Cranberry Orange Oatmeal Muffins
Looking for a healthy low sugar breakfast? An on the go one that the kids won’t complain about? One that tastes good? These Cranberry Orange Oatmeal Muffins fit the bill. This orange muffin recipe is chock full of fiber, thanks to the old-fashioned Quaker Oats® and fresh cranberries put jammy pockets of fruit into these orange cranberry muffins.
This post is sponsored by The Quaker Oats Company and I have been compensated for it. As always, all opinions are my own. #ad #IHeartQuakerOats
The Ultimate Low Sugar Breakfast
My family has had a long history with Quaker Oats®. My grandmother, we call her Myne, has a bowl every morning for breakfast, as she’s done for most of her 90+ years. She calls it “porridge” – and it was a common breakfast in Scotland, where her family heralds from. Instead of piling it with sugar, spices and dried fruit, they “seasoned” it liberally with SALT. You heard me right. NO SUGAR. Salt. Personally, it’s too much for my tastebuds, but these oatmeal muffins are a different story.
Now, this isn’t a sugar-free recipe, because there is ½ cup of brown sugar in the mix, but divided among 12 cranberry muffins, that roughly equals 1.3 tablespoons of sugar per. So, a fairly low sugar breakfast, right?
Ingredients For Cranberry Orange Oatmeal Muffins
- Old Fashioned Quaker Oats®
- Buttermilk
- All Purpose Flour
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Brown Sugar (just a little)
- Butter
- Egg
- Pecans
- Cranberries
- Orange Zest
This recipe is really easy, but it does take a little planning because the oatmeal needs to sit to absorb the buttermilk and because we’re using Old Fashioned Oats instead of the instant variety, an overnight rest is what it takes…. or soak them in the morning and make the cranberry orange muffin recipe in the evening.
How To Make Oatmeal Muffins
- Combine the oatmeal and buttermilk in a bowl or glass measuring cup and refrigerate overnight.
- The next day, combine the dry and ingredients for the orange muffin recipe and whisk to combine.
- Add the oatmeal mixture to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined.
- Stir in the pecans, cranberries and orange zest.
- Transfer the orange cranberry muffin batter to prepared muffin cups and bake until golden brown.
Oatmeal Muffins Fuel The Day
Because oats are 100% whole grain, they digest slowly, giving you the energy you need throughout the morning without weighing you down.
Can You Freeze Muffins?
Yes. Absolutely. In fact this is a great way to always have an easy low sugar breakfast ready for yourself and the kids. If you’re putting them in a lunchbox, cranberry muffins will thaw nicely by lunchtime. For quicker readiness, they can also be microwaved at 50% power in bursts of 20 seconds until they’re thawed and warmed.
How To Freeze Muffins:
Place the muffins on a sheet pan (that will fit in your freezer) and freeze until the muffins are solid. When the oatmeal muffins are frozen, transfer to a zip top storage bag and return to the freezer. This will ensure that they don’t stick together and you can easily remove them from the bag whenever you’re in the mood.
More Muffin Recipes:
- Glazed Lemon Poppyseed Muffins
- Mini Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Light and Fluffy Gluten Free Strawberry Muffins
- Fruit and Nut Bran Muffins
- Jiffy Lemon Blueberry Corn Muffins
- Crunchy Banana Chip Mini Muffins
More Low Sugar Breakfasts:
Cranberry Orange Oatmeal Muffins
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 2 cups buttermilk well shaken
- 1 ½ cups unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup pecans toasted and chopped
- 1 cup cranberries
- 1 ½ teaspoons orange zest
DIRECTIONS:
- In a small bowl, combine the oats and buttermilk and stir. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 425°. Prepare a muffin pan by lining with paper muffin liners and spraying each with vegetable spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and brown sugar and stir together. Add the oatmeal mixture, melted butter and egg, stirring until well combined. Mix in the pecans, cranberries and orange zest.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared muffin tins and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean and the muffins are golden brown. Can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze them for up to 3 months.
RECIPE VIDEO:
NUTRITION:
Pin “Cranberry Orange Oatmeal Muffins” For Later!
