Description

These Cranberry Sauce Muffins are a delightful way to use up leftover cranberry sauce. With a tender crumb and a beautiful marbled swirl of tart cranberry flavor, they make a perfect breakfast or snack. Made with a simple batter of flour, sugars, baking powder, and spices, these muffins come together quickly and bake to golden perfection. Optionally topped with coarse sugar for a crunchy finish, they are moist, flavorful, and wonderfully festive.

Ingredients

Scale

Dry Ingredients

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Wet Ingredients

1/2 cup milk (dairy or non-dairy)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Additional

1 cup leftover cranberry sauce (whole berry or jellied)
Optional: coarse sugar for topping

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Instructions

Preheat and prepare muffin tin: Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or lightly grease the cups to prevent sticking.
Mix dry ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon until evenly combined.
Combine wet ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla extract until the mixture is smooth and uniform.
Incorporate wet into dry: Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir gently until just combined. Be careful not to overmix to keep the muffins tender.
Fold in cranberry sauce: Gently fold in the leftover cranberry sauce, preserving some streaks or swirls of cranberry for a lovely marbled effect in the muffins.
Fill muffin cups: Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about three-quarters full. If desired, sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar for added texture and sweetness.
Bake: Place the muffin tin in the preheated oven and bake for 18 to 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Cool: Allow the muffins to cool in the tin for about 5 minutes. Then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely before serving.

Notes

Either whole berry or jellied cranberry sauce can be used; both work well.
For extra texture and flavor, stir in 1/2 cup chopped nuts (such as walnuts or pecans) or white chocolate chips into the batter before baking.