Add some healthy sparkle to your holiday season with these Sugar Plum Citrus-Cranberry Sparkle Muffins. They are vegan, gluten free and tofu-infused! Made using oat flour, these tender, sassy-sweet muffins are filled with tart cranberry, orange-spice flavor in every sweet bite. Grab a bag of fresh cranberries and make these festive little gems..
Leftover. Berries. I bought too many fresh cranberry bags for Thanksgiving. So instead of tossing them in my crowded freezer, I made these! I love this easy, healthy way to use up fresh cranberries.
These muffins have a very unique texture since they have so much silken tofu in the batter. They fluffy on the edges and top and kind of like a sponge cake inside. I loved them warmed up the next day with a steamy mug of tea.
Add Nuts. You could toss in some chopped walnuts or pecans to add a nutty crunch to these muffins too!
Each muffin is around 170 calories. (nutrition estimate below)
Sugar Plum Cranberry Sparkle Muffins
vegan, makes 12 muffins
¾ cup agave syrup or vegan sugar
1 ¾ cups oat flour (about 2 cups rolled oats, processed in food processor or Vitamix)
12 ounces silken tofu (room temperature)
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
12 ounces fresh cranberries (one standard bag)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon orange juice + 1 teaspoon orange zest
2 tablespoon freshly ground flax seeds
3 tablespoon melted coconut oil
optional: a few dashes cayenne
crumbly sparkle topping: pinch of orange zest, vegan white sugar, rolled oats and ground flax on top of each muffin
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
1. In a large soup pot, add the twelve ounces of cranberries and agave syrup (or sugar). Boil until the cranberries just start to burst, then remove from heat. Using a fork, lightly mash about half the berries, leaving the other half whole and soft. Set aside.
2. In a blender.. Blend tofu with vanilla extract, orange juice, flax seeds, coconut oil and 1 cup of the warmed/smashed cranberries.
3. In a large mixing bowl, blend the oat flour, cinnamon, salt, orange zest, baking powder and optional cayenne.
4. Pour the tofu mixture into the dry bowl and fold until combined. Fold in the remaining cranberries.
5. Grease or line a muffin tin. Fill muffin cups. Top each muffin with a sprinkle of sugar, orange zest, oats and ground flax.
6. Bake muffins for ten minutes at 400 degrees, then another ten minutes at 350.
Cool before serving, the tofu will make the insides quite soft and tender fresh from the oven.
Store in the fridge or freezer and reheat to serve.
Delicious with "cinnamon sugar"-vegan butter, aka maple syrup whipped with cinnamon and vegan buttery spread or coconut oil.
Messy Mia says
Kathy what i replace the silken tofu with? I'm allergic to soy. Thanks for all your great recpes:)
linda says
Thanks Kathy for the response - that makes sense but mixing in the cranberries with the tofu in the blender was what really colored the batter. When I combined the wet mix w/ the dry it was already very pink/red. Could the recipe work to add all the smashed berries at the end and then fold lightly as suggested? The taste was still very good... thanks!
Kathy Patalsky says
The fold was very gentle, 1-2 stirs only and then unloaded the batter directly into the hot oven spot did not have time to spread and kept its golden color with a swirl of red. Over folding the berries would effect both color and texture.
linda says
These tasted great but mine turned out quite sad looking - very red (due to mixing in smashed cranberries) - not a touch of golden like your's and did not smooth out nicely when baked. Wondering how yours baked up so brown and normal looking - followed everything as directed.
Lindsay M says
What if I already threw my abundant cranberries into the freezer? Can I thaw and get the same results?
Guest says
Looks and sounds so good!
Bob says
+1000000 Starbucks and Peets, we want these!
Crystal Elston says
YUM! They look so freaking delicious. This is the kind of muffin that I want to see when I walk into a coffee shop and want a healthy treat...although we all know we pretty much aren't getting vegan options at SBUX. Awesome...can't wait to make these for our vegan food meetup group. Beautiful!
marlies says
Yes!!! I have a box of silken tofu that's just been waiting for the perfect occasion and I think I've found it! I made your pumpkin blueberry muffins with cranberries instead last week and my dad and brother devoured them so fast I made another batch before I left 🙂
I'm looking forward to making these!
Kathy Patalsky says
Thanks Heather! 🙂
Heather McClees says
Kathy, these are GORGEOUS! Don't you just love how cranberries and pomegranates and raspberries shine this time of year?:) They add a little sparkle wherever they're added:) I love the oat topping too:) Such a nice touch!