Two weeks ago, I traveled to Chicago for the annual BlogHer Food Conference (yes, there are conferences for food bloggers, too!), and although the event began on Friday morning, I scheduled my flight to arrive on Wednesday evening to give me a day to adjust to the time change and explore the city.
While we boarded the plane, the flight attendants announced that it would be a full aircraft without any extra seats. I snagged one on the aisle near the front—I now love those more than window seats because I can get up and stretch my legs as often as I’d like without climbing over strangers!—and watched the other passengers hauling their carry-ons down the narrow aisle.
Eventually, people stopped coming on board, but somehow, an empty middle seat still remained in between the businessman rapidly typing emails on his iPhone next to the window and me. I silently celebrated (hooray for extra room!) while the stewardesses explained over the loudspeaker that a few of the seats were malfunctioning and would remain empty, so we just had to wait an extra half hour while the safety crew filed the paperwork before we departed.
By the time we landed in Chicago and waited on the runway for over 20 minutes because of airplane congestion at the gates, many other passengers grew restless and agitated over potentially missing their connecting flights. Thankful that I booked a shuttle to my hotel that ran every 15 minutes, I only had one tiny thing to worry about…
Food! Most restaurants closed by 11 pm on a weeknight, and that was when I finally checked in at the concierge desk. After dropping my bags in my room and checking the hours of a few places on the same block, I dashed out for dinner.
I found a healthy salad, packed full of fresh vegetables and grilled chicken, and I stopped by the marketplace in the hotel’s lobby for a cold bottle of water. I also grabbed a banana and single-serving bag of Popchips (have you tried them?? I’m completely addicted and plowed through a family-sized bag once I returned home after the conference!).
While browsing through the other snack options, I noticed the bakery case still contained a few treats, including coarse sugar-coated scones, big cranberry bagels, and tall pumpkin muffins. My wallet balked at the price tags, so when I got back to my kitchen at home, I baked these instead…
Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins! Full of cozy spices and fresh fruit, they’re as tender as cupcakes and perfect for quick on-the-go breakfasts and snacks. Plus these muffins are a lot healthier than the ones in that display case—they’re clean eating friendly and contain NO butter, refined flour or sugar!
Bliss.
These easy muffins start with regular, plain ol’ whole wheat flour. Some people think that 100% whole wheat flour baked goods turn out bland or dry, but these are the exact opposite, thanks to the pumpkin! Like I said, they’re as tender and moist as cupcakes… And cupcakes for breakfast is something I can definitely get behind!
Because this recipe requires only 1 tablespoon of oil and 2 egg whites, the rest of the tender texture comes from two of my favorite ingredients in healthier baking: pumpkin purée and Greek yogurt. Remember to buy plain pumpkin purée, not pumpkin pie filling! The latter contains refined sugar, which we’re avoiding in this clean eating recipe. And of course, you can’t have pumpkin without spices—the ultimate trio of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.
As for the Greek yogurt, you know how much I adore that ingredient! I’ve used it in muffins, pancakes, cupcakes, cheesecake, cakes, and even frosting. Here, it adds the same moisture as extra butter or oil for a fraction of the calories, and it gives the muffins a little protein boost, too!
’Tis the season for fresh cranberries, so that’s what you’ll use today! You can either chop them by hand or, for a quicker method, pop the berries into a food processor and pulse a few times. As a perfectionist, I generally prefer slicing the cranberries by hand to ensure the pieces are a similar size, but the food processor is so much faster on busy lazy mornings!
And while the muffins bake, the cranberries’ insides turn from white into that gorgeous, deep crimson shade…
So perfect for the holiday season!
| Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins | | Print |
- 2 cups (240g) whole wheat or gluten-free* flour (measured correctly)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp (14g) coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 2 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup (244g) pumpkin purée, room temperature
- ¼ cup (60g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ⅓ cup (80mL) pure maple syrup
- ¼ cup (60mL) nonfat milk
- 1 cup (110g) fresh cranberries, chopped
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and coat 12 muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, egg whites, and vanilla. Stir in the pumpkin purée and Greek yogurt, mixing until no large lumps remain. Stir in the maple syrup. Alternate between adding the flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, and stirring just until incorporated. (For best results, add the flour mixture in 3 equal parts.) Fold in all but 2 tablespoons of the chopped cranberries.
- Divide the batter into the prepared muffin cups, and gently press the remaining chopped cranberries into the top of the batter. Bake at 350°F for 21-24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before carefully transferring onto a wire rack.
Any milk may be substituted for the nonfat milk.
Honey or agave may be substituted for the pure maple syrup. Alternatively, the same amount of brown sugar plus an additional 3 tablespoons of milk may be substituted for the pure maple syrup, but the muffins would no longer be clean eating friendly.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
These look beautiful! Perfect for a thanksgiving breakfast!
Thanks Shannon!
I bet the combo of cranberry and pumpkin is delicious. These muffins look so so good!!
Thanks Aimee! 🙂
Is it possible to use coconut or almond flour as the gluten free option?
I do not recommend coconut flour because it behaves very differently than any other flour. If you use xanthan gum, almond flour may be substituted, but you’d need the xanthan gum to imitate gluten’s structural properties. Without it, the muffins will collapse while cooling and be very dense instead of tender. The only GF flour that I can guarantee works is in the Notes section beneath the recipe. I hope you enjoy the muffins if you try them Fran!
