Fresh Cranberries in a Muffin – Sweet, Tart and Beautiful!

Fresh Cranberries in a muffin – sweet tart and beautiful, with its signature gorgeous red color that is perfect for the Holidays! As for the taste .. is there really something to not like about a sweet-tart, melt-in-your-mouth, slightly nutty, oven-fresh muffin? Hmmm … stumped, are you?!

I had never even heard of cranberries while growing up in India,. When I started seeing these beauties in grocery stores in early November, I was intrigued and asked my new American friends about them. When they started raving about delicious sweet-tart cranberry sauce that was a quintessential pairing for Thanksgiving turkey, I knew I had to try them!

Gorgeous color, very tart – just like the Indian Karonda

When I bit into one, the taste immediately reminded me of the Indian Karondaa (Hindi, ‘Kur-own-daa’; Karvanda – ‘Kur-vun-duh’ – in Marathi, both words ending with a soft ‘d’ sound, as in ‘the’). These Indian berries are just as tart, although they have much larger seeds that cannot be ignored! These tart berries are typically green when unripe, changing color as they ripen. Some, found in the hills of the Deccan plateau in Maharashtra, turn almost black and much sweeter when ripe. These delightful berries are the much-loved “Dongarchi Kali Mynah” (Doe-ng-er-chee Kaa-lee Mye-naa, Marathi). The term literally means “black Mynah of the Hills” (Mynah is bird, also found in these hills). Some Karondaas are red too – whitish berries with a pink-red blush, rather the deep crimson of the cranberry.

I have a particular affinity for things that are tart, and my imagination instantly went into overdrive! What could I do with my new ‘toy’, I mused. Maybe a spicy condiment like the Karondaa pickle my Mom used to make? Or, perhaps, a sweet-tart relish, patterned after my favorite green mango Methambaa (do check out my recipe with the link). So I did, and loved them both!

Thanksgiving treat: Cranberry-Orange Quickbread

Come Thanksgiving, a fellow graduate student brought what looked like a cake – stunningly pretty when sliced and absolutely delicious. Studded with chopped Cranberries and thin slivers of fresh orange peel, I was immediately hooked! I learned that it was called Cranberry Orange Quickbread.

After living all these years in the US, I still do not understand the term Quickbread! Why would anyone use such a term to describe something that is more similar to a cake than a bread? Sure, quickbreads are traditionally made in a loaf pan that makes their shape resemble a loaf of bread. Also, of course, they take much less time to make than a loaf of yeast bread. So yes….quick to make and shaped like bread, but the texture, the taste…?! Anyway, who am I really to argue with prevailing traditions?

Cranberry muffins

I began to experiment with using fresh cranberries in a muffin. I soon found I really liked the taste and texture when I added some oats to the batter. Over the years, I continued to tweak the recipes others graciously shared with me and developed my own methods. I had learned so much about baking by just being around my Mom when she made her amazing cakes. It was easy to use some of the same ideas and techniques for making muffins with interesting flavors and textures.

egg-free baking? No ‘flax-eggs’ or ‘chia-eggs’ for me!

I typically use eggs and milk when I make muffins, but many friends wanted me to develop egg-free versions. I resisted for a very long time – I had not really liked any of the egg-free cakes and muffins I had eaten. A few years ago, though, I decided to enter the fray. I scoured the Internet for ideas, and it seemed everyone was singing the glories of the ‘flax-egg’ and the ‘chia-egg’.

I want no part of it! Perhaps I’m swimming against the current, but I feel very strongly that neither flax nor chia should be subjected to heat at all. The ‘good’ fats that flax and chia contain can be chemically changed by heat, which can turn their cis-fats into trans-fats. This is especially likely to happen at the high oven temperatures and long baking times that making muffins involves! Trans-fats, of course, are well known to be harmful, unlike the cis-fats present in the flax and chia! So, one would be taking a “good” fat, and unwittingly facilitating its conversion into a “bad”-fat!

egg-replacer

So… I refuse to use flax and chia as egg substitutes when I bake. I experimented with several other egg substitutes and feel pretty good about recommending one of them. This brand is available in many grocery stores in the US – Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer. By the way, no… I am not being compensated by the company for recommending their product!

That’s the egg-substitute I’ve used in the recipe here – instead of the 1 egg that I would typically use. So, if you do happen to eat eggs, you can simply switch back, with some small modifications (see my Recipe notes for details).

Dairy-free, nut-free… if you like

I have used dairy milk and butter for making these muffins, but you can easily make them vegan-style, no worries. Just use a dairy-free milk and a non-dairy butter of your choice (detailed suggestions provided in the recipe). If you cannot have nuts, replace the walnuts with chopped pumpkin seeds. Of course, the nutrition data will change a little if you do any of these substitutions.

serve them up – any time of day

So, have some fresh cranberries while they are still available at the grocery store, in a delectable muffin package. Start your day with them, or have them as a mood-lifting ‘pick-me-up’ with your afternoon tea/coffee, or simply for a lovely dessert. And yes, it’s a great after-school snack too! Who says you have to be a kid, or even in school, to have an after-school snack ?!

How to elevate it another notch? Here’s an idea – slice it, vertically down the middle, slather with soft, room temperature butter, close it back up and microwave for 7-8 seconds, till the butter melts into the perfectly warmed muffin! Go on, just try it!

Enjoy!

Fresh Cranberries in a Muffin

Chop the cranberries; make a strudel topping with walnuts, butter, cinnamon and brown sugar; mix all-purpose flour with coarsely crushed rolled oats, baking powder, cinnamon and chopped walnuts. Start the oven – set to 375F. Mix egg replacer with water, then whisk the gel with butter and sugar; stir in milk, then fold in the dry mixture and cranberries. Fill the greased paper liners in the muffin pan; bake in preheated oven for 23-26 min till crust is golden-brown. Cool immediately on wire rack. Enjoy.

