Gluten Free Cranberry Muffins
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These gluten free cranberry muffins are such a delicious snack! This is an easy, healthy recipe that’s full of fall flavor.
Cranberries are our state fruit here in Massachusetts, and I love stocking up on them when they’re on sale in the fall. They’re a celebrated item on our Thanksgiving table in the form of cranberry sauce, and they also make their way into our snacks during the fall.
The tart flavor of cranberries works so well in breads and muffins. These gluten free cranberry muffins have a delicious contrast in flavors. The sweetness of orange juice and the zing of the cranberries make a great combination. This is one of my favorite muffin recipes for fall.
Step by Step Instructions for Gluten Free Cranberry Muffins
Step One: Mix the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients in separate bowls
In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl, mix the eggs, syrup, orange juice, and coconut oil.
Step Two: Combine all the ingredients in the large bowl
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and stir to combine evenly. Chop the cranberries in a food processor, then fold the chopped berries into the muffin batter.
Step Three: Transfer the gluten free cranberry muffin batter to a muffin pan and bake
Transfer the batter to the muffin pan, filling each muffin cup about two-thirds of the way full. Bake for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Tips and Frequently Asked Questions
These muffins feature fresh whole cranberries. I like to finely chop the cranberries for better distribution in my muffins. Biting into a full cranberry can be a bit much, but they’re delicious in smaller doses. If you want to use frozen cranberries, defrost them in the fridge overnight and drain any excess water before chopping them.
You can use my gluten-free flour blend, or for a store-bought flour mixture, I like King Arthur’s and Bob’s Red Mill for gluten-free baking.
Orange juice gives these muffins a bit of orange flavor. If you want an even stronger orange flavor, you can add a teaspoon of fresh orange zest to the batter along with the cranberries. Chopped walnuts make a nice hearty addition, too.
These cranberry orange muffins are wonderful for everyday snacking, but they also make a great addition to a bread basket at Thanksgiving. Since they’re not too sweet, they fit right in with a savory holiday feast.
Other Cranberry Recipes
There are so many delicious ways to enjoy cranberries. With fresh berries, you can try my slow cooker cranberry sauce, cranberry apple cake, and cranberry apple baked oatmeal. Use dried cranberries in this cranberry walnut chicken salad or these cranberry chocolate oatmeal cookies.
Gluten Free Cranberry Muffins
Recommended Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups gluten-free flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/3 cup melted coconut oil
- 1 1/2 cup chopped fresh cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a standard muffin pan.
- In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large bowl, mix the eggs, syrup, orange juice, and coconut oil. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir to combine evenly.
- Chop the cranberries in a food processor, then fold the chopped berries into the muffin batter. Transfer the batter to the muffin pan.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack to room temperature before serving.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or freeze in the freezer for later. The texture of these muffins is best on the day they're baked.
Approximate Nutrition Info
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Gluten Free Cranberry Muffins Price Breakdown
This recipe costs a total of $6.43 to make, or $.54 per muffin. Try these healthy dairy-free, gluten-free cranberry muffins for a delicious taste of fall!
Note: This recipe was first published in 2018, and it was updated in 2023.
These are great. I didn’t have maple syrup so I used 3/4 cup of canned cranberry sauce. Used 1 cup dried cranberries that I rehydrated in the orange juice. Great texture and rise.
Will this work as mini-muffins? at what time and temperature? My GF flour is from white and brown rice, any special suggestions? Thanks for your good recipes.
I haven’t made this as mini muffins, but it should work. I would start checking them at 11-12 minutes. Your GF flour blend should work well.
These tasted great but it had a portion that seemed undercooked. What if seems like it is undercooked in the middle? I tried putting them back in the oven for 10 minutes and the outside was brown but still had that portion that seemed a tad gooey. What went wrong?
Hmm, that’s strange. I’m guessing either your oven wasn’t hot enough, or you accidentally added extra liquid to the batter.
Thank you for the recipe! It worked well. I used plant based butter instead of coconut oil.
These came out great! Saving this recipe to use again.
Not enough moisture/liquid to hold them together. They came out of the oven all crumbly.
I’m sorry to hear the recipe didn’t work out for you. I’ve made these muffins many times, and I haven’t had that experience. Did you follow the recipe exactly? What type of gluten-free flour did you use?
I am going to try this with dried cranberries and I hope it turns out. I did not see the person who used them reply to you.
Let me know how it goes. I think it will work well.
These are amazing! I’m allergic to baking powder so upped the soda to 1 teaspoon and added 1/4 teaspoon ascorbic acid powder. Worked well. Posted a photo to Pinterest! Thank you for sharing your recipe!
These turned out great! The batter was a bit thicker than expected but I added a bit more liquid, used sugar and dried cranberries(bc we live in India and i can’t find real maple syrup or fresh cranberries here, unfortunately). I also subbed milk for juice bc the only juice we have is a mixed fruit juice that my husband can’t drink. I did use orange extract and maple syrup extract though! This recipe is pretty forgiving! Def a keeper.
I’m glad those modifications worked well for you!
Can I use dried cranberries instead of Chopped cranberries?
I haven’t tried this recipe with dried cranberries, but it should work. Let me know what you think if you try it that way.
Can you freeze the muffins?
thanks.
Yes, I typically freeze some of the batch as soon as they’re cool. Defrost on the counter within 3 months for the best results.
What do I do with the maple syrup?
Add the maple syrup with the wet ingredients as listed in instruction #3.
I tried these last night and they are delish! I had some blood oranges so used some of the skin and all of the juice. Wonderful!
Thanks for letting me know! Blood orange is perfect for these.
What can you sub for the coconut oil?
You can substitute melted butter or a mild oil like avocado oil.
I have some leftover cranberries sitting in my fridge – I think I’ll try this recipe out with them! I love baked goods sweetened with maple syrup. It’s my sweetener go-to.
I love cranberry quick bread, and really anything I can put cranberry in! This sounds delicious!