Amazing 12 Leftover cranberry sauce muffins

Okay, Christmas is over, Thanksgiving has packed up, and suddenly you look in the fridge and see that lonely, slightly sad-looking bowl of leftover cranberry sauce staring back at you. Don’t you dare toss it! When life gets hectic—and trust me, I know all about juggling things after years in marketing—the last thing you want is a complicated recipe. That’s why I developed these Leftover cranberry sauce muffins. They are my absolute favorite way to use up that beautiful, tart stuff immediately. Forget the fancy feast; these simple, tender muffins transform that tartness instantly into a perfect sweet tart breakfast treat. I promise, these are reliable because I perfected them for those rushed Tuesday mornings when I still needed something homemade!

Why You Will Love These Leftover Cranberry Sauce Muffins

Honestly, why wouldn’t you love them? They solve a real holiday problem and taste amazing. I designed this recipe for speed and flavor, which is what we all need on a busy morning.

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• You are successfully using up that leftover cranberry sauce – no waste here!
• They bake up super fast; we’re talking half an hour from start to finish.
• The flavor is the perfect sweet tart breakfast combination—bright yet comforting.
• That brown sugar streusel on top adds the most satisfying crunch!

Ingredients Needed for Perfect Leftover Cranberry Sauce Muffins

Gathering ingredients is the easiest part of this bake, I promise. You just need standard pantry stuff plus that beautiful leftover cranberry sauce. Getting the right measurements here is the key to those melt-in-your-mouth results. Trust me, I learned the hard way that you can’t just guess how much sugar you need—it throws the whole thing off!

For the Muffin Batter

These are the basics that make up the fluffy, tender body of our cranberry sauce muffins. The sauce is doing a lot of heavy lifting here, adding moisture and that wonderful tartness that cuts through the sweetness.

• 1 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar (not brown, we want that clean sweetness!)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted completely
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup milk (whole milk works best for richness)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup leftover cranberry sauce (jellied or whole berry, both work!)

For the Crunchy Streusel Topping

This topping is non-negotiable, in my opinion. It adds a lovely textural surprise right against the softness of the leftover cranberry sauce muffins. Make sure your butter is cold for the best crumble.

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar (make sure it’s packed tight!)
• 1/4 cup (which is half a stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into little bitty pieces
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Step-by-Step Instructions for Leftover Cranberry Sauce Muffins

This is where the magic happens, but remember, speed is good, but gentle handling is better! We get this done fast, but we don’t want to sacrifice texture. If you are rushing and feel like these need more time, check out my tips for perfectly tender scones—the same rule about overmixing applies here!

Prepare Oven and Streusel

First things first, let’s get that oven warmed up. Preheat it to 400 degrees F. While it’s heating, grease your 12-cup muffin tin really well, or use paper liners, which is always my preference when I’m in a hurry. Now, for the streusel! In a small bowl, just toss the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon together. Then use your fingers—they work better than any gadget, trust me—to pinch in that cold, cubed butter until it looks like sweet, sandy crumbs. Set this aside; we need it at the end.

Mixing the Leftover Cranberry Sauce Muffins Batter

Time to combine! Grab a big bowl and give your dry ingredients—flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt—a quick whisk to make friends. In a separate dish, lightly whisk the melted butter, egg, milk, and vanilla. Pour the wet stuff into the dry stuff and mix with a spatula *just* until you stop seeing flour streaks. Seriously, stop mixing! A few lumps are your friends here; overmixing is how you end up with tough, chewy muffins instead of the soft leftover cranberry sauce muffins we are aiming for. Now, gently fold in that cup of cranberry sauce, just a few turns until it streaks start going away.

Baking and Cooling Your Leftover Cranberry Sauce Muffins

Spoon that beautiful, swirly batter evenly into your prepared cups—fill them about two-thirds of the way up. Give every muffin a generous sprinkle of that streusel topping we made earlier. Pop them into the hot oven and bake them for 18 to 20 minutes. You know they are ready when a toothpick slides in and comes out mostly clean. Don’t jump the gun! Let them sit right there in the hot pan for five minutes before you carefully move them to a wire rack. That little rest keeps them from falling apart when you take them out.

