These flourless double chocolate orange cranberry muffins are gluten-free, grain-free, oil-free, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free, but so soft and flavourful that you’d never be able to tell they’re healthy! Whipped up in the blender in under 5 minutes flat, they make a delicious breakfast or snack!
I’ve always been a tad bit jealous of Americans and their epic Thanksgiving celebrations. I mean, we still celebrate a Thanksgiving up here in Canada, but ours tends to sneak up on us in the earlier part of October and then sneak right off without making much of a fuss. We still get the food prep, the family get-togethers, and the “I wish I wore stretchy pants” dinners, but what we don’t get is the warm and cozy feeling of it being the beginning of the holiday season… and that’s what I want the most.
Normally I just wait for December 1st to start prepping for the holidays, but I’d love to celebrate the beginning of the holiday season with another big holiday… if that makes sense.
Thankfully, being part of the blog world means I get to pick up on (and participate in) some of the holiday excitement… which may or may not be why I had the Christmas music playing while whipping up this batch of flourless double chocolate orange cranberry muffins.
And, yes, I realize that title is quite the mouthful, but it’s a mouthful of a ridiculously soft and fluffy chocolate muffin studded with bits of cranberry and hints of orange…. which is probably my very favourite holiday flavour combo. I love it almost as much as I love seeing people gape at me in disbelief when I tell them that the soft and fluffy muffin they’re currently enjoying is made without flour.
But it’s true! There’s not a speck of flour in these little guys; and to take things a step further, they’re actually made without any grains at all. This makes them perfect for anyone following a gluten-free or grain-free diet, especially since they’re also low in refined sugars.
The secret is in the combination of the nut butter and egg, which not only helps keep these muffins super moist, but adds a nice little boost of protein, vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats. And to make things even better, the batter is whipped up in the blender in about 30 seconds, meaning less cleanup and more time to attend to other things. Like decorating. And writing our holiday cards. Snap… I really need to get on that.
Happy eating!
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Flourless Double Chocolate Orange Cranberry Muffins
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 9 muffins 1x
Ingredients
- ½ cup almond butter*
- 1 ripe medium banana (~100g)
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 Tbsp. ground flaxseed**
- 2 Tbsp. grated orange peel
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- ¼ cup chocolate chips
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F and prepare a muffin pan by spraying 9 cavities with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Add all ingredients except for chocolate chips and cranberries to a high-speed blender or food processor and blend on high until batter is smooth and creamy. Stir in chocolate chips and cranberries by hand.
- Pour batter into prepared muffin pan, filling each cavity until it is about ¾ full. Sprinkle the top with additional chocolate chips, if desired.
- Bake for 15 -18 minutes, until the tops of your muffins are set and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool in pan for ~10 minutes before removing. Store in an air-tight container for up to a week.
Notes
* I like to use almond butter because the flavour is a lot more mild and doesn’t shine through in the muffins too much. But if you don’t have any AB on hand, you can easily sub this with another nut butter. Or use a seed or soy nut butter to make this nut-free. ** You can also sub this with 1 Tbsp. coconut flour.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
Eggs have always had 14 important vitamins and nutrients including protein, iron and vitamin A. Natural goodness, brought to you by your local egg farmers.
For more information about the natural goodness of eggs, visit eggs.ca.
Disclosure: This post was brought to you by Egg Farmers of Canada via Mode Media Canada. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Egg Farmers of Canada.
A.mazing!
Just made these for a second time- double batch. They are outstanding!!
I’m so glad you like them, Asha! Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know 🙂
These taste amazing!! The texture is moist and perfect- if I hadn’t made them you couldn’t tell me these were flourless. You muffin recipes are really good – thank you!
Is this recipe missing the oats (like your other flourless muffins have)? Or is something different about this one. I make your pumpkin pie muffins all the time and wanted to try a different variation. Thanks!
Nope! No oats his this recipe. The cocoa powder is enough dry ingredient to keep things together 🙂
Ok just checking- thank you! Can’t wait to try these.
Do you think I could use frozen, whole cranberries?
It should work, Talea, but frozen cranberries tend to be a lot more tart so the muffins probably wouldn’t be as sweet.
Oh my! These look so good! And flourless too which is amazing. I have been eating gluten free now for a few months- so these are very much appreciative! I love that they are flourless too and not having to use a gluten free flour! Hope the Tree Trimmings went well! I guess that means I am behind already on all the Christmas decorating…oh well.
Anything double chocolate is bound to be the Hubby’s favorite. Anything orange means there’s a chance I’ll actually make them. 🙂
Shoot, I need to buy Christmas cards, and put up the lights and get a tree and buy presents. Actually, I’m excited to tackle some of that this weekend. Bring on the holidays.
Those are on my weekend to-do list as well
Hopefully my tree doesn’t crush me when I try taking it out of storage…
okay just stop. I need to not read these when full…or hungry for that matter!
Oh dear gosh – these muffins look amazing! I’d give up my Thanksgiving eats for these in a heartbeat! So so love that they look this amazing and are gluten-free and refined sugar free! I have cards to write too and decorations to put up – we are a little behind this year as my daughter and I decided to paint our living room first – and these muffins would be perfect to keep me fueled through both painting and card writing!
