These sweet and savory Cranberry Cornbread Muffins are the perfect holiday morning muffins using up your leftover cranberry sauce! They come together quickly, but can also be made ahead and frozen for an easy and festive breakfast or brunch. They make a great on-the-go breakfast and lunchbox snack as well!
These leftover cranberry sauce cornbread muffins are popular around the holiday season and perfect for a holiday breakfast or brunch, or any time you have leftover cranberry sauce. You can also serve them as a side dish. These cornbread cranberry muffins are also naturally dairy-free!
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Although I love cranberry sauce, I inevitably end up with lots of leftovers. These days, I'm the only one who really eat it. Hey, it's got gravy as it's competition, and that’s some pretty stiff competition.
The good news is that homemade cranberry sauce can last in the refrigerator for about 10 to 14 days, and canned cranberry sauce that has been opened will last for up to a week in the fridge. This is longer than most of your holiday leftovers!
Still, I always struggled with what to do with my leftover cranberry sauce, hence the reason why I've come up with these leftover cranberry sauce recipes. And once you try these leftover cranberry sauce muffins, you’ll be grateful for your leftover cranberry sauce!
My Cranberry Aioli is another great leftover cranberry sauce recipe, as is my Leftover Cranberry Sauce Coffee Cake (with Coffee Glaze).
🥘 Ingredient Notes
My mom made cornmeal muffins, more commonly known as cornbread muffins, all the time. So I decided to take her beloved recipe and mess with it, as I'm known to do. I wanted to find a way to use up cranberry sauce and add some protein (hello, bacon!) to this muffin to make it into a really satisfying sweet and savory morning meal, in the form of a muffin. That is how these Cranberry Sauce Muffins were born...
You don't need fresh cranberries for this cranberry cornmeal muffins recipe, but you will need:
- Leftover canned cranberry sauce. Whole cranberry sauce works better than jellied, in my experience. Although I've used both, the jellied doesn't look quite as nice (I used it in the process shots and used the whole cranberry in the main photos.)
- Cornmeal. You can use white cornmeal instead of yellow. It works just as well and the flavor will remain similar, but the muffins' color will be lighter.
- Vegetable shortening. I prefer to use Crisco brand, but you can use any shortening. Using shortening is a natural way to make them dairy-free.
- Bacon Bits. I use real turkey bacon bits because they are lighter and healthier. I simply cook up the turkey bacon and finely chop it.
- Maple extract. Maple extract gives this muffin a burst of concentrated maple flavor while minimizing the sugar.
- Maple syrup. I use a reduced sugar maple syrup.
*Please see recipe card for full list of ingredients and quantities
📖 Variations & Substitutions
- Shortening - if you don't like to use shortening because of the trans fats, you can use coconut oil or butter instead.
- Vegetarian- you can skip the bacon and make these vegetarian!
- Cranberry sauce - you can use a store-bought (canned cranberry sauce) or homemade cranberry sauce.
- Maple syrup - you can use pure maple syrup instead of reduced sugar or regular syrup and add another ½ teaspoon of maple extract.
🔪Step-by-Step: How to Make Cranberry Cornmeal Muffins
PREP: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F/205 degrees C. Generously spray muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray (or use parchment muffin cups).
- Step 1: In a large bowl, mix flour, cornmeal and baking powder and set aside.
- Step 2: In a separate medium bowl, cream shortening and sugar.
- Step 3: Add orange juice, orange zest, syrup, maple extract, and beaten eggs and whisk together. *Don't worry if the shortening is lumpy because it will be combined in the next step.
- Step 4: Combine dry ingredients and wet ingredients.
- Step 5: Fold in bacon bits.
- Step 6: Spoon muffin batter into each muffin cup to ½ full. Drop approximately 2 teaspoons of cranberry sauce onto the batter. Then, add the batter to fill up the muffin cup and swirl it with a knife, swirling it down to the bottom and up and around.
- Bake in preheated oven for 12- 15 minutes or until tester/toothpick comes out clean and muffins are lightly browned. *It may take 15-20 minutes for you, as I live at a higher altitude. Cool for 5 minutes in muffin pan, then remove to wire rack to continue cooling. Serve warm or cold, with a little butter (if desired).
Expert Recipe Tips
- Use whole cranberry sauce (if possible). For the best look, go with whole cranberry sauce—it holds its shape better and looks more appealing than jellied.
- Don't drain your leftover cranberry sauce. Leftover cranberry sauce will begin to separate the longer it sits in the fridge, but don't drain it! Instead, whisk it until it comes together before adding it to the recipe.
- Don't overmix the batter. Once you combine the wet and dry ingredients, mix just until incorporated. Overmixing can lead to tough, dense muffins instead of light and tender ones.
- Use parchment baking cups or generously spray the muffin tin. Cornmeal-based muffins can stick more than regular ones. Parchment muffin liners or a good non-stick spray will ensure easy release.
- Swirl gently for best results. When swirling in the cranberry sauce, use a butter knife or toothpick and swirl just enough to distribute it without fully blending it into the batter. This gives you those gorgeous cranberry ribbons and pockets of flavor.
- Don’t skip the orange zest. Even a little bit of zest adds a big punch of fresh citrus flavor that really brightens the muffins and complements the cranberry.
- Adjust baking time for altitude. At higher altitudes (like where I live), baked goods may take longer. Start checking at 12 minutes, but don’t be surprised if they need 18–20 minutes. Use the toothpick or cake tester test!
