Cranberry Cinnamon Crunch Muffins

If you’re like me, you might have extra cranberries sitting around your fridge after a week of Thanksgiving festivities. These cranberry cinnamon crunch muffins were a quick and easy way to use up those last couple cups of cranberries you might have laying around. Blackberries, blueberries, and/or raspberries can be used here also! The cinnamon crunch topping adds a nice textural contrast.

WHY YOU SHOULD TRY THIS RECIPE

1. It’s adaptable for all types of fruit, but especially berries
2. It comes together in under one hour
3. They’re not too sweet and perfect for breakfast or a snack!

INGREDIENTS

Here is a complete overview of all the ingredients you need. Follow the full muffin recipe below for detailed amounts and instructions.

Cranberries: cranberries provide the perfect tartness for this muffin recipe, but feel free to substitute with any berry.

Eggs: the recipe calls for large eggs at room temperature.

Sugar: use granulated sugar to make the recipe.

Butter: it is crucial to use good quality butter such as European or European-style butter with higher fat content. This recipe calls for unsalted butter.

Flour: use all-purpose flour.

Baking powder: baking powder is an important ingredient to let our muffins get a high rise.

Vanilla extract: Vanilla extract adds warmth and flavor to these otherwise tart muffins.

TIPS FOR MAKING THIS RECIPE

• Don’t use an electric mixer or you could over-mix the batter. This results in dense muffins. Instead, use a spatula to mix everything by hand until just combined.
• Don’t open the oven door, or you risk the muffins deflating.
• Bring your eggs and milk to room temperature so they incorporate fully into the batter.
• To check if the muffins are ready, insert a toothpick into the center of one muffin, and if it comes out clean with no wet batter, they have finished baking.
• Measure your flour correctly by measuring by weight or using the spoon or scoop method, where you spoon your flour into the measuring cup with a spoon. This helps your muffins stay fluffy!
• If you’re not using paper liners, make sure to butter and flour the wells of your muffin tin thoroughly. Let your cranberry muffins cool for at least 10 minutes before removing them from the tin.

HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE

Heat the oven to  425°F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with liners.

Prepare the crumb mixture: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Add the butter, and stir to combine.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Add the cranberries and pecans, and gently toss to combine.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes with an electric mixer. Mix in the eggs one at a time. Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, fold in the sour cream and milk by hand until the wet ingredients are combined.

Fold the flour mixture into the wet ingredients. To avoid tough muffins, don’t overmix!

Using an ice cream scoop or spoon, scoop the batter evenly into prepared muffin cups, filling about 3/4 of the cups. Sprinkle the crumb mixture over the tops.

Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F, then turn oven down to 375°F and bake for an additional 15 minutes, until muffins are golden brown and spring back to the touch. Remove from oven and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before eating!