These easy low carb blender muffins are bursting with tart cranberries. A deliciously healthy way to start a chilly fall morning! Grain-free.
First low carb cranberry recipe of the season (and there is another not far behind!). I am well-armed for cranberry season, as I actually have about 5 bags in my freezer from LAST season. I am not normally this much of a hoarder but a slight cranberry shortage last year sent me into a panic and I started socking them away. I trolled a number of grocery chains in late October/early November and was shocked that they weren’t yet carrying cranberries. Didn’t they know I had Thanksgiving recipes to write? Didn’t they know how damaging it was not to have large displays of cranberries just inside the entryway? I had many many cranberry plans last year that were not realized by the late arrival of those tart little berry gems.
They did finally arrive and I grabbed numerous bags when I saw them. Then my husband, bless his heart, saw a big bag at Costco, and knowing my fears of a cranberry apocalypse, brought two of them home to me. Of course I ended up with far too many cranberries. Wait, what am I talking about? You can never have too many cranberries. Because those firm sturdy berries freeze amazingly well and thaw to be almost as perfect as they are when fresh. So you can divvy them up into quart-sized freezer bags and ride out any sort of local cranberry shortage. Mine seem perfectly fine after 12 months in the deep freeze!
This year, the elusive cranberry seems to be a little less, well, elusive. I’ve already seen bags of them in my local stores already but I just pass them on by. No need to panic and go into hoarding mode, when I am well stocked at home. Chances are, however, that I will grab a few bags at the end of the season, as insurance against future shortages. I have made a solemn promise to myself that I will never by cranberry-less again.
These blender muffins are a perfect way to showcase those tart little crimson orbs. They are easy to whip up in your blender and the sour cream gives them an incomparable texture. Light and fluffy and they rise astonishingly well. I put chopped pecans in half of them for extra deliciousness, but kept some pecan-free for the kiddos. These are now ranking up there as some of my favourite muffins to date!
See just how easy it is to make this recipe!
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Cranberry Sour Cream Blender Muffins
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Serving Size | |
| Amount Per Serving | As Served |
| Calories 241 Calories from fat 182 | |
| % Daily Value | |
| Total Fat 20.24g | 31% |
| Cholesterol 66mg | 22% |
| Carbohydrate 8.39g | 3% |
| Dietary Fiber 3.88g | 16% |
| Protein 8.75g | |
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs:
| Calories | 2000 | |
|---|---|---|
| Total Fat | Less than | 65g |
| Sat Fat | Less than | 25g |
| Cholesterol | Less than | 300mg |
| Sodium | Less than | 2,400mg |
| Total Carbohydrate | 300g | |
| Dietary Fiber | 25g | |
These easy low carb blender muffins are bursting with tart cranberries. A deliciously healthy way to start a chilly fall morning! Grain-free.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups almond flour
- 1/2 cup Swerve Sweetener
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup cranberries
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F and line a muffin tin with parchment or silicone liners.
- Combine sour cream, eggs, and vanilla extract in a large blender jar. Blend about 30 seconds.
- Add the almond flour, sweetener, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Blend again until smooth, about 30 seconds to a minute. If your batter is overly thick, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water to thin it out (different brands of almond flour can vary).
- By hand, stir in cranberries, keeping a few for the top of the muffins, and chopped pecans if using. Divide the mixture among the prepared muffin cups and bake 25 to 30 minutes, until just golden brown and firm to the touch.
- Remove and let cool completely.
Recipe Notes
Serves 12. Each serving has 4.51g NET CARBS.
Food energy: 241kcal Total fat: 20.24g Calories from fat: 182 Cholesterol: 66mg Carbohydrate: 8.39g Total dietary fiber: 3.88g Protein: 8.75g Erythritol: 10g
Oooooh these look super simple and yummy! I think I even have all the ingredients….except maybe pecans…I’m going to make these today!!! Thank you!! 🙂
Is it necessary to use a blender? Or is the blender just to make the process quick and easy?
I suppose it’s not completely necessary but there is something about whipping it up in the blender that lightens the consistency and gives you fluffier muffins.
Good to know, thanks!
That may be so but after I see how these come out (they are in the oven now) and if I want to make them again, I am using a mixer. Too much trouble and waste to try and get this semi thick batter out from around the blender blade.
