Need a recipe for leftover cranberry sauce? Try muffins! A swirl of leftover Thanksgiving cranberry sauce into cranberry orange or cranberry lemon muffins is SUCH a treat! You can make this batter the night before and bake them off in the morning for easy, fresh cranberry sauce muffins - the perfect post-Thanksgiving breakfast!
I know people have many thoughts on feelings regarding whether cranberry sauce belongs on the Thanksgiving table.
Me? Well, after YEARS of being anti-cranberry I am now firmly on this little fruit's side. Give me all the (homemade, please) cranberry sauce. I need that little bit of tartness on my plate!
But if you are like me, part of a family that continues to dislike cranberry sauce, you may find yourself with A LOT the next days and a need for recipes for leftover cranberry sauce.
Enter: Cranberry sauce muffins!
Specifically, cranberry lemon OR cranberry orange muffins.
I happen to love cranberry and orange together so I went that route here, but cranberry lemon muffins are also delicious and lemon is a very easy swap in this recipe.
The key to really getting that citrus flavor in here is first to make sure you use lemon or orange zest and second, really mix the zest in with the sugar before doing anything else. I like to use my fingers and rub the mix until it actually turns a yellowish or orangish color so you know the zest is really distributed.
Doing this ensures you get a little lemon or orange flavor in every bite and not just pockets. Takes an extra minute or two but totally worth it!
What kind of cranberry sauce works for muffins?
Any kind!
I prefer a homemade chunky cranberry sauce in general, and in these muffins. But the canned jelly stuff does work too. If you use the latter, thin it out with a tiny bit of lemon or orange juice so it's easier to swirl in the batter later.
Flavor-wise, I think anything goes too. This is going to sound absolutely insane, but I totally tested these with my chipotle rosemary cranberry sauce and I SWEAR it works! The muffins themselves add a little extra sweetness to offset the more savory flavors of chipotle and rosemary, and I really liked that little extra bite.
If you don't have any specific kind of cranberry sauce laying around but still want to make these cranberry sauce muffins, you can do this:
- Add 1 pound of fresh or frozen cranberries to a saucepan with ⅓ cup sugar (any kind) and ¼ cup liquid (water, orange juice, apple cider, anything!).
- Set to medium-high, bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium-low and let cook for about 15 minutes, stirring often to break up the cranberries. Cook until it reaches a thick but slightly runny consistency.
- Let cool before using in muffins.
This will make more than you need, but I love this sauce on sandwiches, mixed into chicken or turkey salad or on a cheese board. It freezes well too!
To glaze or not to glaze?
I mean, is this even a question?
Cranberry sauce muffins are perfectly wonderful on their own, but glazed cranberry sauce muffins? YES PLEASE.
To make a quick and easy glaze just add a few tablespoons juice (of the citrus in your muffins, of course) to ½ cup powdered sugar. Whisk until you have a drizzle-able glaze, adding more sugar or juice as needed.
PrintCranberry Sauce Muffins
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
Description
Need a recipe for leftover cranberry sauce? Try muffins! A swirl of leftover Thanksgiving cranberry sauce into cranberry orange or cranberry lemon muffins is SUCH a treat! You can make this batter the night before and bake them off in the morning for easy, fresh cranberry sauce muffins - the perfect post-Thanksgiving breakfast!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (300 grams) sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons orange or lemon zest
- 1 ½ sticks (12 tablespoons) butter, melted
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup (4 ounces) milk (any kind)
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 cups (240 grams) flour
- 1 cup (~8 ounces) leftover cranberry sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425. Line muffin tin and set aside.
- In a large bowl add 1 ½ cups (300 grams) sugar and 1 ½ teaspoons orange or lemon zest. Use your fingers to combine so the zest gets distributed throughout the sugar.
- Add 12 tablespoons melted butter and whisk to combine. Add 2 eggs, ½ cup (4 ounces) milk and 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla and whisk for 2-3 minutes until everything is really well combined and lightened in color.
- Add 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon and ½ teaspoon salt. Whisk for a full 2 minutes to ensure everything is combined and mix throughout. You're doing this to avoid having to mix all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
- Add 2 cups (240 grams) flour and fold in until just combined. Add 1 cup leftover cranberry sauce and use the tip of a butter knife to swirl throughout the batter. You want it to be streaky so don't worry about combining it fully. If desired, you can cover and keep the batter in the fridge overnight at this point.
- Scoop batter into lined muffin tin, filling each to the top. Place in oven and bake for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and bake for an additional 12-15 minutes or until tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.
- Cool for at least 15 minutes before serving. If desired, drizzle muffins with glaze (see notes below).
Notes
- To make glaze, whisk together ½ cup powdered sugar and 2-3 tablespoons orange or lemon juice. Add a little more sugar or juice, as needed, until you get a thick sauce that can be easily drizzled on top of muffins.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Baked Goods
- Method: Oven
Helen Crisman_Janssen
It is delicious I added.
A 1/2 teaspoon of cardinal and I also had some leftover orange juice. Pulp that I combined with the cranberry sauce to make it just a cup and added that. I added some cinnamon sugar on top before. I baked it and they bake for about twenty minutes. I let them set a few minutes after baking and put some butter on the muffin. And oh it tasted really really good
★★★★★
Mansee Muzumdar
I'm 100% adding cinnamon sugar on top next time I make these - what a great idea!! Thanks for the comment!