This orange muffin is my proudest recent creation. Using the whole orange gives a bright and strong orange flavor that's just impossible to get from using only the inner fruit or juice of the orange.
These orange muffins have a fluffy and moist texture that's embellished with bursts of tanginess from the cranberry and crunchiness from the pearl sugar topping. It's really amazing! I guess this is what you'd call (at least I would) a perfect muffin. Oh, and what's more important is that this is a super quick and easy recipe.
All you need is to blend all the wet ingredients in a blender before mixing it with the dry ingredients, filling the muffin cups and tossing them into the oven! It's probably one of the few recipes where you can be ready to bake way before the oven is done preheating.
The secret to removing the bitterness from the orange peel
Using the whole orange (yes, including the peel and pith) gives you an intense orange flavor that cannot be replicated by just using zest and juice. But won't there be an unpleasant bitterness from the skin? Usually that would be an issue, but I have a secret for removing that bitterness that I haven't found anywhere else online.
This secret is ridiculously simple: simply trim half an inch off the top and bottom ends of the orange, and boom! No more bitterness. Yes, you don't need to boil it or fuss over it, just two quick cuts and you're good to go!
Another helpful tip for this recipe is to choose a juicy orange that has a thinner peel (these usually feel heavier), and I'd definitely recommend going organic on the orange so that you won't need to worry about pesticides on the peel. Another thing that makes this recipe even more a-peel-ing is that the orange peel is super nutritious. Apparently, the peel of the orange has three times more Vitamin C and four times more fiber than the inner fruit, as well as containing many other compounds with anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties. This makes sense to me, though, since orange peel is something commonly used in Chinese medicine.
The most effective way to incorporate wet and dry ingredient
Like any other kinds of cake and muffin, over mixing results in a tough and rubbery texture. The best way to incorporate the wet and dry ingredients is to mix them with a whisk in an N or Z shaped motion. Only whisk in a circular motion when you need to incorporate the remaining dry flour at the edge. This method minimizes the development of gluten. You can incorporate wet and dry ingredients by folding them in with a spatula, but in this case, a whisk works a lot faster!
Try other combination
I use dried cranberries and a bit of pearl sugar in this recipe, but feel free to try any other combinations of toppings or mix-ins. Some other suggestions to try are dried black currents, candied ginger, chopped walnuts or chopped dates as mix-ins and demerara or turbinado sugar or toasted white sesame seeds (yes, it actually goes very well with this muffin!) as toppings. I would love to hear from you if you try some other combination that works well!
This muffin is great for breakfast, afternoon snack or in your kid's lunch box. It's perfect for busy moms who still want to bake some healthier bake goods for the family! My family loves it, and we hope your family will love it, too!
I would like to hear from you! If you make this recipe, please consider leaving a star rating and comment in the section further down the page. Stay in touch by following my Instagram and Pinterest!
Whole Orange Greek Yogurt Muffin with Cranberry
Ingredients
- 1 Large navel orange, about 12 oz / 340 g, preferably organic
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1⅔ cup all purpose flour
- ½ tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- pinch of salt
- ⅓ cup dried cranberry, roughly chopped
- 4 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
- 1-2 tablespoon Swedish pearl sugar/Turbinado sugar, Optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C)
- Wash orange and trim of about 1⁄2 inch (1.2 cm) off two ends.
- Cut the orange into 8 pieces (remove any seeds) and put in the blender.
- Add eggs, Greek yogurt, maple syrup, sugar and almond extract in the blender and blend until smooth.
- Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a mixing bowl.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk together in an N or Z shaped motion just until the dry ingredients are incorporated. This method minimizes the development of gluten.
- Add dried cranberries (save a small handful for sprinkling on top) and melted butter in the mixing bowl and fold in with a spatula.
- Divide the batter into 12 muffin cups (about 2 ice cream scoops for each), top with cranberry and Swedish pearl/turbinado sugar, bake for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Wait for 3 minutes and move the muffins to a cooling rack, let it cool for 10 minutes before eating.
Loved this recipe. Only change next time will be more cranberries.
Thank you! More cranberries can only be better! 😀
I switched out the orange for a lemon. Left rest the same. Also delicious.
Hi Judy, thanks for sharing! Lemon sounds yummy, too!
Do you think you could use fresh blueberries?
Hi Sandee, I've never tried adding blueberries but I think it should work. I would probably try adding 3-4 in each muffin in case it gets too wet.
I just took some out of the oven. After reading some of the other comments, I opted to double the cranberries and add 1/3 cup finely chopped pecans. I used vanilla Greek yogurt instead of plain, and vanilla bean paste instead of almond extract. The results are terrific! I will definitely make these again. 5 stars!
Thank you Barrie! I'm happy to hear you like it. I also want to try adding pecans next time 😀
hi, orange weight is with skin or without?
Hi, this recipe uses whole orange so the weight is with skin.
The best of muffins recipes I have used so far, loved it!
Thank you so much! I'm so happy to hear you like it 🙂
Wonderful recipe! Thank you! Have been making it every week since I found it. I replace maple syrup with an extra TBSP of sugar, and add choc chips and cranberries.
I'm so glad to hear that! Thank you for sharing, that sounds so yummy 🙂
May I confirm that the pith and peel, after being blended, are not strained out?
I'm making them right now and there's a thick, lumpy batter with chunks of peel and it seems like it would be hard to eat.
thanks,
Hi Sarah, yes, we use the whole orange and no need to strain. How did your muffins turned out?
Okay, I'll try them again and make them with the whole orange. I ended up straining out the pith in the moment because I wasn't sure and was taking them to a friend. They were received with rave reviews. Thanks for replying.
These have great flavour. I had a difficult time getting the orange to blend, so added about 1/4 cup water. Then the batter seemed too thin so I added “about” 1/4 cup of flour! I also didn’t weigh my orange as I totally missed that comment until it was too late. Perhaps I shouldn’t be baking at 10 at night (note to self). I will definitely try them again and follow your instructions more clearly. I will also add more cranberries.
Hi this worked out well for me when I needed a recipe in a hurry. I had some surplus orange pulp (from an orange and almond cake) so I used that as well as a 200g orange, I used honey instead of maple syrup and vanilla and cinnamon instead of almond extract and sprinkled poppy seeds on top. They cooked beautifully and the volunteer tree planters I was feeding scoffed the lot.
Thank you
I'm so glad to hear that, thanks for trying my recipe!