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Tips for Success with Your Leftover Cranberry Sauce Muffins

Even though this recipe is super forgiving—and trust me, I need forgiving recipes when I’m trying to coordinate a bunch of things at once—there are a couple of little things that make the difference between great and absolutely phenomenal cranberry sauce muffins.

My biggest piece of advice, and you’re going to hear me repeat this until I’m blue in the face, is about mixing. I remember one disastrous batch of biscuits where I just kept stirring because I couldn’t stand seeing that white powder. Oops! They came out like hockey pucks. For these muffins, you must stop mixing when the batter is barely combined. The flour just needs to hydrate, not develop structure. Those few lumps you see are where the tenderness is hiding.

Also, think about your melted butter versus your liquid milk. Since you’re melting the butter, make sure the mixture has cooled down just slightly before you add the egg. If it’s too hot, you’ll end up scrambling that poor egg right in the batter, and that doesn’t help the rise or the texture at all. A slight chill is perfect.

Finally, the streusel! You want that topping to stay crumbly and crunchy, not melt into a greasy sheet across the tops of these sweet delights. The key is making sure that butter you cut in is truly cold—straight from the fridge is ideal. If your kitchen is warm, just pop the streusel mixture into the freezer for five minutes right after you make it. That contrast between the cold topping and the hot oven is pure texture genius.

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions for Leftover Cranberry Sauce Muffins

I get so many questions about adapting recipes, probably because I know how frustrating it is when you realize you are one ingredient short! Don’t panic if your leftover situation isn’t exactly what I used. These cranberry sauce muffins are pretty flexible, which is part of why I love them so much for using up what you have on hand.

For example, when it comes to the cranberry sauce itself, you might have the beautiful, chunky whole-berry kind, or maybe you have that smooth, glistening jelly left over. Both are fantastic! If you use the whole-berry type, it’s perfect as is. If your sauce is super thick, like a jam, I sometimes thin it out *just* a tiny bit—maybe a teaspoon of water or even a squeeze of orange juice—to help it fold into the batter without deflating all those lovely air bubbles we worked so hard to incorporate.

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What about the milk? If you are out of regular milk, don’t sweat it. You can absolutely substitute it with buttermilk if you have some hiding in the fridge. Buttermilk will make the muffins a touch more tender and give you a slightly greater tang, which plays nicely with the cranberry; just don’t add any extra baking soda or powder if you swap it in. You can also use heavy cream thinned with an equal amount of water, or even plain yogurt diluted slightly. The main thing is keeping that liquid measure correct so you don’t mess up that perfect batter consistency.

And speaking of adjustments, I’ve seen people try to lower the sugar because they think the sauce is sweet enough. I’d caution you against taking too much out! White sugar does important work in these muffins beyond just sweetness—it helps keep them tender and adds moisture during baking, especially since we aren’t using any oil in the main batter besides the butter. Keep that sugar amount where it’s written for the best sweet tart breakfast result.

Serving Suggestions for This Sweet Tart Breakfast Treat

Once these leftover cranberry sauce muffins are cooled down just enough, the only thing left to do is figure out the best way to devour them! Truthfully, they are fantastic all on their own, especially when they are still slightly warm from the oven, and the streusel is just starting to get that perfect crispness.

If you really want to elevate this simple bake, try slicing one in half horizontally. A little schmear of softened cream cheese is heavenly against that tart cranberry swirl. It’s like taking a simple muffin and turning it into a miniature scone experience. Don’t overthink it; you want the cranberry flavor to shine.

And naturally, these scream “morning coffee companion.” The bright, slightly acidic cranberry flavor cuts right through the richness of a good dark roast or a creamy latte. They are satisfying enough for a quick breakfast treat when you’re rushing out the door, but delicious enough that you’ll want to slow down and savor every bite!

Storage and Reheating Instructions for Leftover Cranberry Sauce Muffins

Now, these cranberry sauce muffins disappear fast because they are just so good, but if you somehow manage to have leftovers—or if you want to bake a double batch to have ready for the week—we need to talk storage. We definitely don’t want that beautiful streusel topping getting soft and sad, right?