Hi Amy! I’d love to make these soon! Do you think I could increase the pumpkin to 1 1/2 cups (or even 15 oz!) and just omit either the milk or the yogurt? I just really love pumpkin and I made pumpkin muffins before that had a whole 15 oz can of pumpkin in 12 muffins, and they had such great pumpkin flavor, but this time I wanted ones that are a little healthier 🙂 Whole eggs are ok too right and I’m sure its fine to leave out the cranberries if i prefer? Thanks so much!
I’m very hesitant about that substitution. The Greek yogurt adds protein to the muffin batter, and protein is what gives baked goods their structure and prevents them from sinking while they cool. These muffins already have great pumpkin flavor, so you don’t need to add more to get that rich, autumn-y taste! 🙂 If you use whole eggs, omit the butter/coconut oil, and you’re welcome to omit the cranberries as well. I’m excited to hear what you think of the muffins AnnaMarie!
Hi, Amy,
The cranberry pumpkin muffins look delicious!
Can I substitute anything for the pure maple syrup? That’s not something I typically purchase, but I will if necessary.
Thanks Vicki! I actually answered that already in the Notes section underneath the Instructions. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of the muffins!
Do you have any recommendation for the leftover pumpkin? Thanks so much!
You can find all of my pumpkin recipes here, and many of them don’t use a full can of pumpkin. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of any of those recipes that you try as well Vicki!
I made these today and wish I would have used half white flour, the whole wheat over-powers the pumpkin.
That sounds really disappointing Lori. What brand of whole wheat flour did you use? I prefer Gold Medal and Bob’s Red Mill because they have a much less “wheat-y” flavor to them. I also love white whole wheat flour and whole wheat pastry flour for that same reason; both of those taste much more similar to all-purpose but still have the same health benefits as regular whole wheat flour. Hopefully one of those makes your next batch taste much more pumpkin-y!
Hi Amy, thank you for your recipes and fun website. I made these muffins today – yes, in late July! I found 3 bags of fresh frozen cranberries in my freezer. I doubled the recipe, used 4 whole eggs (doubled), omitted the coconut oil and left the cranberries whole. Other than that, I followed the recipe/instructions to the letter. Grade A+ on the way they looked when baked, the texture was perfect as were the spices. For my personal taste, I would like them to to be a little sweeter to better offset the tart cranberries.. I did use 100% pure maple syrup but the next time, I might go with brown sugar, and just a bit more than stated.. I’m happy to give this 5 stars with or without the added sweetener.. This recipe was just what I was looking for! Thanks again!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the muffins! That means a lot to me that you said the texture and spices were perfect, as well as that the recipe was just what you were looking for. Thank you so much! 🙂 If you prefer sweeter muffins and to use brown sugar instead, I’d recommend substituting ½ cup of brown sugar for the maple syrup and adding an additional 3-4 tablespoons of milk to compensate for the missing liquid. I’d love to hear how that little tweak turns out!
Just made these, and they were amazing! Substituted the coconut oil with an extra tablespoon of pumpkin puree and used liquid egg whites instead of fresh egg whites, because I had that and no eggs. Still delicious and would definitely make again. I might add a little more sweetener next time because I have that strong of a sweet tooth 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed the muffins Audrey! That means a lot to me that you’d definitely make them again — thank you! 🙂
Hi there! Is it possible to substitute fresh cranberries with dry ? Thanks!
Yes! You can easily substitute ½ cup of diced dried cranberries that have been hydrated for the fresh cranberries. To hydrate the dried cranberries, add them to a microwave-safe bowl, add water until it rises ½” above the cranberries, and cover the top with a lid or plastic wrap. Microwave on HIGH for 1 minute. Let the cranberries sit while preparing the banana bread batter. Just before mixing them in, drain and pat dry. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these muffins Marta!
Hi Amy,
Thank you for the reply! I made them last night :). The flavor is great but they came out a bit rubbery / hard for some reason. This is the second muffin recipe I tried and both times the muffins turned out chewy – do you think I’m over mixing the batter?
Thanks!
It’s my pleasure Marta! If both batches of muffins turned out rubbery, then yes — it’s most likely that the batter has been overmixed. Are you using an electric or stand mixer? Or are you mixing by hand with a fork/spoon?
Hi Amy! I was using a whisker (by hand). Should I use a Olsen spoon instead? This was the first time I tried making muffins so I definitely have some learning to do ?.
I prefer using a whisk where instructed and a fork for everything else! At the end of Step 2, make sure you’re only mixing until the flour mixture or milk is just barely incorporated. Be as gentle as you can when stirring! 🙂
*wooden spoon
Hi, do you know if these freeze/thaw well? If so do you have a reccomended method ?
Yes, these freeze really well! I put the baked and cooled muffins on a baking sheet lined with foil (for easy clean-up!), and pop that tray in my freezer for 1-2 hours. Then I transfer the muffins to zip-topped bags, squeeze out as much air as I can, and put those bags back in the freezer. To thaw, I put a muffin on a paper towel or microwave-safe plate, and I microwave on 30% power for 30-60 seconds or until completely thawed. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of them Christie!