These cranberry cream cheese muffins are the perfect muffin for cranberry season! Featuring a moist and tangy cream cheese crumb and filled with tart fresh cranberries they are a treat the whole family will love!

Maybe you' re big cranberry fan - or maybe you just have leftover cranberries from Thanksgiving just like we did. Either way, you're going to LOVE these cranberry cream cheese muffins. The tanginess of the cream cheese is the perfect compliment for the tartness of the cranberries.
I'm my opinion, they are everything one could want in a muffin: moist, fruity, and delicious.
Can I use dried cranberries?
I would not suggest using dried cranberries for these muffins. Using fresh cranberries gives these muffins all these awesome little flavour bombs of tartness and paired with the tanginess of the cream cheese crumb, that is what makes these muffins so special.
Do these muffins freeze well?
Absolutely. Like I do with all the muffins I bake, I like to freeze most of the batch just after they have cooled. I put them in a large freezer bag, remove as much air a possible to prevent freezer burn. I'll pull out a few muffins here and there and let them thaw to have as snacks, or I will put them straight from the freezer into my daughter's lunch bag in the morning. By the time snack time rolls around the muffin is ready to eat.
How to make cranberry cream cheese muffins:
Start by gathering your ingredients and pre-heating your oven to 350℉.
Using a stand mixer on medium speed, cream together the butter, vanilla and sugar. When the butter and sugar have been fully combined, add the cream cheese to the mixer and cream until smooth.
Set your stand mixer to low, and begin adding the eggs 1 at a time until they are combined well with the cream cheese mixture.
In a medium bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add this slowly to the cream cheese mixture while mixing on slow until just combined - you don't want to overwork the batter and end up with tough muffins.
Add the fresh cranberries to the bowl you sifted the flour into and add a couple of tablespoons of flour to them. Toss well to coat the cranberries. Don't skip this step! Unless you want all your cranberries sinking to the bottom of your muffin, which I'm sure you don't.
Remove the bowl with the batter from the stand mixer, and using a spatula gently fold the flour coated cranberries into the batter.
Grease or line a standard muffin tin, fill the cups to just over ⅔ full with batter and bake for 20-25 minutes. You can check for doneness by poking a toothpick deep into the centre of a muffin - if it comes out with any batter on it the muffins need a couple more minutes, if it comes out dry they are done.
DIETARY CONSIDERATIONS
These cranberry cream cheese muffins are suitable for the following diets:
- vegetarian
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Cranberry Cream Cheese Muffins
Ingredients:
- 1 cup butter
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 1 1⁄2 cup brown sugar plus extra for crumbling on top
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 12 ounces fresh cranberries
Instructions
- 1.Preheat the oven to 350F
- Dust the cranberries with some flour (put 1-2 tablespoon of flour in a bowl with the cranberries and toss to coat, this helps prevent the cranberries sinking to the bottom of the muffins).
- Put the butter, vanilla and sugar in a stand mixer with the paddle attachement and cream at medium speed (or use a hand mixer)
- Add the cream cheese and continue to cream at medium speed until just combined.
- Add the eggs one at a time while mixing at low speed
- In another bowl combine flour (sifting the flour firsts yields fluffier muffins), baking powder and salt.
- Add this to the cream cheese mixture and mix at low speed until just combined (some spots of flour are ok, best not to work the batter too much or it gets firm)
- Using a spatula or wooden spoon, fold the cranberries into the batter
- grease or line muffin tins, fill just over ¾ full and bake for 20-25 minutes.
- 10. Remove to wire rack to cool 10 minutes before eating. (the cranberries get really hot in the middle)
Notes
Nutrition
* nutritional information is calculated by online tools and may not be 100% accurate.
Lauren Vavala @ DeliciousLittleBites says
I am already making all the cranberry recipes that I can! I love these muffins! The addition of cream cheese is brilliant!
Courtney says
Thank you, Lauren!
Dannii says
I love cranberry muffins, especially on Christmas morning. I bet the cream cheese makes them really moist.
Courtney says
Yes, the cream cheese does make them quite moist. Christmas morning sounds like a great time for cranberry muffins!
Jenna says
Cream cheese with the tartness of the cranberries sounds like an amazing combination. Thanks I printed this! Totally in a muffin mood these days!
Courtney says
Hope you enjoy them as much as we do!
Colleen says
I love that you used fresh cranberries, and the cream cheese is perfect with them.
Adrianne says
Perfecto! This sound delicious. You are right the tartness of the cranberries is perfect and the cream cheese is so sweet sounding, yum and yum!!
Andrea Metlika says
These look and sound scrumptious. Love that you use fresh cranberries and the cream cheese is a great idea.