These look so good! Would they work with only 3 eggs?
I am not sure. I didn’t try them that way. The batter may be a lot thicker.
Carolyn,
Does the listed nutritional info include the nuts or no?
Thanks for a cranberry recipe. They are my fall addiction. I don’t care about pumpkin spiced anything…I just want CRANBERRIES!
It does include the pecans. I typically include the optional items.
Saw this first thing this morning and ran out to buy cranberries. Just made them and have to say these are the best muffins I’ve ever made. Blending them changed the texture in the best way. All muffins will now be blender mufffins in my house.
Wonderful, thanks so much!!!
Aren’t they SO light and fluffy?
I, too, have some in the freezer. Defrost first or us frozen?
Frozen works just fine.
Thanks! I was just about to ask 🙂 I have some frozen cranberries left over from your recipes in the fall/winter. Have a great week!
Could I make chocolate chip muffins this way? Yum
Yup, I am sure you could!
I know that recipes can be funny some times and you do not always get the same result if they are simply doubled or in my case, would like to half it for just 6. Any recommendations or adjustments or tweaks when halving a recipe?
This one should be fine to cut in half.
Hello, Can you let me know if using blueberries or raspeberries would significantly change the nutritional value?
I need an alternative to cranberries if possible without shooting the carb value past 10G per muffin.
Second question, Can I use a ninja bullet type blender for this mix?
Many Thanks
Sue
Please use an online nutritional calculator. It will change the counts some, although probably not significantly. I don’t know about a Bullet, I don’t have one.
I’m out of granular Swerve until my Amazon order arrives in a few days. Are there any adjustments for using confectioners Swerve or should I just wait? Been out for a while and kept forgetting to order more. I’m really craving something sweet. Any other suggestions?
You should be okay using confectioner’s here.
Swerve can be bought in Publix and a few grocery stores now.. hope this helps
Meijer has a great price on Swerve. They beat Amazon typically.
Can xylitol be used instead of swerve
Sure.
You can make your own confectioners by blending some granular. If you want to make some for future use also, add 1 t. of corn starch to every cup to prevent it clumping up… take count of the extra carbs when doing this.
This may be a totally stupid question but I’ve never cooked with cranberries before and I really want to make these. 🙂 You area talking fresh whole cranberries – not dried cranberries right???
Yup, fresh (or frozen) berries.
OH my goodness — I made these yesterday and they are yummy. My husband and my boss say they are perfect…. me? I’d put a dab more sweetener in them if they were just for me (LOL), but I have a raging sweet-tooth. SO delicious and SO easy. Thanks Carolyn!!
Thank you for an awesome low carb muffin reciped.. Just found your blog today, and I love your recipes…
Is there any way you could add the weight of the almond flour to the recipe? I think mine was too packed down because it was way too thick for my blender to blend it.
I have a vitamix, it should be up to the job!
That really doesn’t sound right. I don’t pack my almond flour at all, I just scoop and level. What brand of almond flour do you use? I just weight a cup of Bob’s Red Mill and it came to 3.5 ounces.
According to Bob’s Red Mill website, 1 cup of their super fine blanched almond flour weighs 4 ounces (1/4 C = 28 grams = 1 ounce): http://www.bobsredmill.com/almond-meal-flour.html.
The difference between using 4oz per cup to your 3.5 oz would add up over the whole recipe to using an extra 1.5 oz = 6 tablespoons, which would affect the texture. I made this recipe this morning and while the flavor is delicious (thank you!), the texture was definitely off. I had to use the tamper on my Vitamiz to get it to mix completely. I will try next time by weighing to your 3.5oz x 3 cups = 10.5 oz.
They may say that, but I sat there weighing it out in my measuring cup so I would definitely go with the 3.5 oz per cup.
I am also wondering if different brands of sour cream make a difference…some thicker than others?
My batter was super, super thick as well. Nearly killed my basic blender and my flour wasn’t packed down at all. Next time I will add the dry ingredients slowly or use my mixer.
Try adding 1/4 cup water.
I ended up using some almond milk. It worked pretty well.
Mine was too thick, too (I have a Blendtec). I scoop and level so not sure … I half blended, half stirred. 🙂 Used Honeyville.
My second comment –
I Just made these with fresh blueberries and brown Splenda and wow They are gorgeous!! I will make these again.
