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Orange Cranberry Muffins with Carrots

19 Comments

These Orange Cranberry Muffins are bright and fresh with citrus flavors that will start you and your kids day off with a pep in your step.

Orange Cranberry Muffins with Carrots

Orange Cranberry Muffins

In the food world, the holiday season is all about eggnog, peppermint, cranberry and orange.  Even though those flavors definitely speak holiday, these muffins would be incredible all fall and winter long!  The mix of orange and cranberry fits well with Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I like it as a transition into the overload of gingerbread and sugar cookies.

Orange Cranberry Muffins with Carrots Recipe

Make it Better with some Carrot Lovin’

To add even more nutrition and flavor, we added carrots! A ton of carrots.  Most of the sweetness comes from the orange juice and the carrots, and we love natural sweeteners in our recipes.   Back to the carrots… they provide a lot of benefits but one of my favorites around this time of year is that they boost immunity! Help protect your kids from getting a cold by what they eat.

Baking Orange Cranberry Muffins with Carrots at home

Fresh vs. Dried Cranberries

Depending on the season you make these, fresh cranberries might not be available at the store.  I made these muffins a month ago and there were no fresh or frozen cranberries at my grocery store yet!  I used dried cranberries but if you can you really should use fresh!  Just give them a rough chop in the food processor and toss them in.  The color is incredible and I prefer the texture of fresh cranberries in my baked goods.  These Orange Cranberry Muffins are great either way, but fresh is always best in our book.

My Favorite healthy Christmas Muffins Orange Cranberry Muffins with Carrots

Tips for Making Amazing Muffins

  1. Don’t Over Mix. As with all muffins, make sure you don’t over mix the batter. That’s the number one mistake people make.  Mix until the ingredients are just barely incorporated and then stop!
  2. Mix Wet and Dry Separately. To prevent the mix from being overworked, first mix the wet ingredients together in one bowl and mix the dry ingredients in another.
  3. Add your flavors last. Spices should be added with all the other dry ingredients, fruit, nuts, and anything lumpy should be added last. Give the batter one more light-handed stir once you’ve added them in and then you’re done.
  4. Don’t overfill.  Try to fill the cups ¾ full to get muffins with nice round tops, and to prevent them from spilling out over the top of the cups.
  5. Use a cookie scoop.  To transfer your batter into the muffin cups without making a mess, try using a cookie scoop.  There are different sizes of scoops, but a scoop that holds about 3 tablespoons is perfect for regular muffins.
Healthy Orange Cranberry Muffins with Carrots

 

Orange Cranberry Muffins Recipe | Super Healthy Kids | Healthy Ideas & Recipes for Kids
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3.7 from 57 votes

Orange Carrot Cranberry Muffins

Christmas is coming! Bust out those baking pans and whip up a batch of these Orange Cranberry Muffins! They’re packed with carrots too!
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Servings: 12 1 muffin
Calories: 233kcal

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  • In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.
  • In a separate bowl combine brown sugar, honey, grated carrots, orange zest, orange juice, egg, buttermilk, vanilla extract and melted coconut.
  • Pour liquid ingredients into flour mixture and add cranberries.  Stir JUST until combined.
  • Line muffins tins with 12 cupcake liners and fill evenly.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the tops spring back when you touch them.

Nutrition

Calories: 233kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 147mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 17g
Keyword : Orange Carrot Cranberry Muffins

www.superhealthykids.com

If you love muffins make sure to try out Healthy Apple Muffins!

Natalie Monson

I'm a registered dietitian, mom of 4, avid lover of food and strong promoter of healthy habits. Here you will find lots of delicious recipes full of fruits and veggies, tips for getting your kids to eat better and become intuitive eaters and lots of resources for feeding your family.

Learn More about Natalie

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Recipe Rating




19 Comments

Anything I can replace the brown sugar with? Double the honey? Maple syrup? Or would that add too much liquid? Thanks!

Thanks for this wonderful recipe, by whole meal wheat, can I grind my wheat and use directly cos here in Nigeria, we don’t seem to have other types of flour readily available, but I can get wheat grains, so I want to know if I can grind to powder and then use as my flour. Thanks

What a great recipe idea! They turn out so beautifully orange and are really moist and flavourful.

4 stars however because I think they could be a bit healthier (since this blog is called super healthy kids…). They have a significant amount of sugar and oil which I feel counteracts the healthy carrots and oranges and whole wheat.

5 stars
Very yummy! Big hit with my toddler. I did add some shredded coconut, cinnamon, and swapped out half the coconut oil with applesauce. I also didn’t use all whole wheat flour but subbed in some white flour.

5 stars
What a great recipe!!!!! I used whole milk, blended up while mandarins to make orange juice and did chocolate chips instead.

yum!

Do you also use 1/2 cup if using fresh cranberries?
Excited to have found this recipe to use up leftover cranberries and orange from making a cranberry fruit salad!

5 stars
A real keeper!! I made a half batch because I live alone and I need the variety of making a different recipe every few days. Although I had to slam on the brakes after loving every mouthful of two as soon as they were cool enough to eat. 😋 I made them gluten free with Bob’s 1 to 1 gf flour and adding a teaspoon of flax meal and a teaspoon of psyllium. I also used my homemade tofu yoghurt instead of buttermilk. (I’m very dairy intolerant, darn it!😠) Thank you so much for this delicious recipe!!