5 from 6 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Servings 6 people

Calories 196 kcal

Equipment

• oven for baking muffins
• muffin pan with 6 medium wells (not "jumbo" sized wells)
• paper liners for muffin pan preferred -same as for cupcakes; if not available, can cut parchment/food grade paper to fit the muffin pan "wells" – do NOT use wax paper – the wax melts and can get into the food.
• wire whisk preferred; if not available, use a slotted spoon

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1/2 cup fresh cranberries – chopped discard berries that are not firm-textured
• 2 tbsp Bobs Red Mill egg re-placer if you use a different brand, follow package directions for a mixture that equals 2 eggs
• 4 tbsp water for mixingwith egg-re-placer
• 2 tbsp butter.- at room temp for vegan muffins, use vegan butter of your choice, or (1 1/2 tbsp coconut oil +1/2 tsp water)
• 5 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 cup milk – at room temp whole milk preferred; for vegan muffins, swap with preferred non-dairy milk; if using coconut milk, make a mixture of 1/4 cup coconut mmilk + 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 tsp very thinly slivered fresh orange peel – optional ; if you wish, you can use 1/4 tsp orange flavoring
• 1 1/2 tsp oil – for greasing the paper liners peanut or canola oil preferred; do NOT use olive oil for this purpose;

For Dry Mix

• 6 tbsp Rolled oats – it reduces to 5 1/2 tbsp after crushing crushed to coarse powder with hands; or pulse grind to a coarse texture with an electric grinder – do NOT grind to a fine powder
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour can also use self-rising flour – if so, decrease baking powder to 1/2 tsp from 1 tsp
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp walnuts – chopped coarsely
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon ground
• 1 pinch salt – about 1/2 of 1/8 tsp, or even less do not omit entirely – irt helps to balance the taste

Streusel topping

• 1 tbsp walnuts- chopped
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp butter
• 1 pinch cinnamon ground

Instructions

 

• Rinse the cranberries in a colander and chop; slice in half lengthwise, then across into 3-4 slices for each half. Discard any cranberries that are not firm.
  
• Measure egg re-placer into a medium mixing bowl.
  
• Add water – mix well, break up lumps
  
• Mixture becomes like a thick gel in 1-2 min
  
• Meanwhile, prepare the muffin pan for baking. Place paper liners, add a few drops of oil in each and use a pastry brush to grease the bottom and sides of the liner.
  
• Mix the strudel topping ingredients- walnuts, butter, cinnamon and brown sugar
  
• 
• Start the oven to preheat to 375 F
• Rolled oats – crushed to coarse powder with hands – If you wish, you can pulse grind to a coarse texure with an electric grinder. Do not grind to a fine powder!
  
• Add the remaining dry mix ingredients – flour, baking powder, cinnamon, walnuts
  
• The "egg" gel should now be quite thick
  
• Add sugar and butter
  
• Whisk for 1-2 min
  
• Add the milk (room temp- preferred – warm it for 15-20 seconds in the microwave if just removed from the refrigerator. Also, add orange-peel or orange flavoring, if using.
  
• The butter separates- floats as a flufly froth at the top
  
• Fold in the dry mixture gently to make a thick batter – about 10-15 seconds- do NOT over-mix. Add cranberries and gently mix in.
  
• Fill the prepared paper cups- they should be nearly full.
  
• With your fingers, spread the Streusel topping over the batter
  
• Bake at 375 for 24-27 min – do not open the oven while baking for at least 20 min; then open the oven door just a little to take a quick peek – to check for browning. Quickly close the oven again to prevent heat loss. Continue to bake for another 4-7 min to get a good golden brown crust color.
  
• Allow to cool in the pan for 3-4 min
  
• Transfer to a cwire cooling rack.
  
• Enjoy!
  

Notes

Crushed rolled oats:

I like to crush them by hand, in small portions. This provides better texture to the muffins than using an electric grinder.

Using real eggs:

if you do eat eggs:

• use 1 egg instead of the gel made with the egg-replacer mix and water;
• add 1-2 tbsp water, along with the milk.
• the rest of the recipe is the same

Storing:

The muffins will fine on the counter for 1-2 days;. after that, store in refrigerator for up to 2-3 days in a sealed, plastic bag or lidded container.

If they taste a bit dry after a couple of days, you can re-moisturize them!

• peel away the paper liner – but don’t throw it away!
• turn muffin upside down on a cutting board
• spoon about 1 tsp water around the the bottom of the muffin, now facing up.
• turn muffin on its side and spoon 1-2 tsp water around the sides, while turning the muffin.
• tun again to have he bottom facing up.
• cover and set aside for 8-10 min.
• Place on the saved paper liners again.
• Heat the muffin in a toaster oven for 2-3 min (or air-fryer), like toasting bread.
• Or, heat in the microwave for 40-45 seconds  on defrost setting (30% power).
• The muffin will taste moist again! Enjoy!

 

re-hydrate

 

Nutrition

Calories: 196kcalCarbohydrates: 27gProtein: 3gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 13mgSodium: 135mgPotassium: 85mgFiber: 2gSugar: 14gVitamin A: 160IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 73mgIron: 1mg

Keyword all-purpose flour, baking powde, butter, cinnamon, egg-replacer mix, eggs, fresh cranberries, light brown sugar, milk, non-dairy milk, rolled oats, strudel, sugar, walnuts

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!