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Looking for a way to use up your leftover cranberry sauce? These Leftover Cranberry Sauce Muffins are just the thing! Hints of orange zest, tart cranberries and a brown sugar crumble topping will make these the perfect breakfast the day after Thanksgiving!
Looking for a way to use up your leftover cranberry sauce? These Leftover Cranberry Sauce Muffins are just the thing! Hints of orange zest, tart cranberries and a brown sugar crumble topping will make these the perfect breakfast the day after Thanksgiving! |Cranberry orange muffins | Leftover cranberry sauce recipes | strudel topping for muffins | thanksgiving leftover recipes

Like, you know how people put applesauce in their muffins sometimes?

Looking for a way to use up your leftover cranberry sauce? These Leftover Cranberry Sauce Muffins are just the thing! Hints of orange zest, tart cranberries and a brown sugar crumble topping will make these the perfect breakfast the day after Thanksgiving! |Cranberry orange muffins | Leftover cranberry sauce recipes | strudel topping for muffins | thanksgiving leftover recipesLike, you know how people put applesauce in their muffins sometimes?These muffins are super moist and made with cranberry sauce and fresh cranberries with hints or orange and brown sugar.

Looking for a way to use up your leftover cranberry sauce? These Leftover Cranberry Sauce Muffins are just the thing! Hints of orange zest, tart cranberries and a brown sugar crumble topping will make these the perfect breakfast the day after Thanksgiving! |Cranberry orange muffins | Leftover cranberry sauce recipes | strudel topping for muffins | thanksgiving leftover recipes

Remember that time that I made a giant bowl of Cranberry Sauce?  Except it was three weeks before Thanksgiving because this is blog land?  And so I had a giant bowl of cranberry sauce in my fridge, which led me to come up with these Cranberry Brie Mini Tarts.  But then I had still more Cranberry Sauce.  What should I do with leftover cranberry sauce? I’ll tell you what – leftover cranberry sauce muffins.  If you can put applesauce in muffins, why not cranberry sauce?

Looking for a way to use up your leftover cranberry sauce? These Leftover Cranberry Sauce Muffins are just the thing! Hints of orange zest, tart cranberries and a brown sugar crumble topping will make these the perfect breakfast the day after Thanksgiving! |Cranberry orange muffins | Leftover cranberry sauce recipes | strudel topping for muffins | thanksgiving leftover recipes

So these muffins.  I really like them.  It took me three tries to get them just the way I wanted them.  Super moist, full of tart cranberries with a hint of orange and brown sugar.  I added a streusel topping because, well, because I could and streusel topping is never a bad idea. The brown sugar and cinnamon play really nicely with the cranberries.  I really wanted the cranberries to be the star of the show here, so there are lots of fresh cranberries in addition to the cranberry sauce.  And orange zest, because cranberries and oranges should get married and have tons or cranberry-orange babies.

Looking for a way to use up your leftover cranberry sauce? These Leftover Cranberry Sauce Muffins are just the thing! Hints of orange zest, tart cranberries and a brown sugar crumble topping will make these the perfect breakfast the day after Thanksgiving! |Cranberry orange muffins | Leftover cranberry sauce recipes | strudel topping for muffins | thanksgiving leftover recipes

Another nice thing about these muffins is that they freeze really well, which is good news because I just made three batches and no two people should be eating 36+ muffins in the period of time that we could/would.  Despite a freezer full of muffins, when I sent a bunch to work with my husband to share with his friends he totally hoarded them, so I think that speaks well for the flavor here.

Looking for a way to use up your leftover cranberry sauce? These Leftover Cranberry Sauce Muffins are just the thing! Hints of orange zest, tart cranberries and a brown sugar crumble topping will make these the perfect breakfast the day after Thanksgiving! |Cranberry orange muffins | Leftover cranberry sauce recipes | strudel topping for muffins | thanksgiving leftover recipes

There were a few challenges with these muffins.  First of all, I really wanted them to be very moist (I’m really sorry if you hate that word, but there is no other way to describe it).  That was why I used more brown sugar than regular recipes call for, as well as oil instead of butter.  The problem with a very wet batter is that it is harder to get them to puff up and get a dome shaped top that muffins are supposed to have.  I didn’t want to sacrifice the tender, moist texture, so I had to employ a few tricks to keep these from being completely flat.

