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I like to make Cranberry Muffins with Black Walnuts during the holidays. They make great gifts for your loved ones, especially those on your list who enjoy eating black walnuts.
Living in SE Kansas, I’m very familiar with black walnut trees, which are native to our area. As a girl, I spent hours picking up the pungent green (or black) orbs for the fall nut crop. We had several trees in our yard, and I grew up eating black walnuts in our baked goods. Not all the time, but certainly in particular family recipes–like applesauce cake, Grandma Emma’s Sugar Cookies, carrot cake, and many more. I remember not caring for them, but as I grew older, I became more fond of them, and even craved them in certain recipes.
My husband and daughters refuse to eat anything with black walnuts in them, so it’s not often that I use them now, even though we have black walnut trees growing in our yard! However, this is one recipe that I enjoy making and eating–simply because I can easily share them as gifts at Christmas.
Ingredients for Cranberry Muffins with Black Walnuts
- all-purpose flour
- granulated sugar
- baking powder
- ground nutmeg
- cinnamon
- ground ginger
- baking soda
- salt
- grated orange zest
- vegetable shortening
- orange juice
- large eggs
- vanilla extract
- fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped
- black walnuts, chopped
Instructions for this Recipe
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Gather your ingredients so that you have everything close at hand on the counter or table.
Prepare the Ingredients
Using a fine-edged grater, zest one orange.
If desired, squeeze the juice from 2-3 oranges, enough to make 3/4 cups. You may use refrigerated orange juice if you do not care to squeeze it fresh.
Chop the black walnuts with a knife and cutting board or a nut chopper.
Using a food processor, coarsely chop the cranberries.
When I use cranberries in recipes, I always use a food processor to chop them, as I find this the easiest way to do the job. Also, I rarely have fresh cranberries but rather store them in my freezer. You do not need to thaw them before chopping and baking.
Make the Muffin Batter
In a large bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, ground nutmeg, cinnamon, ground ginger, baking soda, salt, and orange zest.
Cut in shortening until crumbly with a blending fork.
Using a rubber spatula, stir in the orange juice, large beaten eggs and vanilla extract until moistened.
Fold in the chopped cranberries and nuts.
Fill paper-lined muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes until golden. If you are using a scoop for this, a size 12 (2 2/3 oz – blue) or size 24 (1 1/3 oz – red) works well, for lined or unlined muffin tins.
Because I give these muffins as gifts, I almost always use paper liners. However, this is optional. If desired, you may spray the muffin tins with a baking spray instead. Please note that this recipe will make 18 average-sized muffins, so you will need more than one pan.
Alternately, you may use an extra large muffin tin to make 12 large muffins. The baking time may increase a bit for this.
Once baked, remove muffins from the baking tin to cool on a wire rack. This recipe will make up to 18 muffins.
These cranberry muffins make lovely gifts at Christmas. Or serve them at a brunch or holiday breakfast. You may also freeze them in a freezer bag up to 8 weeks.
See more Muffin Recipes Here. Browse Recipes with Cranberries Here.
Cranberry Muffins with Black Walnuts
(As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons grated orange zest
- 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
- 3/4 cup orange juice
- 2 large eggs (beaten)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups cranberries (chopped)
- 1 cup black walnuts (chopped)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F degrees. Gather your ingredients so that you have everything close at hand on the counter or table.
Prepare Ingredients
- Using a fine-edged grater, zest one orange. If desired, squeeze the juice from 2-3 oranges, enough to make 3/4 cups.
- Chop the black walnuts with a knife and cutting board or a nut chopper.
- Using a food processor, coarsely chop the cranberries.
Make the Muffin Batter
- In a large bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, ground nutmeg, cinnamon, ground ginger, baking soda, salt, and orange zest.
- Cut in shortening until crumbly.
- Stir in orange juice, large beaten eggs and vanilla extract until moistened.
- Fold in chopped cranberries and nuts.
- Fill paper-lined muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes until golden. Makes 18 muffins.
Nutrition
