Vegan Cranberry Cornbread Muffins (Oil-Free; GF Option)

close up of a muffin with a bite taken out of one showing cranberry sauce inside.

Vegan Cranberry Cornbread Muffins (Oil-Free; GF Option)

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 18

Total Time 33

Servings:12 muffins

Author: Lori Rasmussen, My Quiet Kitchen

A little savory, sweet, AND tart, these healthy, low-fat, vegan cranberry corn muffins have cranberry sauce hidden in the middle so you get a burst of fresh cranberry in every bite! Very easy to prepare, these festive cornbread muffins are oil-free, nut-free, and easily made gluten-free.

Ingredients
US Customary | Metric

approx. ⅔ cup homemade cranberry sauce (tap for recipe) - see Notes; ready in 15 min!
1 ½ cups medium grind cornmeal
¾ cup unbleached all-purpose or gluten-free all-purpose flour - sub whole-wheat, if desired.
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup plain, unsweetened soy milk - see Notes.
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
½ cup apple sauce
⅓ cup maple syrup
1 cup cranberries, halved - fresh or frozen and thawed.

Instructions

First, head over to this cranberry sauce recipe and make a batch (or a half batch if you don't want much leftover).
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 C), and lightly spray a standard 12-cup muffin pan with oil or use muffin liners.
In a mixing bowl whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a small bowl whisk together the milk, vinegar, maple syrup, and apple sauce. Pour wet ingredients into dry, and stir to combine. Fold in the halved cranberries, reserving a palmful for decorating the tops of the muffins.
Spoon enough batter into each muffin cup to cover the bottoms. Then place about 1 ½ teaspoons of cranberry sauce in the center of each one. Evenly divide the remaining batter among the muffin pan so that the cranberry sauce is fully enclosed. Press the reserved cranberries into the tops of any muffins that look like they need a little color.
Bake for 17 to 19 minutes or until the centers are firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing.

Notes

Cranberry Sauce

To simplify things even more, feel free to skip the orange juice and zest when making the cranberry sauce. You don't need it here. Just use a splash of water to replace the juice.

Sweeten the cranberry sauce however you like, with maple syrup, as written, or with organic cane sugar as mentioned in the recipe notes.

Variations

Soy-Free - if you'd rather not use soy milk, plain almond milk or oat milk are good substitutes.
Jalapeno - I haven't actually tried this yet, but I think chopped fresh jalapeño added to the batter would be amazing! If you try this be sure to let us know in the comments below.
Nuts - add a large handful of chopped walnuts or pecans to the batter when adding the halved cranberries.

Storage

Once cool, store the muffins in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. They can also be frozen for longer storage.

Nutrition