For short-term storage, like the next couple of days, an airtight container is your best friend. Don’t put them in the fridge unless your kitchen gets extremely hot and humid! Cold air tends to dry out baked goods faster, and we worked hard to keep these moist. Just keep them on the counter at room temperature, and they should stay pretty fresh for about three days. If you notice condensation building up in the container, that means they are too warm, so peel the lid back for an hour or so.

Keeping Them Fresh for Post-Holiday Baking

If you are playing the long game and trying to use up your cranberry sauce stash over the next month, the freezer is the way to go. I often bake extra because I know I’ll want a quick breakfast treat down the road. You can absolutely freeze these leftover cranberry sauce muffins successfully!

Here’s how I do it: Once they are completely cool—and I mean totally cool, or they’ll get icy—wrap each muffin tightly in plastic wrap first. Then, tuck those wrapped beauties into a large, heavy-duty freezer bag. Try to squeeze all the air out before sealing. They are good in the freezer for up to three months. If you’re looking for other freezer-friendly ideas, I’ve got a bunch of great tips for make-ahead breakfasts that save time later!

How to Reheat Muffins and Reclaim That Crunch

Reheating is crucial, especially because we want to bring back that buttery streusel crunch we topped these with. Microwaving is fast, but it makes things steamy and soft, which is the opposite of what we want for the topping.

For the best texture, I highly recommend using a toaster oven or a regular oven. Pop the muffin (unwrapped!) directly onto the rack or a baking sheet. Heat at about 325 degrees F for just 5 to 7 minutes. This gently warms the muffin interior all the way through while crisping up that delicious sugary topping again. If you’re in a massive rush, you can microwave it for about 15 seconds, but then you absolutely have to check the streusel, or you might be disappointed!

Frequently Asked Questions About Leftover Cranberry Sauce Muffins

It’s natural to have questions when you’re taking a staple like leftover cranberry sauce and turning it into something new! I get lots of inquiries after the holidays about how to best handle these leftovers, so let’s clear up a few things about making these cranberry sauce muffins. Don’t worry, these are great for any time of year when you just need a quick, sweet tart breakfast! If you have more questions after trying these out, feel free to reach out via my contact page.

Can I use homemade cranberry sauce instead of canned for these muffins?

Absolutely, yes! In fact, I love when people use their homemade sauce—it often has better flavor! The only thing you really need to watch out for is the consistency, especially if you’re used to the super firm texture of jellied canned sauce. If your homemade sauce is much thinner or runnier than what I described in the notes, you might want to gently heat it in a saucepan and let it simmer for a few minutes to reduce it slightly. We don’t want to add too much extra liquid to the batter, or it can affect the rise. If it’s about the same consistency as thick applesauce, you’re good to go!

How do I make sure my muffins are tender and not dry?

This is the number one question for any muffin recipe, and for these leftover cranberry sauce muffins, we combat dryness in two ways. First, the cranberry sauce itself traps moisture beautifully. Second, you have to obey the golden rule: DO NOT OVERMIX! Once you add the wet ingredients to the dry, mix only until you see the flour streaks disappear. Seriously, stop stirring. I know it seems wrong, but that tiny bit of under-mixing creates a tender crumb. Overworking the batter develops gluten, making them chewy and dense, which is the opposite of what we want in a good post-holiday baking treat!

Can I skip the streusel topping on these cranberry sauce muffins?

You certainly *can* skip the streusel, but I’d be sad for you! Think about the texture contrast—the muffin interior is soft, moist, and slightly jammy from the cranberries. The streusel topping, made with cold butter and brown sugar, bakes up crunchy and buttery. It really provides that needed textural break in every bite. If you skip it, you might want to brush the tops with a bit of milk before baking, or just dust them with powdered sugar after they cool. It’s totally optional, but trust me, that crunch is worth the extra five minutes of work!

