Cranberry Spiced Muffins

Start your Thanksgiving day with these spiced muffins that are filled with pockets of tart cranberries.

The ideal Thanksgiving meal is a late one, so that I can relish the morning by doing NOTHING. I love to wake up just before the parade, pour myself some coffee and settle into the couch for the next two hours. Rushing to get the cooking started defeats the purpose of enjoying the day off with family.

As you have all read too often, this year will be different for everyone. With the pandemic making large family dinners not an option, I urge you to take advantage of this "year off" from the large gatherings. Savor that lazy morning in your jammies (or entire day at that) and do whatever sparks joy for you! For me, I want to kick start my morning with a hot beverage and something sweet like these muffins :)

Frozen cranberries

For those of you who are celebrating small this year, I can see why you wouldn't want to buy a bag of cranberries if you are planning on skipping the cranberry sauce too. For this recipe I used frozen ones and if I'm being entirely honest, I have no idea how long this bag had sat in my freezer! They really do keep nicely. Usually after you make some cranberry sauce for the holiday the extra berries sit in the freezer, left to be forgotten until the next year, but not anymore! There is finally an easy recipe to use up those extra berries OR to get your cranberry fix in this season.

small batch baking

This recipe is fairly small and only makes 9 muffins, adjusted from my previous blackberry muffin recipe. These muffins use a mix of white and whole wheat flour to add some additional nuttiness, but you could use one or the other. Fully whole wheat might yield a slightly chewy muffin.

warm holiday spices

From September - December I add seasonal spices as much as possible to baked goods. These muffins use a combo of cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice to hammer in that holiday coziness you might be craving. With the light texture of the muffin it's like biting into a Thanksgiving cloud with the additional puckering tartness from the cranberries to wake your ass up! If you're not looking for a super tart bite, I would suggest cutting the cranberries into smaller pieces.

Wishing you all a joyous and safe Thanksgiving weekend!

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Cranberry Spiced Muffins

Makes 9 Regular Sized Muffins

¾ Cup Whole Wheat Flour

¾ Cup AP Flour

½ Tsp. Baking Powder

¾ Tsp Baking Soda

¼ Tsp. Kosher Salt

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1 Egg

1 Cup of Sugar

¾ Cup of Oat Milk (or whatever you usually drink)

1 Stick of Unsalted Butter, Melted

1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract

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½ Tsp. of Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Allspice

1½ Cups of Cranberries (Fresh or Frozen)

1. Preheat oven to 350℉

2. In the bowl of your stand mixer combine both flours, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt. Mix to combine and set aside.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, sugar, milk, vanilla and melted butter. Mix until smooth. Make sure milk is room temperature otherwise the butter will form clumps.

4. With the mixer on low, add the wet ingredients to the dry. Mix until just combined. Over mixing can make the muffins dense instead of light and fluffy!

5. Using a spatula fold in the cranberries.

6. Line your muffin tins with liners and then add batter to the top with mixture.

7. Bake for 17-20 minutes, using a tooth pick to test doneness around 17 minutes.

* I added a crumble to the image above to add an extra crunch! If you are adding crumble topping, just add to muffin right before placing in the oven.

Crumble Topping

In a bowl combine 3 Tablespoons of melted butter, ½ cup of flour, ¼ cup brown sugar and ¼ cup granulated sugar in a bowl until mixture forms clumps. Sprinkle onto muffin batter prior to baking.