These pumpkin cranberry muffins are light and tender treats full of warm spices. Festive and flavorful, they’re bursting with fresh cranberries in each bite. Pumpkin cranberry muffins make for a cozy breakfast, snack or dessert.
Healthy muffins are always a hit in my house – some of our favorites include blueberry lemon muffins and chunky monkey muffins. During this time of year, I make a ton of these pumpkin muffins with cranberries. They’re the perfect blend of sweet and tart flavors! When fresh cranberries are in season, I bake with them almost every week. I just can’t get enough of that sweet-tart flavor combination.
You can also never go wrong with baked goods when they involve pumpkin. Some of my favorite pumpkin recipes include pumpkin oatmeal muffin cups and pumpkin breakfast cookies. These pumpkin cranberry muffins are great to have on hand for a fall snack, and they freeze well too, so make a double batch!
Ingredients In Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins
These muffins are made with wholesome ingredients and are low carb, gluten-free, paleo and absolutely delicious. They require just 1 bowl and about 30 minutes. The ingredients list is also really simple, with the basics being flour, maple syrup, eggs, pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, coconut oil, and cranberries.
The flour used in this recipe is coconut flour. I’ve experimented with oat flour, whole wheat flour and almond flour before but this was my first try with coconut flour.
Coconut flour is gluten free, high in fiber and low in carbs making it a good match for many different types of diets (i.e. diabetics, low carb, gluten-free, etc).
Coconut flour is different than other flours in the sense that it is very dry and absorbs liquid like a sponge so don’t be surprised by the wet-dry ratio of ingredients when you peek at the recipe. There is a lot of liquid and very little flour, but rest assured that’s the way it’s suppose to be.
I am not attached to any one flour or technique when it comes to baking. Sometimes I go with oats, sometimes almond, sometimes wheat and now coconut adds to the list. It’s fun to try new things and I love sharing what I learn with you.
The coconut flour reminded me a little of almond flour in texture, but was a bit lighter and created a very light tasting muffin (which I liked). I also like that eating a muffin can be a non-carbo-sugar loaded experience. That works for me;)
How To Make Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins
This recipe could not be easier and you’ll only need one bowl!
- Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees.
- Prepare a 12-count muffin pan with muffin cups or spray the pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Whisk together the eggs, pumpkin, butter, vanilla extract, and maple syrup.
- Add in coconut flour, sea salt, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice and stir until everything is well combined.
- Gently fold in cranberries and any optional mix-ins you might be using.
- Spoon batter evenly into a 12-count muffin tin.
- Pop in the oven and bake for about 35 minutes. Enjoy!
Tips For Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins
- Looking to lighten things up a bit? You can substitute unsweetened applesauce for half of the oil.
- If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice in the house, you can use cinnamon with a pinch of ground ginger and nutmeg mixed in.
- If you cannot get your hands on fresh cranberries, feel free to sub in frozen cranberries or leave them out completely. Using frozen cranberries may turn the batter a little bit pink, but the flavor will not be effected one bit.
- You can either use paper muffin liners, or simply spray the muffin tin with cooking spray before spooning in the batter.
- These muffins freeze beautifully – simply place them in a resealable bag then freeze for up to 3 months. You can either thaw your muffins at room temperature, or warm them up in the microwave when you’re ready to eat. This recipe makes 12 muffins, but can easily be doubled to make 24 muffins if you’re banking on having extras for the freezer.
Cranberry Muffin Variations
There are so many different ways to add new flavors to these muffins, here are a few of my favorites.
- Chocolate Chips: Mix in 1/2 cup chocolate chips.
- Nuts: Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts to the batter or top the muffins with a sprinkling of nuts before baking.
- Apple: Stir in 1/2 to 1 finely chopped, peeled apple to the batter.
- Coconut: Add 1/2 cup flaked coconut to the batter.
- Cranberries: Feel free to leave out the cranberries all together.
These pumpkin cranberry muffins are so festive and delicious. They’re perfect for a holiday brunch, or an everyday snack option. They’re even great to package up in cute boxes to give to friends, family and teachers for a welcome fall treat. Once you try these muffins, you’ll be as hooked as we are!
