These big and fluffy cranberry white chocolate muffins are such a treat for winter mornings. Every bite is packed with flavor from tart cranberries and sweet, caramelized bits of white chocolate. Combined with their tall, bakery-style muffin tops, you'll feel like you're having breakfast at your favorite coffee shop. Prep them in just 15 minutes!
Here's my recipe for the perfect December morning - cozy clothes, a good book, a steaming cup of coffee, and a warm cranberry white chocolate muffin. Heck, maybe go all out and make that coffee a homemade peppermint white mocha. Trust me when I say that you won't regret the splurge.
Cranberries and chocolate - whether white, milk, or dark - are always an incredible pairing, and in these soft, tender muffins, all I can say is WOW.
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Tried this and all my friends loved it. The sour cream and cream cheese made all the difference. I baked it with frozen cranberries and it turned out great.
- J
Highlights of This Cranberry Muffin Recipe
- Made in 15 minutes - We love an easy recipe!
- Perfect Texture - The creaming method gives these muffins such a buttery, fluffy crumb.
- BIG, Bakery-Style Muffin Tops - Because flat muffins are not what we're about here. I'll share all my tricks below!
- Bursting with Flavor - Between the tangy bites of fresh cranberries, the sweet notes of white chocolate, and a light vanilla backdrop, this flavor combination is completely irresistible.
- Perfect Holiday Breakfast - You could easily make these muffins year-round, but the cranberry white chocolate combo makes them particularly festive for Thanksgiving and Christmas time. If you have leftover cranberries from making cranberry sauce, even better!
Ingredients You'll Need
Here's what you'll need to gather to make a batch of these cranberry white chocolate chip muffins:
Some important notes:
- As with most of my recipes, you can make this one with regular or gluten free all-purpose flour. I can confirm both options work perfectly! If you use gluten free flour, look for one that includes xanthan gum.
- Make sure your butter, cream cheese, sour cream (or yogurt), and eggs have all been brought to room temperature before you start baking. This is important to ensure the butter and sugar cream together properly and all of the wet ingredients emulsify. In the winter months, I usually leave my ingredients on the counter for a few hours ahead of time.
- If you want to use salted butter, just reduce the added salt in the recipe to ¼ teaspoon.
- Cream cheese may seem like an unusual ingredient to add, but like butter, its fat content helps keep these muffins soft and tender, while it's tang (though subtle!) pairs sooo well with the cranberries. For this recipe, use brick-style cream cheese, rather than a whip or spread. If you don't have cream cheese on hand, increase the butter to a full ½ cup (114 grams).
- You can make these muffins with sour cream or Greek yogurt; any kind should work although full fat is generally best. This is one of my secrets for making moist muffins that also have tall, domed tops, just like these blackberry beauties. Either of these ingredients will keep the batter moist without thinning it out too much, and thick batters rise better. Bonus - a thick batter will also prevent the cranberries from sinking to the bottom of the muffins!
- I used fresh cranberries for these muffins, but frozen cranberries should work as well. Don't defrost them; just throw them straight into the batter. If you want to use dried cranberries (like Craisins), reduce the amount to 1 cup.
- Although I'm a dark chocolate girl through and through, white chocolate has its place - in white chocolate peppermint cookies, white chocolate cherry scones, and of course, these muffins. Give it a chance if you're on the fence, and be sure to use a good brand like Ghirardelli. If you'd rather make chocolate cranberry muffins with milk or dark chocolate, go for it! Chocolate chips or chopped chocolate will work either way.
- Sparkling sugar is optional, but adds a sweet, crunchy finish to the muffin tops that I highly recommend. I love it on my classic chocolate chip muffins too! Any coarse sugar will work; sparkling sugar just tends to be extra coarse and extra glittery!
Optional Addition!
For a cranberry-orange twist, add the zest of 1 orange (about 1 tablespoon) to your muffins. Rub it into the sugar with your fingertips before creaming to release the most flavor.
Step-by-Step Instructions for Cranberry White Chocolate Muffins
- Preheat your oven to 400ºF and grease a standard 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray. (This recipe makes too much batter for muffin liners unless you plan to make more than 12 muffins.)
Tips for Bakery-Style Muffins
Starting with a high oven temperature will make your muffin batter rise quickly, giving you those tall muffin tops we all know and love. To ensure the muffins bake evenly, we'll decrease the temperature after putting them in the oven. This is a trick you'll see me use with many of my favorite muffin recipes, like my double chocolate muffins and lemon poppyseed muffins.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Using the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a bowl and handheld electric mixer), cream together the butter, cream cheese, and sugar on medium speed until smooth and fluffy.
- Wiping down the bowl and beater with a rubber spatula as needed, beat in the eggs one at a time until well-incorporated.
- Beat in the sour cream and vanilla extract until the mixture is light, creamy, and smooth.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix in on low speed until the flour is mostly incorporated - the batter's texture will still be a bit uneven. Add the white chocolate chips and cranberries and fold them in with your spatula just until everything is evenly combined. Avoid overmixing, which can lead to tough muffins that don't rise as well.