These muffins are super moist and made with cranberry sauce and fresh cranberries with hints or orange and brown sugar.

One thing I did is make sure that the muffin tins were very full.  Normally when we make cupcakes or muffins the recipes tell us to fill the tin 3/4.  With these guys though, you want to fill it almost to the top.  I found an ice cream scoop made this job much easier.

These muffins are super moist and made with cranberry sauce and fresh cranberries with hints or orange and brown sugar.

The other thing I did was an oven trick that I learned from Alton Brown.  You preheat the oven to 380, but you are actually going to bake these at 400.  Right when you put the muffins in the oven you raise the tempurature to 400.  The reason for this is that the muffins will get a blast of heat right away, which causes the baking powder to react and the muffins to raise up quickly.  That creates some structure for the muffin and helps it keep its shape.  Science!

These muffins are super moist and made with cranberry sauce and fresh cranberries with hints or orange and brown sugar.

Now, despite all of these tricks, the muffins still do not have quite the tall dome top that some picture perfect muffins have, but I think that having that soft, moist, tender texture makes it worth it.  The tartness of the cranberries and buttermilk, the zing of the orange zest, the warm flavors of the cinnamon and brown sugar all come together to create a holiday party in muffin form.

Looking for a way to use up your leftover cranberry sauce? These Leftover Cranberry Sauce Muffins are just the thing! Hints of orange zest, tart cranberries and a brown sugar crumble topping will make these the perfect breakfast the day after Thanksgiving! |Cranberry orange muffins | Leftover cranberry sauce recipes | strudel topping for muffins | thanksgiving leftover recipes

 

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Cranberry Sauce Muffins

4.50 from 6 votes
Prep 10 minutes
Cook 15 minutes
Total 25 minutes
Servings 12 Muffins
These muffins are super moist and made with cranberry sauce and fresh cranberries with hints or orange and brown sugar.

Ingredients 

For The Muffins:

    Dry Ingredients

    • 2 cups all purpose flour
    • 2 teaspoons baking powder
    • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt

    Wet Ingredients

    • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
    • 1/4 cup white sugar
    • 2 eggs
    • 1/4 cup canola oil or vegetable oil
    • 1/2 cup buttermilk
    • scant ½ cup cranberry sauce
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • zest of one orange
    • 1 ½ cup fresh cranberries

    For The Streusel Topping:

    • 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold butter, cut into chunks
    • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
    • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
    • 1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
    • 1 teaspoon cinnamon

    Instructions 

    • Preheat oven to 380°F. Prepare your muffin tin by either lining it with cupcake wrappers or very liberally greasing the tins. I used cupcake wrappers.
    • Combine streusel topping ingredients in a small bowl and use your fingers to mix together until the ingredients are combined and the mixture resembles wet sand. You can try to do this with a fork but I find it much easier to do with my fingers. Set aside.
    • In another bowl combine dry ingredients and mix together until fully combined. Set aside.
    • In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine all wet ingredients except for fresh cranberries. Mix together until comletely combined. Alternately you can do this by hand, but I preferred the texture when I used an electric mixer.
    • Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix for NO LONER THAN 20 seconds. Do not over mix. Even though it will not be fully combined, remove the bowl from the mixer and add the fresh cranberries. Fold in by hand to finish mixing. It is very important not to over mix. A few lumps are OK.
    • Fill the muffin tin with the batter. Fill almost to the top of the wrapper (not 3/4 as you normally would with cupcakes). Top each muffin with some streusel mix. Use plenty of streusel mix, you will probably have some left over.
    • Put muffins in the oven and immediately raise oven temperature to 400°F. The reason for this is that they will get a burst of hot air which helps them to rise and get more of a dome top.
    • Bake 15-18 minutes or until tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (a few crumbs are OK).
    • Allow to cool in muffin tin for about 10 minutes, then remove to finish cooling on a wire rack.
    • Can be frozen after cooling completely.

