Cranberry Orange Sourdough Muffins

Recipe Ingredients

All you need are a few simple ingredients to make these Homemade Sourdough Orange Cranberry Muffins.

All-Purpose Flour: No special flours are needed for these cookies. All-purpose flour is perfect. For accuracy, the best way to measure the flour is by using a digital kitchen scale.

Tip: If you don't have a digital scale, spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level it with the back of a butter knife. Try not to compress the flour into the measuring cup.

Corn Starch: Adding cornstarch to muffins reduces gluten formation and gives them a lighter softer texture.

Salt: I add at least a pinch of salt to all of my recipes. Salt complements and intensifies the other flavors. For all of my recipes, I use Morton Kosher Salt which packs more densely than Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt. If you are using Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt you will want to double the amount of salt you add.

Cranberries: Cranberry season is short. Fresh cranberries typically show up in stores in November and December. These muffins use a full bag of cranberries. If you can find fresh cranberries feel free to substitute frozen or dried cranberries otherwise known as crasins. If you are using frozen cranberries, there is no need to defrost them first.

Orange Zest and Juice: Massaging the fresh orange zest into the sugar helps to release the fragrant oils in the zest.

Sourdough Discard: Don't worry your muffins won't be sour. This is plenty of sugar to eliminate the sourdough flavor. Bring your sourdough discard to room temperature before adding it to the recipe. It will be easier to incorporate. Active starter or sourdough discard can be used for this recipe.

Pro Sourdough Tip: Keep a glass jar in your refrigerator to store your sourdough discard. Continue adding to it until you have enough to make your chosen sourdough discard recipe.

Oil: Because oil remains a liquid at room temperature it helps to create a moist muffin. Use either canola or vegetable oil.

Buttermilk: Buttermilk reacts with baking soda to help the muffins rise. If you do not have buttermilk you can use regular milk and stir in one tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice. Allow the mixture to sit for a few minutes until it curdles.

Coarse Sprinkling Sugar: For that crunchy, sparkly muffin top, add a sprinkle of coarse sugar. You can also use Sugar in the Raw, Demerara sugar, or turbinado sugar.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions and Variations

Loaf Pans: Muffins and quickbreads are very similar and can often be baked in a loaf pan instead of a muffin pan.

1. Pour the batter into the 2 greased 9x5 loaf pans and bake at 350°F for 60 to 65 minutes. The cranberry orange bread is done when a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
2. Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove the bread from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

Jumbo or Mini Muffins:

• For mini muffins, bake at 350°F for 11-13 minutes. Yields about 48 mini muffins.
• For jumbo-size muffins baked at 425°F for 5 minutes and then lower the temperature to 350°F for 25-30 minutes. Yields about 12 jumbo muffins.

Cranberries: Cranberry season is short. Fresh cranberries typically show up in stores in November and December. If you can find fresh cranberries feel free to substitute frozen or dried cranberries otherwise known as crasins. If you are using frozen cranberries, there is no need to defrost them first.

You could also swap the cranberries for your favorite fruit try blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries.

Sourdough Discard: If you don't have sourdough discard, you can easily substitute the same amount of sour cream, yogurt, or unsweetened applesauce.

Buttermilk: Buttermilk reacts with baking soda to help the muffins rise. If you do not have buttermilk you can use regular milk and stir in one tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice. Allow the mixture to sit for a few minutes until it curdles.