Bakery Style Fresh Cranberry White Chocolate Muffins

I love having these tart cranberry muffins for breakfast with a cup of coffee! The fresh cranberries are perfectly sour and work so well with the white chocolate chips in them. If it isn’t cranberry season for you, how about trying these blueberry oatmeal muffins instead?

Tell me about this recipe!

• I get extra tall, bakery style muffins by baking them for the first 5 minutes at a very high temperature, then lowering the temperature. This will make your muffins rise much higher!
• These muffins are made with buttermilk instead of regular milk, which will make your muffins extra moist and help give more structure to the muffin batter so your cranberries don’t sink to the bottom.
• The muffin tops are sprinkled with sugar, making them nice and sparkly when they’re baked!

Ingredients Needed

The printable recipe card with the full list of ingredients and instructions can be found at the bottom of this post.

• Cranberries: I used fresh cranberries in these muffins, however you could also use frozen cranberries. Don’t thaw them, just take them out of the freezer at the step you need them.
• Cinnamon: I love having a lightly spiced muffin! You could also add a bit of nutmeg, cloves, or add some orange zest.
• Buttermilk: I use buttermilk in these muffins to make them extra moist and fluffy. Because buttermilk is so much thicker than regular milk, it also helps the cranberries to not sink to the bottom of each muffins.
• Baking Powder and Baking Soda: I use both baking powder and baking soda. Be sure to check the date on both packages, if it is out of date then your muffins might not rise!

How to make this recipe

Step 1: In a jug or bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

Step 2: In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix your sugar, eggs, butter, vanilla extract and buttermilk together. Beat on medium speed, it will be a little bit lumpy and that’s ok!

Step 3: Pour your dry ingredients into the bowl and mix on low speed until it is completely combined. Increase the speed to medium and beat until the batter is almost completely smooth.

Step 4: Keep some of your cranberries to the side, then fold in the remaining cranberries and white chocolate chips.

Step 5: Use a rubber spatula to fold the batter, making sure the cranberries and white chocolate chips are evenly distributed.

Step 6: Place 12 muffin liners in a muffin pan and fill each one to the top with batter. Add your leftover cranberries and sprinkle over some sparkling sugar. Bake at 425 degrees for 5 minutes, then without opening the door reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 16-18 minutes.

Recipe Tips

• I make sure that all of my ingredients are at room temperature before I start the recipe, so pull out all of the ingredients about an hour or two before you start baking.
• I highly recommend using a weighing scale and measuring out your ingredients the metric way. It makes a huge difference to your baking and is the most accurate way to bake!
• Be sure to not open the oven door when reducing the temperature, this will help give you super tall muffin tops.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use frozen cranberries instead of fresh? Yes you can! Be sure not to thaw them though, just fold them into the batter while they’re still frozen.

How do I get the batter into the muffin cups?I like to use a large ice cream scooper to neatly transfer the muffin batter into the muffin liner.

Can I make this without butter? Yes, you can substitute in an equal amount of coconut oil.

Can I freeze these cranberry white chocolate muffins? Yes! Wait until they are completely cool, then put in a freezer bag and keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let thaw completely in the fridge or defrost in the microwave.

Try these breakfast recipes next!

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Muffins

Banana Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

Nutella Babka

Snickerdoodle Apple Bread with Crumb Topping

Recipe