I used my mini Ninja blenda for the eggs, sour cream and vanilla and then added that wet mixture to the dry and used a spatula. They rose very well indeed. 12 good sized muffins.
Please can you share a link to a nutrition calculator that you use.
Thanks
I can’t share a link to the nutrition calculator because it is software that is downloaded to my Mac, not an online source. It is called MacGourmet.
Yum! I bet these would be good with a little orange zest and a touch of orange extract!
Can’t wait to try these! I need to order more blanched almond flour. I too only have confectioners swerve. I am wondering if I could actually get by with just using this confectioners In my baking all the time instead of the granular?..
In most cases, you can use confectioners. Occasionally, the granular is important for whipping air bubbles into cakes and such.
Costco and Sam’s carry finely ground almond flour in this are now.
I made these with the zest of a large orange and 1.5 tsp Boyajian orange oil added and left out the pecans. They are GORGEOUS and taste wonderful. Another Carolyn win!
I really want to try these as I have frozen cranberries in hand but don’t have sour cream. Can i replacement it with cream cheese? Thanks so much and I love all your recipes.
Cream cheese will be much too thick, but you might try half cream cheese and half whipping cream.
Thanks Carolyn!!
I will try as you suggested.
Made these and loved them. The cranberries really popped. I used Sukrin:1 instead of Swerve and my non-D hubs said they could be a little sweeter for him, but he liked them as well. Will adjust sweetener next time. I am going to try this with blueberries as well. This recipe made me wonder if this could be done with your fabulous Almond Flour Yogurt waffles – of which I made three batches this past weekend ! (Blueberry, cranberry almond, and choc chip) All resting nicely in the freezer along with my cranberry muffins !! Another hit recipe, Carolyn !!
I also made a batch with blueberries, adding a couple drops of EZ Sweetz this time. Delish !! Thanks for pointing out the weight issue in the other posts on the almond flour. Mine was thick as well, I scoop lightly and level, but will weigh next time. I have an old Oster Kitchen center that I love, but I don’t think the blender is capable of handling the job, as toward the end of adding in the almond flour, I could tell it was straining to process it, so I finished the last portion in a bowl. I’m in the market for a high powered blender that can handle my low carb tasks. Great recipe again, Carolyn !!
Made these and loved them. The subtle nutty sweetness of the muffins with the bright zing of the cranberries – seriously good. Made them in my nutribullet in two batches. I’m glad the previous poster mentioned the waffles – This was such an old post I never would have found it but now am anxious to try. Thanks for another good recipe.
Would I use the same amount of Truvia as Swerve? Thanks
I believe that the regular Trivia (not the baking blend) is sweeter but I don’t know the conversion.
Hey Carolyn,
First off – love your recipes!! I discovered you several months ago when I started low carb / keto. I have since transitioned to Trim Healthy Mama, and am LOVING it. However – I can’t have much of those calorie dense almond flour packed goodies. 🙁 I really love your recipes, and I really love the THM Baking Blend. I know you’ve used the baking blend before. Is there a formula to convert straight almond flour recipes to using the baking blend? I tried subbing 1:1 on some muffins, but they cam out dense and kinda dry. I know the BB is more absorbent, so maybe add more liquid? Another egg? Your help would be MUCH appreciated. Thanks!
I feel like it very much depends on the recipe because some recipes already have the added moisture built in. These are pretty moist but I would probably do more like 2 1/3 cups baking blend. then I would see how thick the batter is. If it’s really runny and liquidy, I’d add another 1/3 cup.
Thanks for asking this question.
I have everything but the sour cream… Would Greek yogurt be a good substitute? They sound great!
I think that should work just fine.
I only have 1 cup almond flour, could I sub it for something else? Thanks!
That depends on what you have. If you have coconut flour, you could do 1/3 cup coconut flour for each cup of almond flour. You might need more eggs and liquid, though. I haven’t tested it so I can’t be sure.
Every week we have breakfast for dinner one night. Since we are relatively new to low carb, it has been one experiment after another. These are fabulous!!! I, too, added orange peel to the batter. I love my new silicone pans for baking them.
Glad you liked them. Welcome to the lifestyle!
I just made these this morning and they are fantastic! My 14 yo DD and I had them with our morning cuppa! I am making them again but using 1/2 Cranberry & 1/2 Blueberries to make “sweet & Sour” Muffins- as always, your recipes are Fantastic! Thanks so much!!