    Notes

    *overmixing the batter will make the muffins tough and dry, don't do it!

    Nutrition

    Calories: 311kcal | Carbohydrates: 52g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 38mg | Sodium: 161mg | Potassium: 169mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 185IU | Vitamin C: 1.9mg | Calcium: 70mg | Iron: 1.7mg

    Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

    Additional Info

    Course: Baked Goods/Breads, Breakfast, Brunch
    Cuisine: American
    Did you like this recipe?Please comment, rate and share! And don’t forget to tag me on Instagram @foxandbriar AND #foxandbriar so I can see what you made!

    I developed this recipe with help from HERE and HERE

    These muffins are super moist and made with cranberry sauce and fresh cranberries with hints or orange and brown sugar.

    Are you tired of cranberries yet?  I promise this is the last cranberry recipe for awhile.  Maybe?  Maybe not.

    These muffins are super moist and made with cranberry sauce and fresh cranberries with hints or orange and brown sugar.

    Lets be friends on Instagram!  If you make this recipe be sure to tag it with #foxandbriar, I would love to see what you make!

    Hello! I’m Meghan.

    I am so glad that you are here! I am the recipe developer, photographer, and writer here at my blog Fox and Briar. I am a passionate, self-taught home cook and believe that most things are better homemade and that good food doesn’t need to be complicated.

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    29 Comments

    1. 5 stars
      Great recipe, easy to follow and a great way to use up cranberries that I love so much. Healthy recipe too with a little less sugar. Loved it!

    2. What a great idea for leftove cranberry sauce! And great tip on raising the oven temp to blast the baking soda! Never thought of that before!!

    3. What a brilliant idea for left over sauce….in fact I think I’d make a double big batch of cranberry sauce simply so I had enough to make these muffins!

    4. What a genius idea to use cranberry sauce instead of applesauce in these muffins! – Cranberry sauce is way better anyway if you ask me 😉 Also, Alton Brown is the best ever and my husband. Well, sort of. Ok, it’s just in my mind. Anyway, I can’t wait to try that oven temperature trick and these yummy sounding muffins! I might just have to make them for Thanksgiving…

      1. Thanks so much Stephanie! Yes, AB is the bomb, right? I’m pretty sure 80% of my kitchen knowledge can be traced back to him (or M-Stew). I would love to hear about it if you make them!

    5. Cranberry sauce in muffins is genius, girlfriend!! Totally loving these and thank you for adding struesel to the top, because struesel everything makes life better. Fact. I might need to make extra cranberry sauce just so I can have these muffins! Pinned! Cheers, dear!

    6. So gorgeous Meghan!! Would never have thought of adding cranberry sauce to a muffin but it such a great idea, and the pink staining it gives is so pretty. The contrasting texture of the streusel topping is awesome as well – very envious of all the muffins you have stashed in the freezer! And thanks for the oven tip trick too – I am a lover of baking science haha! (nerdy, I know!).

      1. Thank you so much Claudia! I was totally in love with the pink color of the batter. I don’t bake that oten, so I am always looking for tips on how to be a better baker 🙂

    7. These muffins are gorgeous!! They’re the perfect use for leftover cranberry sauce (I totally have a big bowl in my fridge right now too).

    8. 5 stars
      Sometimes the best muffins are the ones that take three tries to make! Nice job Meghan! I love the streusel topping!

    9. 5 stars
      YUM! I have 2 mason jars of cranberry sauce–I need to whip some of these up tomorrow. Plus we have half-days…the kiddos need something to bake.

    10. 5 stars
      Streusel topping is ALWAYS a good idea! Love how this recipe uses up the leftovers from Thanksgiving, and cranberry sauce in muffins probably makes the most perfect, moist texture too!

    11. Lady, you are just killin’ it this week with the awesome food! I didn’t know that Alton Brown tip. I’m gonna have to try it.
      *grabs muffin on the way out