Estimated Nutritional Information for Leftover Cranberry Sauce Muffins

Now, I’m no nutritionist, and I try not to stress too much about the numbers when I’m turning leftovers into something delicious—I focus more on making sure we don’t waste food! But since people often ask, I threw together the estimated nutritional information for one of these cranberry sauce muffins based on the recipe details. Keep in mind, this is just an estimate! If you use full-fat yogurt instead of milk, or if your leftover cranberry sauce was packed with extra sugar, those numbers are going to shift a little bit.

For standard ingredients following this recipe exactly, here is what you are generally looking at for a single, satisfying sweet tart breakfast muffin:

• Calories: Approximately 280 calories
• Fat: Around 14 grams (9 grams of that is saturated fat from the butter, so enjoy responsibly!)
• Carbohydrates: About 36 grams
• Protein: Roughly 4 grams
• Sugar: This one runs a bit high, coming in around 22 grams—remember, we are using sugar in the batter *and* the streusel! That’s what makes it a treat, though.

My job is to get you a comforting, reliable bake on the table quickly. If you are trying to stick to a specific diet, you might want to check out some of my other recipes that focus more on macros, but for an easy post-holiday baking solution, these cranberry sauce muffins are just perfect for enjoying without guilt!

Share Your Sweet Tart Breakfast Creation

Well, that’s it! We took a leftover ingredient that was probably just gathering dust in the fridge and turned it into a genuinely wonderful sweet tart breakfast treat. I really hope you make a batch of these excellent leftover cranberry sauce muffins because watching your audience engage is truly the best part of running this little kitchen blog!

I put my heart and soul into making sure this recipe is reliable, so I would love it if you came back to let me know how they turned out for you. Did the streusel get perfectly crunchy? Did that tart cranberry swirl just sing against the sweet muffin base? Please take a moment to leave a rating right below the recipe card—even just a quick star rating tells me a ton about what’s working for you all. Knowing that my recipes help simplify your busy life, just like they help mine, is why I’m here.

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And please, please jump over to social media and share a photo of your finished muffins! Tag me so I can see your beautiful bakes. It feels like we are all crowded around my kitchen table sharing these treats together when I see pictures pop up. I started Carla’s Cooking because I believe home cooking is an act of love, and seeing you all bake for your friends and family is the greatest compliment I can receive. If you want to learn more about my own journey back to baking, you can always check out my little About Me page!

Happy baking, everyone. I’m already looking forward to hearing about your wonderful sweet tart breakfasts!

Leftover Cranberry Sauce Muffins with Streusel Topping

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Use up extra cranberry sauce in these simple, tender muffins that feature a bright, tart cranberry swirl and a crunchy streusel top. A perfect sweet tart breakfast treat.

• Author: Carla Davis
• Prep Time: 15 min
• Cook Time: 20 min
• Total Time: 35 min
• Yield: 12 muffins 1x
• Category: Breakfast
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: American
• Diet: Vegetarian

Ingredients

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• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup leftover cranberry sauce
• For the Streusel:
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

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Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease well.
2. Prepare the streusel: In a small bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Cut in the cold butter using your fingers or a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.
3. Make the muffin batter: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt.
4. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, egg, milk, and vanilla extract until combined.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix gently with a spatula until just combined. Do not overmix; a few lumps are fine.
6. Gently fold in the cranberry sauce. Mix only until streaks of the sauce disappear into the batter.
7. Divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups, filling each about two-thirds full.
8. Sprinkle the prepared streusel topping evenly over the top of the batter in each cup.
9. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
10. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

• If your cranberry sauce is very thick, you can thin it slightly with 1 teaspoon of water or orange juice before folding it into the batter.
• These muffins are great for post-holiday baking when you need quick ideas for using up leftovers.
• For a different flavor profile, consider this recipe as an alternative to complex meal planning when you want a simple, satisfying bake.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 muffin
• Calories: 280
• Sugar: 22
• Sodium: 180
• Fat: 14
• Saturated Fat: 9
• Unsaturated Fat: 5
• Trans Fat: 0
• Carbohydrates: 36
• Fiber: 1
• Protein: 4
• Cholesterol: 45