More Sweet Fall Treats To Enjoy:
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Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins
Ingredients
- 6 eggs beaten
- 1/4 cup pumpkin purée
- 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 cup fresh cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Whisk together the eggs, pumpkin, coconut oil, vanilla extract, and maple syrup.
- Add in coconut flour, sea salt, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice and stir until everything is well combined. Gently fold in cranberries.
- Divide batter into a 12-count muffin tin that is either lined with muffin cups or sprayed with cooking spray. Pop in the oven and bake for 35 minutes. Enjoy.
Mary Folkins
Hi Dani. Is it possible to have the ‘print friendly’ button only bring up the recipe instead of all the writeup that is in front of it? I just want to print the recipe, not the whole article as this usually ends up being more than one sheet and just has more info than I need. I end up copy and pasting to just get the recipe. It would just be so much easier if when I clicked the print friendly button that it just brought up the recipe to print.
Lydia
What are your thoughts on chia seeds? Do you incorporate them in your diet? Can you do a write up here and/or on your Youtube as a 101? Thanks!
Janine N.
Hi Dani, instead of using maple syrup, could I use stevia instead? I can not have sugar in any form but I can use stevia in any form. Will it effect how the muffins come out?
Zebra Mama
Hi, Dani! In what proportion can I use oats instead of coconut flour? Thanks!
Deb R.
Hi Danl, Can the muffins be frozen? I’d love to make a full batch and freeze some for later. Thanks!
Dani
Yes, Deb! You can definitely freeze these muffins.
Janice Harris
Could I substitute “flax eggs” for the eggs in this recipe?
Dani
I’m not positive b/c I have ever tried, but my guess is that it would work.
JennyBakes
I often take a “Paleo” recipe like this and make it even more lower sugar by using coconut sugar in place of maple syrup. Better than the chemicals.
Nese Hall
Hi, thank you so much for posting this recipe!! I made this gems last night and I couldn’t wait to leave my review 🙂 I made these exactly as the recipe states, well almost… I don’t have access to fresh cranberries so I used frozen and then I forgot to defrost the cranberries, and me being impatient, I used them frozen and the muffins still came out perfect.
I’m a restaurant manager so I am always busy and when I get hungry around 2 or 3 PM I grab something quick so that I can eat it on the run, I needed something better so I went googling and this is what I found 🙂
This was my first time using coconut flour so I am super excited and grateful!!
Thank you,
Nese
Dani
So glad you enjoyed them!! I was in the restaurant industry for years so I get the need! Glad they worked for you.
Samantha
Is there an alternative to coconut flour?
Dani
Hi Samantha! I would need to experiment a bit first! Most flours can’t be subbed 1:1 with coconut flour, so it would require adjusting some of the other ingredients.
Alexia
Hi Dani,
I just made these and they are amazing!! I am from Belgium and I had never used pumpkin in a muffin recipe before. The result is amazing, I can’t wait to make them again. How long can I store them in an airtight container?
Thanks again for always coming up with wonderful recipes !
Monica
Hi – you refer to butter, but looking through the list about 10 times I can’t find any other mention of butter. Am I missing something? Thanks!
Dani
Sorry for the confusion. The butter should has said coconut oil. I corrected that!
Sherry
Came out awesome
Thank u
Toni Spaulding
Dani,
I have a couple of questions on 2 recipes.
On the Apple Oatmeal Muffins, can you use “instant oats” instead of the old fashioned rolled oats?
On the Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins, can you use “dried cranberries” instead of fresh?
Thank you in advance for your assistance. I love your recipes!!
Dani
Yes for both of these questions Toni!! enjoy 🙂
Aylisa
Hi Dani,
I am in the middle of making your pumpkin cranberry muffins and I made a double batch. My batter is still super runny and liquid even though I used a cup of coconut flour. Is it okay to add more? Thanks!
Dani
Yes, you can add a little more! It doesn’t take much because the coconut flour is so absorbent.
Stephanie M
Can’t wait to make these and would like to try with silicone mini muffin liners on a baking sheet. Do you have tips baking with silicone liners? I’ve never done so. Thanks!
Dani
Silicone liners should make things pretty easy. If I’m not mistaken, you don’t even have to grease them.