- Transfer the batter to your muffin tin, dividing it evenly between each muffin cup. This is a thick batter; press it down slightly to make sure it fills each muffin cup, and do your best to gently smooth out the tops. Sprinkle the muffins with sparkling sugar just before baking.
- Transfer the muffin pan to the oven, immediately reducing the temperature to 350ºF. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean and the tops are golden. Let the muffins cool in the pan for about 15 minutes before carefully transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Storing and Freezing Fresh Cranberry Muffins
Once the muffins are cool, they can be stored in an airtight container or zip-top plastic bag. Keep them at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. Dried cranberry white chocolate muffins can keep for up to 5 days at cool room temperature.
If you refrigerate your muffins, I recommend warming them in the microwave for 30- 40 seconds before eating.
To freeze these muffins, wrap them individually in plastic wrap and store them inside of a freezer-safe zip-top bag. Freeze for up to 3 months and defrost at room temperature.
pair this with a drink!
Bailey's Latte
Make your winter mornings extra festive by serving these muffins with a homemade Baileys latte. Its smooth, sweet Irish cream flavor makes for an extra cozy treat!
More Cranberry Recipes
Whether you use fresh or dried cranberries for these muffins, you'll almost certainly have extra! Here are a few other recipes you can use them with:
Recipe Card
Cranberry White Chocolate Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour regular or gluten free
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 2 ounces cream cheese brick-style, softened to room temperature
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 ¼ cups sour cream or plain Greek yogurt preferably full fat, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 ½ cups fresh cranberries
- sparkling sugar for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400ºF. Grease a standard 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.2 ½ cups all-purpose flour |2 teaspoons baking powder |½ teaspoon baking soda |½ teaspoon salt
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or using a bowl and handheld electric mixer), cream together the butter, cream cheese, and sugar on medium speed until smooth and fluffy.4 tablespoons unsalted butter |2 ounces cream cheese |⅔ cup granulated sugar
- Wiping down the bowl and beater as needed, beat in the eggs one at a time until well-incorporated.2 large eggs
- Beat in the sour cream/yogurt and vanilla extract until creamy and smooth.1 ¼ cups sour cream or plain Greek yogurt |1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix in on lowest speed until mostly incorporated. Add the white chocolate chips and cranberries and fold into the batter just until all ingredients are evenly combined; be careful not to overmix.1 cup white chocolate chips |1 ½ cups fresh cranberries
- Divide batter between the prepared muffin cups - the batter will be thick. Press it down slightly to make sure it fills each muffin cup, and smooth out the tops lightly if needed. Sprinkle the tops with sparkling sugar if using.
- Transfer the muffins to the oven, immediately reducing the oven temperature to 350ºF. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the muffins comes out clean and the muffins are golden on top. Cool in pan for about 15 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- If using gluten free flour, your blend should include xanthan gum as a binding agent.
- If using salted butter, reduce the added salt to ¼ teaspoon.
- If you don't have cream cheese on hand, increase the butter to ½ cup (114 grams).
- Frozen cranberries can also be used, and don't need to be defrosted. Alternatively, you can use 1 cup of dried cranberries.
- These muffins can also be made with milk chocolate or dark chocolate.
Storing and Freezing
- Once cool, store muffins in an airtight container or zip-top bag. They'll keep at room temperature for up to 3 days (5 days if made with dried cranberries) or in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. If refrigerated, warm in the microwave for 30-40 seconds before serving.
- To freeze muffins, wrap individually in plastic wrap before placing in a freezer-safe bag or container. Freeze for up to 3 months and defrost at room temperature.
Additional Notes
- If you use muffin liners, you'll have too much batter to fit in a basic 12-cup muffin pan and will likely have enough for about 15 muffins.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is an estimate per serving, calculated using standard ingredients. Actual values may vary based on brands used, measurement methods, and more.
Did you make this recipe?I'd love to hear from you - leave a rating and review!Have you made this recipe?
If so, I'd love to hear your feedback; you can leave a rating and review in the comments section below! It's also so helpful if you help spread the word by sharing this post on your favorite social media channel. If you happen to snap a photo of what you've baked, be sure to share it on Instagram and tag me (@brighteyedbaker) so I can give you a shoutout!
J
Tried this and all my friends loved it. The sour cream and cream cheese made all the difference. I baked it with frozen cranberries and it turned out great.
Alexandra Azary
So glad they were a hit! Thanks for taking the time to let me know!
Sandra Azary
These look super good and I've not yet tried them but I will. It reminds me a a cranberry loaf I used to make in my younger years. It was definitely a winter favorite. Beautiful pics and instructions.
Shreya
Is there any way around the cream cheese because it's not available in my area? N I love your chocolate muffins. Do you have any similar recipe for butterscotch muffins?
Alexandra Azary
I would substitute the cream cheese with butter. I don't have a recipe for butterscotch muffins but you could make my cinnamon chip muffins and use butterscotch chips instead!
Matea
Chocolate and cranberries were just made to be together! :)
alexandra
Agreed!
ATasteOfMadness
These muffins look so good!! I love the white chocolate and cranberry combo!
alexandra
It's one of my fave Christmasy combos - so good!
Ilona @ Ilona's Passion
What a yummy muffins! Love the addition of cranberries:)
alexandra
Thanks Ilona!