Cranberry Orange Sourdough Muffins

5 from 6 votes

Cranberry Orange Sourdough Muffins

Tart cranberry, sweet orange and sourdough discard combine to make the most delicious cranberry orange sourdough muffins. Soft, tender and perfect for cranberry season, you're going to love this recipe - and that extra sprinkle of orange sugar on top!

Prep Time20

Cook Time25

Total Time45

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Servings: muffins

Author: Amy Coyne

Equipment

Ingredients

Cranberry Orange Sourdough Muffins

120 grams sourdough discard about 1/2 cup see recipe notes, about 1/2 cup
75 grams unsalted butter melted about 5 Tablespoons
35 grams vegetable oil about 3 Tablespoons
80 grams buttermilk shaken about 1/3 cup
8 grams orange zest about 1 Tablespoon
20 grams freshly squeezed orange juice about 2 Tablespoons
1 large egg about 50 grams
6 grams vanilla extract about 1.5 teaspoons
200 grams granulated sugar about 1 cup
230 grams all purpose flour about 1 3/4 cup
10 grams salt about 1.5 teaspoons
10 grams baking powder about 2 teaspoons
15 grams cornstarch about 1.5 Tablespoons
100 grams fresh cranberries roughly chopped in a blender (about 3/4 cup), see recipe notes

Orange Sugar Topping

3 grams orange zest about 1 teaspoon
20 grams granulated sugar about 2 Tablespoons

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425º Fahrenheit.
Add sourdough discard, melted butter and vegetable oil to a small bowl. Whisk together until mostly combined. Whisk in the buttermilk, orange zest, orange juice, egg, vanilla extract and granulated sugar. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, baking powder, cornstarch and salt. Give the fresh cranberries a whirl in the blender until chopped. Add fresh cranberries to the flour mixture and fluff together with a fork until evenly distributed.
Pour the liquid ingredients on top of the flour mixture and stir gently a few times until thoroughly moistened. A few streaks of flour are okay!
Spray a 12 cup muffin tin or cut square pieces of parchment paper to fit the holes of your muffin tin. Scoop muffin batter into the muffin tins, filling the tins about 3/4 of the way full. You should have enough batter for 12 muffins.
To a small bowl stir together orange zest and reserved sugar. Rub together with your fingers to release the orange oils. Sprinkle orange sugar on top of the muffin batter.
Bake muffins for 5 minutes at 425 degrees. Then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 16-18 more minutes. If you fill the muffin tins less full, they may bake a little faster. Check that muffins are done by inserting a toothpick into the center of one and making sure it comes out clean (there may be some cranberry residue). Pull muffins out of the oven and let rest for about 5 minutes in the pan before removing to a cooling rack to cool and enjoy!

Notes

Sourdough Discard: In order to avoid a strong sour flavor, use sourdough discard that is no more than a day or two old - or bubbly starter that is starting to fall. If you don’t mind a more pronounced sourdough flavor, you can use refrigerated discard from up to a week or two old.

Nutrition