Vegan Cranberry Orange Muffins that are gluten-free, oil-free and made with whole grain oat flour and potato starch for the most delicious breakfast muffins. Topped with a delicious sweet and citrus orange glaze to complete them. A dark chocolate version is amazing as well!
VEGAN CRANBERRY ORANGE MUFFINS
Who here loves citrus?? Well, then you are going to love these Vegan Cranberry Orange Muffins infused with lots of freshly squeezed orange juice. I love, love orange in vegan baked goods because it adds sweetness but not sourness, like lemon does, for example. If you are an orange fan, too, be sure to also try these Vegan Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies!
I wanted these to be as allergy-free as possible, so they are both low-fat and nut-free. Additionally, I wanted them really soft. I decided to go back to what I originally refer to as my “magic flour” combo that I used in my Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pancakes, which is a combo of oat flour and potato starch. It yields a soft, yet hearty and fluffy texture. I traded the nut butter for applesauce and orange juice and they are just amazing.
I also wanted them healthier than say, my Double Chocolate Muffins. So, not only are these super low-fat and oil-free, but they have so much natural fruit flavor.
VEGAN BREAKFAST MUFFINS
The freshly squeezed orange juice and applesauce keeps them wonderfully soft and moist, not to mention, so full of fruity flavor. The oats are always a great choice for breakfast as well. So, these are basically breakfast in muffin form.
WHY I PREFER CHOCOLATE CHUNKS OVER CRANBERRIES
Now, I will be totally honest, my first batch of these Vegan Cranberry Orange Muffins, I made them totally plain, no cranberries. I MUCH preferred the texture and flavor. I am not a fan of juicy muffins, lol, but since this was a reader request, I added them. But just so you know, I think they were just perfect on their own with just the citrus orange flavor. I think dried cranberries or blueberries would be better too, for me personally. But do what you like.
Of course, I had to test a chocolate chunk version…OMG. Chocolate and orange are such an amazing combo. So, basically these became Vegan Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins.
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN ORANGE MUFFINS
You will only need 8 easy ingredients:
- Oat flour (use certified gluten-free if necessary): Oat flour helps to keep these vegan muffins gluten-free. It is a healthy flour I love to use for its nutritional benefits and fiber.
- Potato starch: This is crucial to the fluffy texture of these muffins. Another starch will not work the same! Cornstarch or tapioca will make them dense and gooey, so please do not try and sub!
- Baking soda
- Ground cinnamon
- Freshly squeezed orange juice + zest
- Unsweetened applesauce: Instead of oil, we are using applesauce to keep these oil-free and wonderfully, moist.
- Light brown sugar: Brown sugar has a bit of molasses in it, which helps additionally to keep these muffins moist since they are oil-free.
- Fresh cranberries or dairy-free chocolate chunks or chips
I hope you really love these Vegan Cranberry Orange Muffins!
MORE VEGAN MUFFIN RECIPES
- Whole Wheat Chocolate Muffins
- Gluten-free Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
- Bakery-Style Cinnamon Streusel Muffins
- Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Gluten-free Cinnamon Coffee Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Best Vegan Blueberry Muffins
- Pumpkin Spice Latte Muffins
- Sweet Potato Cinnamon Muffins
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Vegan Cranberry Orange Muffins (Oil-free)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (170g) superfine oat flour
- 2 tablespoons (20g) potato starch (See NOTES)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3/4 cup (180g) freshly squeezed orange juice + 1 tsp zest (do not use bottled, it will not give the same great flavor)
- 1/2 cup (120g) unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 cup (78g) light brown sugar lightly packed or my homemade coconut brown sugar, the natural molasses in the sugar gives moisture, so don't sub with plain coconut sugar)
- 1/2 cup fresh cranberries (see NOTE at bottom!)
ORANGE GLAZE
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 6 tablespoons (72g) light brown sugar or my homemade coconut brown sugar
- pinch of salt
NOTE
- Always use a scale for accuracy when baking, following MY gram weights listed. You never need cups, just the scale and bowl.
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and line a muffin pan with 10 parchment paper muffin liners or Reynolds Staybrite foil liners (they never stick).
- Add the oat flour, potato starch, baking soda, cinnamon and salt to a large bowl and whisk really well. Add the orange juice, orange zest, applesauce and brown sugar to a separate bowl and whisk until well combined. Pour over the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth and no lumps remain. Stir in the cranberries. If you are using frozen cranberries, it is important to not remove the cranberries (if using) from the freezer until right before you need them, otherwise they will thaw and become watery and affect your results. Like I said above, I preferred these completely plain (no fruit).