Carolyn, I used orange extract instead of vanilla and added a teaspoon of dried valencia orange peel to the batter because I wanted some orange cranberry muffins. This recipe is a keeper! So delicious! Thank you!
Sounds delish!
I just made these with blueberries and thick coconut yogurt to make it dairy free and it came out perfect and they look just like yours, I also added a few extra drops of Stevia to make them a little sweeter.
Thank you so much for this recipe this will be something I will do a lot at home with some variations.
Just made these this morning and they were great. I added extra liquid sucralose and used my homemade cranberry sauce instead of raw cranberries. This is a keeper. Thanks so much.
Sounds good!
These sound so yummy? I like Swerve, but my husband is not a fan 🙁 Do you think THM Gentle Sweet could be used in place of Swerve? I am afraid the batter would be too thin with the Gentle Sweet (1/2 c Swerve = 3 Tbsp Gentle Sweet). TIA
I think it will be absolutely fine with the THM sweeteners.
Carolyn ,
Best ever muffin! I will use this as a base for blueberry, peach,etc muffins, the possibilities are endless 😉
What size pan should I you use if I’d like to make it as a coffee cake and what would be the baking time?
Also, for chocolate muffin, how much cocoa powder would you add and should I add extra liquid? I’m thinking chocolate chocolate chip muffin:)
These are great muffins!. I think I’ll also use this as a base for blueberry with lemon zest muffins, too. I have 1 question: could I substitute 1/4 cup oil or melted butter for one of the eggs? Looking at standard muffins recipes, they all seen to have the added fat.
What could I use in place of swerve? Splenda? Sugar?
Either would be fine in these.
Could i substitute Kefir for sour cream
I’m honestly not sure, I’ve never baked with kefir.
Four years ago I was pregnant with gestational diabetes and was eating very low carb to minimize my need for insulin. I was craving sweets like, well, a pregnant woman. I baked endlessly and *really* didn’t like most of what I baked. I threw a lot of it away. I eventually found one low carb blueberry muffin recipe that wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t really that good either. Four years later it’s looking like I’m on a fast track to type two diabetes and I’m eating low carb again. Either the low carb world has changed a lot in four years, or I was doing a terrible job of finding the good low carb stuff when I was pregnant. All of that to say, I *really* like these muffins. They smell, look, and taste wonderful. I also made your Nanaimo bars, and German chocolate truffles (not all at once). Also sooooo delicious. Thank you!
Glad to help. I think honestly…the low carb baking world has come a long way in 4 years. Some of the stuff I made 4 years ago was pretty good though. I hate to toot my own horn but…I kind of pushed the envelope in low carb baking because I love it so much! 🙂
Yes! Yes! Do toot your own horn! Your recipes are amazing. I’m sure I would have been a much happier pregnant lady if I had found your recipes. You have pushed the envelope! Thank you!
I don’t often comment on posts, but am so thankful to have found your blog as I have made many of your recipes with great success. With that said, I love love love these. They have the light fluffy texture like a non-keto muffin. They are so good I made a batch yesterday and another batch today! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
It’s my new favorite way of making muffins so expect a few fun variations!
These were delicious. I tried them last night. Swapped out the cranberry for blueberries. So so so good. Thank you for your wonderful recipes!
Amazing muffins – and I’m usually not a fan of a lot of low carb baking. I subbed the sour cream for Greek yougurt and they turned out perfect. Delish!
Question: Sorry, I hate when people ask you about substitutions on a recipe you’ve clearly put a lot of thought into, but what purpose does the sour cream serve? My biggest problem with low carb recipes is the dairy. I’m not allergic, but very intolerant so try to avoid it. If it’s necessary or you don’t know of what else might work I’ll move on to another recipe. Thanks for all your lovely recipes.
Jan
Moistness and texture. sorry but this recipe really requires it.
I am about to try these with the tofutti brand vegan sour cream for your same issue. I use their cream cheese and vegan butter and vanilla, to make great cream cheese frosting, no one has a clue! For low carb use Swerve, or sugar if not low carb.