I grew up eating oatmeal. I love mine with brown sugar, cinnamon and milk.
I eat oatmeal almost every morning! I love mine with raisins, cinnamon, and brown sugar. These muffins look delicious!
I enjoy it just the way it is and in my muffins and cookies.
you are talkin my language with this recipe! all delicious – some of my fave flavor profiles together – YUMMY!
Our favorite way to eat Quaker Oats is when it transforms into a cranberry oatmeal cookie….yes, we are the Cookie Monster fan club!
These look divine!
Oatmeal is my favorite kind of breakfast! These muffins look like a pretty tasty breakfast too! I love cranberry and orange together. I’ve never added oatmeal to my muffins, but I think that needs to change! Bring in that extra energy!
Oatmeal will definitely provide you that long-lasting energy!
Fantastic muffins, cranberry and orange is such an amazing combination. I do like adding oats to baked goods, it just adds that little bit of protein, flavour and texture. I eat oats most days too for breakfast, be it in porridge, overnight oats, in my bread or in a smoothie.
It really is so versatile, isn’t it?
I love the chewiness that oatmeal gives to baked goods! Yum!
Yes, it’s all about the texture, isn’t it?
Yeah, I’m pretty certain I need to make these! I made a cranberry orange muffin a while back, and something was missing…maybe oats! Love this idea, Lisa…I’ll have to give it a go 🙂
Please let me know how you like them.
Cranberries and orange are an exquisite flavour combination. I love adding oats to pancakes! Yep, just a quarter or third of a cup of oats add fibre to the pancake batter without changing the texture. No-one usually even knows there are oats in the pancakes.
I make quaker oatmeal for my baby (almost) Every Morning! I use quick oats though. But it’s her absolutely favourite breakfast. If I skip a day or two on very rare occasions then the next time she sees me making oatmeal (I call it Kasha since I’m russian and it’s what all the porridges are called) she starts squeaking and bouncing with joy.
The muffins look amazing. I’m sure going to give them a try!
I remember when my daughter squeaked and bounced…
These muffins sound delightful! I love putting Quaker’s rolled oats in my fruit crisps and there is nothing like eating a bowl of Quaker Instant Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal. It’s been my favorite flavor since I was a child. Definitely saving this recipe to make this week!
Thanks so much for commenting. Let me know how you enjoy the recipe!
Yay for this! i have been searching for a recipe to treat my husband at breakfast. Winner winner muffin … OK that didn’t quite work out. Printing this. Thanks!
Oh THANK YOU. We eat old fashioned rolled oats for breakfast most mornings, and I’m running out of creative oatmeal ideas so this is PERFECT to add in to the rotation. A great way to start the day!
Love Quaker’s rolled oats. They’ve been a staple in our pantry for breakfasting and baking for as long as I can remember. Buttermilk muffins always have such a fantastic texture, too. These would be perfect in a bread basket at brunch.
Quaker oats oatmeal has long been a favorite breakfast here too! (We love it with frozen blueberries.) But it’s nice to mix it up and cranberry oatmeal muffins sound great! Perfect for breakfast on the go or to stock in the freezer for future need.
I like to cook them and then add honey. No milk
I use oats in my breakfasts all the time! Love them! And these oat muffins sounds delicious- I love the combination of orange and cranberry!
I am assuming from the directions that the oatmeal mixture is added into the dry ingredients before the egg etc? Or do we leave the oatmeal mixture in the fridge? LOL
Hi Colleen! I don’t know how I missed that one. Thanks for the catch. I fixed the instructions.
These look amazing! Our favorite thing to do with oats is oatmeal raisin cookies. 🙂
I love having a variety of muffins and quick breads in the freezer for breakfasts. Do you think these would make into a bread loaf? If I use frozen cranberries should I let them thaw first?
We just acquired 20 pounds of oranges and I’m on the hunt for a couple of new recipes. Thanks!
20 pounds of oranges will make a lot of muffins… Yes, I think you could make these into a loaf and, no, I don’t think you’d need to thaw the cranberries before putting them in the batter — otherwise they might “run”.