Cranberry Sauce Muffins
Wondering what to do with leftover cranberry sauce? Our Cranberry Sauce Muffins are the most delicious way to use up that leftover cranberry sauce after Thanksgiving! You can whip these up in just a few minutes, and they taste delicious!
“Delicious! Nice high muffins. A great way to use leftover cranberry sauce. I doubled the recipe. Glad I did because these are so yummy.”
—Kathy
“This is an amazing recipe! I made five batches and froze them! They freeze very well!”
—Carrie
Cranberry Sauce Muffins Are Easy And Delicious
These easy cranberry muffins are the perfect answer to the question, “what to do with cranberry sauce?” With just a handful of pantry staples and a swirl of tart cranberry goodness, you can whip up a cozy, bakery-style treat in under 30 minutes.
Whether you’re baking for brunch or looking for a creative cranberry sauce leftover recipe, these muffins deliver big flavor with minimal effort.
We made these muffins with 3/4 cup of our homemade whole berry cranberry sauce. Any variety of leftover cranberry sauce made with whole berries will be great in this easy muffin recipe. You just want to be sure you’re using a chunkier sauce, and not a super smooth one.
This recipe is also great when made with canned cranberries (meaning, you can make these muffins all year ’round, even when fresh cranberries aren’t available).
If you’re using canned cranberry sauce, be sure to look for the words “whole berry” on the label. You don’t want the “jellied” kind, because that will be too thin and smooth to make good muffins.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe For Cranberry Sauce Muffins
- Great use for leftover cranberry sauce after the holidays!
- Simple ingredients and just a few steps.
- Bright orange zest complements the tart cranberries beautifully.
- Ready in about 30 minutes!
Leftover Cranberry Sauce Muffins Ingredients
A full recipe card, including exact ingredient amounts, appears at the bottom of this post.
- flour – provides structure and helps the cranberry relish muffins hold their shape.
- baking powder – gives the muffins lift and a light texture.
- baking soda – reacts with the acid in the cranberry sauce and sour cream for extra rise.
- salt – balances sweetness and sharpens the other flavors.
- sugar – sweetens the muffins and supports browning.
- butter – adds richness and moisture to the crumb.
- orange zest – brightens the batter and complements the cranberry.
- egg – binds everything together and contributes to structure.
- sour cream – keeps the muffins soft and tender with a slight tang.
- vanilla extract – adds depth and rounds out the flavor.
- cranberry sauce – brings moisture, tartness, and pockets of fruit throughout.
How To Make Homemade Cranberry Sauce Muffins
1. MIX DRY INGREDIENTS. Start by whisking together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
2. CREAM SUGAR. In a separate bowl, cream together the sugar, butter, and orange zest until light and fluffy.
3. ADD EGG, SOUR CREAM, AND VANILLA. Beat in the egg, sour cream, and vanilla, then gently mix in the dry ingredients.
4. FOLD IN CRANBERRIES. Fold in the cranberry sauce last to keep some swirls and texture.
5. BAKE. Line a muffin pan with liners and divide the batter evenly. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean.
5. COOL. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
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Leftover Cranberry Sauce Muffins Home Chef Tips
- Use full fat sour cream for the best results! The fat in it contributes to richness and moistness, and the subtle tang of sour cream adds flavor.
- Serve with some Whipped Maple Butter to spread on these warm muffins for a delicious twist!
How To Store Leftover Muffins With Cranberry Sauce
These cranberry relish muffins will keep for 3 to 4 days in an airtight container, at room temperature.
Can You Freeze These Muffins?
These muffins can be frozen for 1 to 2 months. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and then store in a freezer baggie for the best results. Defrost in the fridge and then heat briefly in the microwave until warm.
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Cranberry Sauce Muffins
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Ingredients
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons room temperature unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup full fat sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup prepared cranberry sauce see Home Chef tip
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream sugar, butter and orange zest 2 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add egg, sour cream and vanilla and beat until well combined.
- Add flour mixture and mix on low until just combined. Gently fold in cranberry sauce.
- Line 6 muffin cups with paper liners. Divide batter evenly between muffin cups. Bake 20 to 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of muffins comes out clean. Cool muffins in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove muffins from pan and transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Home Chef Tip: This recipe is best with a chunky homemade cranberry sauce, or “whole berry” canned cranberry sauce (not “jellied”).