- Pour into 10 liners for beautiful tall muffins or 12 liners for smaller muffins. Bake for 15-20 minutes until they are golden on top, risen well and lightly spring back when touched and a toothpick is clean. If making them plain, they are closer to 15 mins, if using wet fruit, they took 20 minutes to cook through. Make sure the toothpick is clean with no wet batter before removing. Let cool for about 15 minutes to finish cooking and firm up.
- While the muffins are baking, make the glaze (if using). Add the juice and sugar to a small pot, whisk and bring over medium-low heat. Once it starts fully bubbling, let it cook for about 3 minutes untouched. Let it completely cool. It will thicken up like a syrup after it cools completely. If you want it thicker, cook it a tad longer. The longer you cook it, the more intense the flavor and thicker/stickier it will become. Drizzle on muffins before eating.
- Once completely cooled, store in an airtight container to keep them moist. These are still wonderful and moist the next day!
Notes
- Full disclosure. I'm not a big fan of the fresh cranberries in these muffins. I MUCH preferred these plain the most. They were delicious and I loved the texture of them plain more. The cranberries made them a little more wet/juicy than I prefer. so if you like juicy muffins, then go for it. Otherwise, I'd suggest adding another fruit you like or I think dried cranberries would be better. Of course, I LOVED the chocolate chunk version too, since chocolate compliments orange well!
- Potato starch is crucial to these muffins for the fluffy, light texture. I've tested both cornstarch and tapioca and they were gummy and dense, so do not sub! Potato starch performs very differently in baking. You can find it at most grocery stores or online on Amazon.
I’ve made a few of your recipes and they have all been a hit with the entire family, including the little people. I made these muffins today and they are so delicious. I’m not a fan of cranberry in muffins, so I used chocolate chips instead. As usual, the pictures are beautiful and makes me salivate just looking at them.
Thank you so much Desy! I’m so glad to hear you loved these, thank you for the feedback! I agree, these are better without the cranberries, haha!
Brandi
Love your recipes!
Please let me know what I can sub for potato starch?
Thanks
Hi Shobha, thank you so much! Since it’s just a small amount, you can try cornstarch using the same gram weight amount (which would be equivalent to 3 tablespoons). I don’t know if it will yield the exact same results, but hopefully it won’t change it too much. Please let me know after you make them!
These were absolutely amazing! I had been looking for some springy vegan muffins and stumbled on these muffins from heaven. I did half a batch with blueberry and half a bath with dark chocolate. The dark chocolate with the orange was simply divine!
That is so wonderful to hear Laura! Thank you so very much for the amazing feedback!
These were amazing, although I made a fat free chocolate icing instead. Do you think this could be made as a bundt cake or a regular cake?
Hi Anna! Yay, so glad to hear you loved these! Hmmm, I’m not too sure of the structure. These are rather delicate muffins and I am not so sure they would hold up very well in a cake form, it might crumble too much. You could try but that is my thought.
I don’t like orange flavor. Can lemons be used instead? Or something else?
Hi Nicola, I wouldn’t sub lemon for orange juice here, the two are not interchangeable, as orange is very sweet and lemon is extremely tart/sour and it just won’t work out in this recipe. I would find a recipe already written with lemon juice as the flavor and not orange for better success! You could try apple juice perhaps instead of the orange??
hello Brandi. thank you so much for your most fabulous receipes and photos, my head is spinning trying to choose what to try next and everything I have cooked so far is 100% fantastic. Question: what is baking soda? I have access to baking powder and bicarbonate of soda….do I make a mix of the 2?
Hi Christine! So wonderful to hear that! Bicarbonate of soda is the same thing as baking soda, so use that where recipes call for baking soda.
Perfection and great for the holidays! I used fresh cranberries and baked for 18 min. I don’t think it needs the glaze, but I may try it later.
So wonderful to hear!
Brandi, you are the muffin queen! These are amazing! I doubled the recipe and made half as written, with the cranberries and glaze, and the other half with dark chocolate chunks and no glaze. I loved both, but when I bit into the chocolate ones I literally said, “Oh wow!” Love these!
Wonderful to hear this Coby!!