Cranberry Orange Overnight Oatmeal Muffins

Cranberry Orange Overnight Oatmeal Muffins are bursting with fresh cranberries, orange zest, chocolate chunks and cinnamon. And with overnight oats as their base, these muffins are an easy addition to your holiday brunch!

This recipe was originally published in November 2017 and has been updated with new text and photos.

If you’re a long-time reader of Crumb Top Baking, you’re no stranger to overnight oatmeal muffins. Using oats soaked in milk has been my go-to muffin base for years, and this cranberry orange version is my all-time favourite. 

I originally shared this recipe last year, but I thought I would give it a little face lift, and remind you that these wholesome holiday muffins are here to fuel your Christmas festivities! 

What are Overnight Oatmeal Muffins?

You’ve probably heard of overnight oats. They’re just oats soaked in milk (usually overnight, or at least for a few hours), and topped with fruit, nuts and/or seeds for a quick and easy oatmeal breakfast.

Overnight oatmeal muffins are just overnight oats with a few extra steps. And if you like oats in your muffins, soaking them in milk (or nut milk) softens them up and is a great way to keep muffins moist.

Just start with some quick cooking rolled oats or steel-cut oats, and soak them overnight with equal parts milk. If you prep a few additional ingredients, in the morning, all you need to do is assemble the muffins and bake. In about 20 minutes, you can have warm oatmeal muffins for breakfast or brunch.

Ingredients to make these cranberry orange muffins:

• Steel-cut oats
• Almond milk
• Egg
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Orange (juice and zest)
• Whole wheat flour
• Coconut sugar
• Baking soda and salt
• Ground cinnamon
• Fresh cranberries
• Dark chocolate chunks

How do you make cranberry muffins from scratch?

• Soak the oats and milk overnight, or for at least 30-60 minutes.

• Whisk together the egg and oil. Add in the orange juice and zest, along with the oat mixture. Stir until combined.

• In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir until combined. Fold in the cranberries and chocolate chunks.

• Add the muffin batter to a prepared muffin pan and bake for 15-17 minutes.

Some tips for making Cranberry Orange Overnight Oatmeal Muffins:

• You can use rolled oats or steel-cut oats, just make sure they’re quick cooking. The steel-cut oats will take longer to absorb the milk, so you will definitely need to soak them overnight.

• For muffins with a nuttier texture, steel-cut oats are a must.

• If you’re short on time, you’ll want to use quick cooking rolled oats, and soak them for 30-60 minutes.

• When fresh cranberries are out of season, you can make these muffins with dried cranberries.

• I usually make these muffins with almond milk, but any nut milk or dairy milk will work fine.

• This recipe calls for whole wheat flour and coconut sugar, but you can easily substitute in white flour and brown sugar.

Other oatmeal muffin recipes you might like:

• Blueberry Vanilla Almond Overnight Oatmeal Muffins
• Blackberry Lemon Overnight Oatmeal Muffins
• Healthy Banana Nut Muffins

If you make these oatmeal cranberry muffins, I would love to know what you think in the comments below!

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Cranberry Orange Overnight Oatmeal Muffins

★★★★★

5 from 17 reviews

Cranberry Orange Overnight Oatmeal Muffins are bursting with fresh cranberries, orange zest, chocolate chunks and cinnamon. And with overnight oats as their base, these muffins are an easy addition to your holiday brunch!

• Author: Leanne
• Prep Time: 10 minutes (plus time for the oats to soak)
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 12 muffins 1x
• Category: Breakfast
• Method: Bake
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 cup steel-cut oats, quick cooking
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Juice and zest from half an orange
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup fresh cranberries
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chunks

Instructions

1. In a small bowl, add the oats and almond milk. Stir until combined. Cover and refrigerate overnight to allow the oats to absorb the milk.
2. Once the oats are soaked, pre-heat the oven to 425F and grease a 12-cup muffin pan. (You can also use cupcake liners).
3. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the egg and oil. Add in the orange juice and zest, along with the oat mixture, and stir until combined.
4. In another medium-sized bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir until combined. Do not over mix. Fold in the cranberries and chocolate chunks.
5. Using a cookie scoop, add the muffin batter to the prepared muffin pan. Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted into the muffins comes out clean. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
6. Store in an airtight container on the counter and enjoy within 2-3 days, or freeze for later enjoyment.

Notes

1. If you want to prep these muffins the night before, in addition to soaking the oats, you can also prepare the orange juice and zest and store in a container in the fridge. You can also stir together the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt), and leave covered on the counter.

Keywords: whole wheat muffins, oatmeal muffins, cranberry muffins