I was so happy to find this recipe! I make Paula Deen’s cranberry sauce every Thanksgiving (she calls it Wayne’s Cranberry Sauce after one of her two sons). I usually have some left over and your recipe was perfect! They rose beautifully, were the perfect density, and everyone thought they were delicious. Thanks for such a good recipe!
I’m so glad to hear there were a hit for you, Janie!
I doubled the recipe and used 2%plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. I also made a strusel topping for them I got so many compliments for these! I’m going to save this recipe so I can try it with other fruit. Highly recommend this recipe
LOVE that you added streusel, Antoinette. So glad they turned out well!
These were delicious and rose very high. I read some of the other comments about sugar being considered a ” wet” ingredient. I would like to reduce the sugar next time because I found them to be too sweet. Do I need to add an equal amount of liquid to compensate for reducing the sugar?
Hi Olive – I’m so glad these turned out delicious for you. I haven’t tested them with less sugar, so I can’t say for sure whether they’d turn out the same by substituting liquid in place of sugar. If you do try it, please let me know how it turns out.
Delicious! The right level of sweetness and tart. Moist crumb and great texture.
I’m so glad to hear they turned out great!
This is an amazing recipe! I made five batches and froze them! They freeze very well! I also added a tablespoon of orange. juice and I made it orange cranberry!
I’m so glad you love this recipe, Carrie. Thank you for stopping by!
Best recipe I’ve ever pulled from the internet! Well, except perhaps for Molly Yeah’s tater tot hotdish. Worked Really nicely with my grandma’s recipe for blended cranberry/orange sauce. Thanks for sharing! This will become a post-Thanksgiving classic for us.
That makes me so happy to hear, Sunny! If i’m up there with Molly Yeh, I’m feeling good about myself 🙂
Delicious! Nice high muffins. A great way to use leftover cranberry sauce. I doubled the recipe. Glad I did because these are so yummy.
I’m so glad you liked these, Kathy!
Hi, can I use plain/vanilla yoghurt in place of sour cream?
Totally!
I’ve made these for years now every year after Thanksgiving. Delicious every time!
I’m so glad you like them, Keri!
Excellent! I doubled the recipe and made 6 mini loaves rather than muffins. Great way to use up the cranberry sauce. Thank you.
Love the loaf idea! Thanks for stopping by, Marilyn!
I made the muffins and was very pleased with them. I was happy to be able to use up leftover cranberry sauce.
Can the recipe be doubled? They disappeared too quickly.
Hi Margaret – so happy you liked this recipe! You can definitely double it – just a straightforward doubling of each ingredient.
I just mixed these up and got a hard ball I could not mix the cranberries into.Is there some form of liquid missed in the recipe?I followed the recipe exactly and got a chunk of batter.
Hi Tanya – tell me more. Did you use a large egg and full fat sour cream?
Same here, but all I had was reduced fat sour cream, so added a couple tablespoons of milk to get the desired consistency. I just finished eating my second muffin. Great idea for leftover cranberry sauce.
I just made these, following the recipe except that I reduced the sugar by more than half (because the cranberry sauce was sweetened). I also found that the wet ingredients were insufficient to combine with the dry to achieve a decent batter. I added a little milk, and then finished the batter by adding the cranberry sauce alternately with the flour mixture. That seemed to work and they turned out fine.
Hi Kathleen – It’s a thick batter because sugar is considered a wet ingredient for baking, so when the batter is baked, the sugar turns to liquid. But I’m glad these turned out for you!
i just made these and they turned out great! I added some walnuts but that’s the only change I made. They look like perfect bakery muffins too!
I’m so glad these turned out great for you, Kathryn!
Ser out my ingredients last night and made this recipe this morning with a home-canned jar of leftover cranberry sauce from January 2020 that really needed to get used before this Thanksgiving. My husband loved them, I liked the flavor and texture but was a little bit disappointed in the look and the process because I could not get the butter&sugar to beat up fluffy (maybe b/c it was such a small amount of butter?) in my mixer and the muffins did not rise. I did sub some of the AP flour for einkorn b/c I was low but I’m not sure if that would have affected the rise.
Hi Alison. Yes, with a small amount of butter, sometimes you have to scrape the mixing bowl quite a bit to get it to whip up fluffy. I suspect that the einkorn also impacted the end result.