooo delicious
That’s perfect! Good to know it works without the yogurt too.
I made mini -muffins, which I guess is what recipe is for, considering I got 13 of them out of the batch lol. I made the mistake of using muffin liners, instead of a greased pan, and they came out completely stuck to the liner 🙁 they still taste pretty good, just look sad. I would recommend either using a greased pan, or maybe even spray oil on the liners.
I’m glad you enjoyed the taste of these muffins! I would try the greased pan next time because the success of the muffin liners can highly depend on the kind you use.
These muffins turned out amazing! The only issue was the coconut oil hardening because my maple syrup was too cold. I also used 1 cup of whole wheat flour and the rest all purpose flour. Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you so much! I am happy to hear it worked out with those substitutions. You’re welcome!!
Very good, BUT 20 mins is the time I would set. At 23 mins, mine were too dark
Thank you! That’s great to note.
Hi!
Can this cranberry lemon muffins be made a loaf instead of muffins? If so what would be the bake time?
Made these muffins last week and we loved them.
Thanks !
I have yet to try that, but I think it could work!
Tip; If you cut cranberries that thawed by mistake, put them on a paper towel. Left on counter to dry overnight and were perfect…
Great tip! Thanks for sharing.
Very good…wanted to make these for grandkids who come for breakfast…Used coconut oil w butter flavor, coconut yogurt, walnuts, and used orange for juice and zest. Muffins disappeared and some went home for later…Success !!
Thank you! Sounds perfect. Glad you all enjoyed!
Yummy muffins. Only thing I substitute was the coconut oil. I use vegetable oil.. will make again.
Thank you! Let me know how that goes too!
Great recipe!! slightly altered the recipe, made with 1:2 almond flour, turned out perfectly!
Thank you! I love that it still turned out that way.
Hi Yumna wow easy and mouth watering recipe but only if you could add measurements of all the ingredients would be great .
Thank you
Thank you! All of the ingredients and the quantities can be found on the recipe card.
Thanks for the recipe. Easy to follow and very quick done. Great for the kids this afternoon.
So glad you enjoyed it! Thank you!
They look so good! I can’t wait to try it! Just want to know if I can use frozen cranberries.
Love all your recipes. Regards from Spain 🙂
Yes you can use frozen cranberries! Hope you like it!
I love this recipe – I substituted dried cherries for cranberries (I was snowed in!) and added lemon zest to the top with the almonds – yummy!
Hi Rebecca – So glad you tried this recipe and loved it! Yay! Thank you! 🙂