A fresh coat of paint is such a nice way to liven up a room! But oi is it ever tiring. I helped my parents paint their living room and kitchen a few weeks back, and I couldn’t believe how beat I was. Chocolate was a lifesaver for sure.
the fact that you threw cranberries in the mix with orange and chocolate makes my gluten free heart swoon. haha. Tart, sweet, chocolatey GOODNESS! #eggcellent 😉
Aw, now I feel bad for rubbing Thanksgiving in your face! To tell you the truth, I kind of wish ours was earlier in the year. That way we could have Christmas lights up for another month! It’s such a pretty time of year and it just flies right by.
But any ways, these muffins are perfect!! I love the sound of chocolate with cranberry and orange. I could eat them all day and all night long! 🙂
Maybe we should scrap the idea of having separate ones and just meet somewhere in the middle
Your muffin creations are my favorite. So simply and tasty!
Oh my goodness these look incredible!! Love the mix of classic chocolate and seasonable cranberries! Going to add these to my Thanksgiving brunch menu 🙂
Amanda these look INCREDIBLE. Like, woah. Can’t believe all the goodness happening here.
Also, I’m jealous of Canadian Thanksgiving because it is still camping weather, and our Canadian friends always go camping and have a massive spread and it is magical! 😀 But I get what you’re saying about the holiday, cozy feeling too 😉
Thanksgiving camping sounds awesome! That being said… I’ve never gone camping past August because it gets way too cold at night after that point. And I’m a wimp when it comes to sleeping in the cold 😆
Omg I am so making these. Chocolate and orange is one of the best combos. Ok so chocolate and anything really…but I do really enjoy chocolate and orange! I’ll be making these for sure girl. Pinned and saved for a baking day soon <3
Woohoo! Let me know how they turn out 😀
Chocolate orange is BY FAR my favorite dessert combo!
Right?! So underrated. Those chocolate oranges that come out around this time every year? SO good.
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When I look at your blog in Safari, it looks fine however, when opening in I.
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Hopefully I’ll help my folks decorate while I’m on Thanksgiving break! That way the tree will be ready when I m back home after finals!
These sound MAGICAL.
I love cranberry orange, but I’d never have thought to add chocolate. Which is weird, since I add chocolate to just about everything. Genius!
Oh, I hear you on wanting another holiday. Having read blogs for years I’m slowly getting a little envious of the Thanksgiving cheer all around. We also miss out on certain foods associated with it – like cranberries. The fresh variety is a rare find in supermarkets over here.
Moving on to muffins: these look amazing. I don’t eat eggs but growing up with “traditional” baked goods – like most of us, I guess – I’m fascinated to see completely grain-free baked cakes and muffins work.
Aww. I can totally relate, even if it’s to a slightly lesser degree. We have Thanksgiving here, but it’s definitely not as big, and there are SO many foods that I see on blogs that we can’t get over here either…
i love making flourless muffins, they are like magic! i have never tried this combo before and i don’t know why, it sounds amazing!
Any idea if a flax egg would work in place of the real egg? We are top 8 allergen free in this house which is going to make for a challenging holiday season!
A flax egg should work, Dee! I’ve had readers made a few of my past flourless muffins using a flax egg with no problems.
Chocolate + Orange is one of my FAVORITE combination. Seriously, I cannot get enough. When I go home for Christmas, I am making these.
Ughhhhh I love chocolate and orange and feel like it’s so underrated–adding cranberry into the mix is brilliant. Growing up we always decorated the day after Thanksgiving, but now that it’s just Miguel and I we’re usually a little more lax–I like to by Dec. 1 though!
Dec 1st is my go-to as well, but I might do it a few days earlier this year to kind of take part in all the celebrating going on this weekend.
I really enjoy the flavor combination of orange and chocolate as well. Thanks for sharing, this looks great.
These look amazing! I love your banana oat greek yogurt muffins and I seriously make them at least once every few weeks. I’ll have to try these next. 🙂
DELICIOUS! This is making me hungry right now 🙂 Pair this with a cup of coffee and I’d be indulging in my dream breakfast!
These look so good! I wish that almond butter wasn’t so expensive or I would make them asap! I wonder what coconut oil would do.
I think coconut oil would be a little too oily and wouldn’t help the muffins keep their shape. You could easily sub in peanut butter, though!
Yum, these muffins are making me hungry:)
What an interesting flavor combination! I love trying new things and these sound amazing!
Mmmm muffins sound great right now! I wait until after Thanksgiving to put up our decorations. I have a feeling I’ll be pretty busy doing all that this weekend! I also never mail out Christmas cards. Every year I say we’re going to and we never do, so we’ll see haha.
Love this combo! I made similar ones last year with bananas that were delicious. I’m actually starting to stress about the holidays sneaking up since I haven’t even thought about gifts yet and there are a lot to buy.
You’re definitely not alone! I’m the -worst- when it comes to procrastinating on gift buying… Sometimes I even leave it until the week before. Eep!
YUM!!! I love the start of the holiday season but Thanksgiving totally snuck up on me this year, which I guess really makes sense given the new job + move that has taken precedence in my life right now. But regardless, it seemed funny when my boyfriend was talking about needing to go get a tree soon (and went Saturday!). Granted, he’ll be leaving town for the holidays early and wants to make sure he gets time to enjoy his tree. It seemed so soon but then I realized that really…it’s not.
Right!? It’s literally only a month away! I usually wait until December 1st before I bust out the tree, but I might end up doing it this weekend so that I don’t feel -totally- left out of all the celebrating 😉