This week our ingredient was cranberries. I decided to try and make something from ingredients I already had around the house. I didn’t have any fresh or frozen cranberries, so I decided to use orange-flavored dried cranberries I had on hand.
I chose to make pumpkin muffins that contained spices and the cranberries, and a streusel topping. I wasn’t sure how they were going to turn out, as messing around with recipes for baked goods doesn’t always produce good results. But these were wonderful. I started with a recipe for a sweet potato muffin that was a healthier recipe with less butter, less sugar, and whole wheat flour. I adapted it so much from that original recipe that I don’t think it resembled it at all.
These muffins are still lower in fat and sugar than many are, and have some whole wheat flour in them. So while not low-fat, they’re definitely more healthy than your neighborhood bakery’s. What really suprised me was the texture. They were light with a tender crumb. These will be added to my recipe file to make in the future. I calculated the Weight Watchers Plus points, and there are 6 points per muffin.
My complimentary ingredients to the cranberries were cinnamon, cloves, ginger,, pumpkin, SUGAR, vanilla, and walnuts.

Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins with Streusel Topping
Yield: 12 muffins
Vegetable Oil or Spray for coating pan
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3 tablespoon dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 cup milk (I used 1%)
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt (I used non-fat)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup dried cranberries
Topping (See below)
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Oil 12 muffin capacity muffin tin.
2. Cream butter and sugars until fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add pumpkin and beat until thoroughly mixed.
3. In medium bowl, sift together flours, baking powder, soda, salt, and spices.
4. In separate bowl, whisk milk, yogurt, egg and vanilla.
5. Alternately add the dry and wet ingredients until combined. Do not overmix.
6. Gently stir in the dried cranberries.
7. Divide among the 12 muffin cups. Top with the streusel topping.
8. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
9. Remove from pan and serve.
Streusel Topping1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
1/8 cup finely chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Place all ingredients except butter in a small bowl and mix to combine. Add butter, and using your fingers, squish butter into mixture until only tiny pieces are left.