These Sourdough Cranberry Orange Muffins are a classic winter flavor. The tartness of the fresh cranberries balances with the orange zest and comes together to create a light and fluffy muffin perfect for breakfast or brunch. Sprinkled with a little turbinado sugar on top, it's the perfect combination!
Why you'll love this recipe
- This easy recipe comes together in with about 15 minutes of hands-on time. You'll have warm muffins on the table in under an hour. Perfect for a weekend morning!
- The cranberry and orange flavor combination is a winter classic! If you're looking for recipes with other classic winter flavors, try these Sourdough Discard Cranberry Bagels.
- While it's not needed for leavening purposes, you can use either sourdough discard or active sourdough starter to make this recipe.
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Ingredients
There are only a few key ingredients you'll need to bring this recipe together.
- Sourdough discard: The sourdough discard should be unfed and at room temperature for this recipe. This recipe is designed for a sourdough starter with a 1:1 ratio (when you feed your starter, it's with 1 part flour and 1 part water). If your starter uses a different ratio, you may need to adjust some of the ingredients in this recipe.
- Learn more about how to make a sourdough starter.
- Orange juice and zest: The key here is using a good, fresh, sweet orange. If your orange is sour, you're going to taste that in the muffins. You'll use juice and zest from the orange.
- Fresh cranberries: I recommend using fresh cranberries rather than dried in this recipe. Dried will work in a pinch, but they are sweeter (and less tart), and carry less moisture than fresh berries.
See full recipe below for detailed directions.
Substitutions & Variations
This is a very adaptable recipe and below are a few easy substitutions and variations you can try.
- Use active sourdough starter - While it's not needed for leavening purposes, if you'd like to use active sourdough starter instead of discard in this recipe, you can. To do so, replace the discard with active starter (200g). You don't need to change any other ingredients in the recipe.
- Use dried cranberries - If you want to use dried cranberries in this recipe, you can. Keep in mind that dried cranberries are sweeter (and less tart) and will change the overall flavor of these muffins.
- If your dried cranberries are very old and shriveled (let's be honest, if they've been in the pantry for over a year), you can soak them in warm water for 20 minutes before adding to the batter. This will help them puff up a bit and be more flavorful.
- Looking for other sourdough discard muffins? Try these Sourdough Discard Blueberry Muffins and Sourdough Apple Muffins.
How to Make Sourdough Cranberry Orange Muffins
These muffins come together in a few easy steps. The key is to use room temperature ingredients (cold ingredients will impact their rise), and not overmix the batter. The full recipe with detailed directions is at the bottom of this post.
- Step 1: Cream together the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy.
- Step 2: Whisk together the dry ingredients in a small bowl.
- Step 3: In a third bowl, combine all the wet ingredients.
- Step 4: Mix the wet and dry ingredient mixtures into the bowl with the creamed butter until almost no dry spots remain. Don't overmix!
- Step 5: Fold in the cranberries until just incorporated.
- Step 6: Use a cookie scoop to fill the muffin cups with batter. Bake until golden brown and let cool slightly before serving.
Expert Baking Tips
- Don't overmix the batter. The batter will be lumpy and that's ok. Mix until just incorporated. Overmixing will impact the rise of your muffins.
- Room-temperature ingredients matter. If you're using cold ingredients (the discard, the eggs, the yogurt, etc.) this will impact the rise of your muffins.
- Use muffin liners. Muffin liners help the muffins release from the pan, and they also help you get bigger muffins!
- A cookie scoop is the easiest way to fill the muffin cups. I like to use a 3-tablespoon cookie scoop, and then use a spatula to add any extra batter!
Storage
Room Temperature Storage: Once cooled, store muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can reheat them in the microwave for 15-30 seconds to make them warm and soft again.
Freezer Storage: These muffins also freeze very well. Let them cool completely, then transfer to an airtight container or bag and freeze for up to 3 months. To reheat, let the muffins thaw at room temperature, or reheat in the microwave for about 60 seconds.
Recipe FAQs
They're optional, but I do recommend them! If you don't want to use muffin liners, great the pan with cooking spray before adding the batter.
More Sourdough Discard Breakfast Recipes
If you tried these Sourdough Cranberry Orange Muffins or any other recipe on my website, please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I'd love to hear from you! Happy Baking!
Sourdough Cranberry Orange Muffins
Ingredients
- ¼ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 ¾ cup + 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 200 grams (about ¾ cup) sourdough discard unfed, at room temperature
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil or other neutral oil
- 2 Tablespoons yogurt (dairy or non-dairy) room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon orange zest
- 1 Tablespoon orange juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups fresh cranberries
- Turbinado sugar for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190℃) and line a 12-cup muffin pan with muffin liners. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, use a hand-held mixer on medium speed to cream together the softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a third bowl, mix together the sourdough discard, eggs, vegetable oil, yogurt, orange zest, orange juice, and vanilla extract until smooth and combined.Add the mixed dry ingredients and wet ingredients to the creamed butter mixture. Stir until almost no dry spots remain, then fold in the diced apples. Stir until just incorporated (no need to over-mix!).
- Use a spoon or cookie scoop to fill the lined muffin cups about ⅔ full with batter. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar (optional).
- Bake for 30-32 minutes until lightly golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then serve or transfer to a cooling rack to cool fully.
Halee says
Made a ton of your recipes lately. Can you make a chocolate chip muffin discard recipe?
Jessica Vogl says
Love that idea! I'll add it to the list! If you want to try it out, you could use this recipe (or my blueberry muffins) and add chocolate chips instead of the dried cranberries (or blueberries).
Jessica Vogl says
The cranberry and orange flavor combination is a classic! Love these muffins!