- Use real bacon bits for better texture. Store-bought bacon bits work in a pinch, but finely chopped, cooked bacon (preferably turkey bacon) will give you a much better bite and smoky flavor.
- Try them with butter or cream cheese. These muffins are delicious on their own, but spreading on a little butter or even some whipped cream cheese takes them to the next level—especially when warm!
🌡️Storage
These Cranberry cornmeal muffins can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container, for up to a day, then they should be moved into the fridge for up to 3 additional days. This recipe freezes well for up to 3 months (in a sealed container or Ziplock freezer bag).
👪 Serving size
This cranberry corn muffins recipe makes 24 cranberry sauce muffins. If you make them a little bigger, you'll get 18. You can half, double or triple this recipe by simply clicking on the serving size in the recipe card and selecting the number of servings you'd like. The ingredient amounts will adjust accordingly.
❔ Recipe FAQs
Absolutely. Reduce the baking time to about 9–11 minutes for mini muffins, but keep an eye on them as oven temperatures may vary.
It’s best to bake the muffins right after mixing, as the leavening starts to react once combined. However, you can prep the dry and wet ingredients separately and mix just before baking.
Swirling is recommended to help distribute the cranberry flavor throughout the muffin, but it’s totally fine to leave it as a layered center if you prefer a surprise burst of cranberry inside.
If you are looking for easy canned cranberry sauce recipes, these leftover cranberry sauce muffins are perfect for using up those Thanksgiving leftovers or Christmas dinner leftovers. This muffin can also be eaten warm, cold, on the go, for breakfast, as a snack, and is a great lunch box addition!
And if you love cornbread quick bread recipes, you'll love these Leftover Cranberry Cornbread muffins, but you'll also want to give my Blueberry Cornbread a try too!
More Breakfast Muffins
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📋 Cranberry Cornbread Muffins (with leftover cranberry sauce) Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups cornmeal
- 2 ⅔ tablespoon baking powder
- ⅔ cup shortening softened
- ⅓ cup white granulated sugar
- 2 eggs beaten
- ⅔ cup real bacon bits You can use real bacon finely chopped (about 6 slices) or lighten it up with turkey bacon or store-bought bacon bits
- ½ teaspoon maple extract
- 1 cup orange juice
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- ⅔ cup maple syrup * low sugar/no sugar added
- 1 cup canned cranberry sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F/205 degrees C. Generously spray muffin pan with non- stick cooking spray (or use parchment muffin cups).
- In a large bowl, mix flour, cornmeal and baking powder and set aside.
- In a separate medium bowl, cream shortening and sugar. Add orange juice, orange zest, syrup, maple extract and beaten eggs.
- Combine dry ingredients and wet ingredients. Fold in bacon bits.
- Spoon muffin batter into each muffin cup to ½ full.Drop approximately 2 teaspoons of cranberry sauce onto the batter. Then add the batter to fill up the muffin cup and swirl with a knife, swirling down to the bottom and up and around.
- Bake in preheated oven for 12- 15 minutes or until tester/toothpick comes out clean and muffins are lightly browned. *It may take 15-20 minutes for you, as I live at a higher altitude.
- Cool for 5 minutes in muffin pan, then remove to wire rack to continue cooling.
- Serve warm or cold, with a little butter (if desired)
Notes
-
- Use whole cranberry sauce (if possible). For the best look, go with whole cranberry sauce—it holds its shape better and looks more appealing than jellied.
-
- Don't drain your leftover cranberry sauce. Leftover cranberry sauce will begin to separate the longer it sits in the fridge. But don't drain it! Instead, whisk it until it comes together.
-
- Don't overmix the batter. Once you combine the wet and dry ingredients, mix just until incorporated. Overmixing can lead to tough, dense muffins instead of light and tender ones.
-
- Use parchment baking cups or generously spray the muffin tin. Cornmeal-based muffins can stick more than regular ones. Parchment muffin liners or a good non-stick spray will ensure easy release.
-
- Swirl gently for best results. When swirling in the cranberry sauce, use a butter knife or toothpick and swirl just enough to distribute it without fully blending it into the batter. This gives you those gorgeous cranberry ribbons and pockets of flavor.
-
- Don’t skip the orange zest. Even a little bit of zest adds a big punch of fresh citrus flavor that really brightens the muffins and complements the cranberry.
-
- Adjust baking time for altitude. At higher altitudes (like where I live), baked goods may take longer. Start checking at 12 minutes, but don’t be surprised if they need 18–20 minutes. Use the toothpick or cake tester test!
-
- Use real bacon bits for better texture. Store-bought bacon bits work in a pinch, but finely chopped, cooked bacon (preferably turkey bacon) will give you a much better bite and smoky flavor.
-
- Try them with butter or cream cheese. These muffins are delicious on their own, but spreading on a little butter or even some whipped cream cheese takes them to the next level—especially when warm!
Terri Gilson
These Cranberry Cornbread Muffins are such a fun way to use up leftover cranberry sauce, which always seems to be in abundance after the holidays. The combo of sweet cranberry and savory bacon in a cornbread muffin is unexpectedly delicious. They're perfect for a holiday breakfast or brunch, and I'm always excited to have an excuse to make them.
Ronit
These look delicious! Great way of using leftover cranberries. 🙂
Terri Gilson
Thanks - hope you get a chance to try them !