Cranberry and orange is one of my all-time flavor combinations, especially when it comes to breakfast recipes. And spending most of my summertime down in Cape Cod, I have come to love fresh Cape Cod Cranberries. So after spending a week down the Cape this past week, it seemed fitting to share one of my favorite summertime breakfast recipes: Cranberry Orange Streusel Muffins. These muffins are jam packed with fresh Cape Cod cranberries and orange zest, and will make your taste buds oh-so-happy with each fruity bite.
The best time of year to get fresh cranberries is in September when they harvest the berries from the cranberry bogs on the Cape. We’ve only seen it once or twice, but it’s an awesome experience when they flood the bogs with water and take the giant machines through to shake the cranberries off and eventually it’s like a sea of red berries bobbing around. Kind of like those Ocean Spray commercials, only much more amazing in-person. I think people sometimes forget to bake with cranberries because they aren’t a fruit that you typically just eat fresh, like blueberries or raspberries – and often it’s hard to find fresh cranberries unless they are in season.
My favorite part of this recipe is the fresh orange zest, which is the best complimentary flavor to cranberries in my opinion. Cranberries can be a bit tangy, but the fresh orange flavor makes each bite zesty and delicious.
I also am obsessed with streusel topping on muffins. No longer can I just enjoy a muffin top without that sugary sweet crunch. I’ve been experimenting with different streusel topping recipes this summer, but I think old-fashioned oats, walnuts and brown sugar are my favorite ingredients to make a sweet and crunchy topping.
So the next time you find yourself with fresh cranberries, bake up a batch of these Cranberry Orange Streusel Muffins!
Yield: 12 Regular-Size or 8 Jumbo Muffins
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 25 Minutes
Total Time: 40 Minutes