Just made these muffins and they turned out great! I didn’t have cranberries, but I had a cup of leftover low carb homemade cranberry sauce (made with Xyla), so I just cut the swerve in half and folded in a cup of my cranberry sauce. Hubby is happy with them too. My Vitamix didn’t blend the ingredients well, so I had to scrape it out and finish with my hand mixer. But the finished product is a winner! Thanks!
Hmmm, I would have thought a Vitamin would do great with this batter! Well, glad they turned out!
Carolyn, you did it again and created another fabulous blender muffin. I think this one may just be my favorite. Hubby, who is rather finicky, said he doesn’t like cranberries. Well, you’d never know it by the way he’s enjoying these. I guess he does like cranberries after all. Thank you for all you do in creating delicious recipes.
Would this work with monk fruit?
I imagine so!
Love this recipe as a base for more flavours! Just used frozen chopped rhubarb and pecans for a truly yummy, moist muffin! To make, go generous with both the rhubarb and chopped pecans as well, be sure to top with a full pecan piece for extra eye-appeal! Makes big, yummy, nutty, fruity muffins!
Thank you so much for this recipe – the best low carb bread/dessert I’v ever tasted! I had to use erythritol and 30 drops of stevia because I had no Swerve. Could you tell me what kind of blender you use? My Waring wouldn’t blend these well, and I had to scrape a ton of times. Messy, but the results were so good, it makes the mess totally worth it!
I have a Blendtec so it’s pretty powerful. If your batter is super thick like that, try adding a few tbsp of water.
I’m very new to baking low-carb. Despite not using a blender, and being uncertain about the sweetener I had, I really enjoyed this recipe. It was dense as expected, but not unpleasant. Next time I’ll make a full batch, because I suspect this half batch will not last long. Thank you! 🙂
If it was dense, I promise that a blender will make it much lighter!
lol, I know. I just didn’t want to clean it!! I don’t mind dense. I do have a question, if you don’t mind. I really miss banana muffins and would like to add a small banana to this recipe. In your baking opinion, would I have to adjust any of the other ingredients? This was my very first foray into baking with almond flour, and I’m really excited by it. I love this recipe as is, will def make it again, but I’m wondering how adaptable it might be.
I think it would be fine with 1 banana. If you really want some banana flavour, see if you can find some banana extract.
I can’t have eggs or anything stevia related, so I was wondering two things:
1) will flax egg work here?
2) what purpose does the sugar serve, if any, outside of sweetening? Should I be fine cutting the sugar down to 1/4 c, or will I need to add some more flour or another dry ingredient to make up for the lost bulk?
Thank you!
I have no idea if flax eggs will work, sorry. If you want to use sugar, 1/4 should be okay. Not as sweet but okay.
Thank you for the info!
These were so good!
I made these with sugar-free chocolate chips and a bit of splenda brown sugar. YUM!
This is totally my go-to muffin recipe. Next up: blueberry muffins!! Yay!
It’s my go to recipe as well. Love with chocolate chips!
Do you think this would work with full fat yogurt instead of the sour cream?
Yes, it certainly should.
Made these tonight, did not have cranberrys but used frozen blueberrys and sweet leaf orange drops (1 tsp) They rocked, also used silicon muffin pan, no stick, GREAT RECIPE
I just tried these and they taste great! We added mini chocolate chips to them. Super yummy! I used my Blendtec and it couldn’t handle the batter. It was WAY too thick. I ended up pouring in at least a 1/2 cup of almond milk and it still didn’t move the batter. Took it out and hand mixed it. Definitely needs more liquid in the recipe.
It really doesn’t need more liquid. I have made this recipe so many times. It may be a difference in things like almond flour. What brand did you use?
Actually, come to think of it, I am going to amend the recipe and mention more liquid if the batter is too thick. Most people don’t have issue but just in case…
Can this be made in a loaf pan or 8×8 baking dish?
Probably! I don’t know the baking time, though.
I’ll give it a whirl and let you know my results and specifics (oven temp, time baked, etc.)!
Hi! I don’t have cupcake tins — did you ever figure this out?
Hi Carolyn, just love your recipes. I have to be dairy free. So would coconut milk work for the sour cream, maybe just a little less? Dairy free products are really hard to find in my area. I also cannot have soy. Thanks.
Can you use the cream part from the can of coconut milk? I think that would work too.
Just made these, and have to say – wonderful! Everyone’s comments were very helpful. Thank you, adventurous bakers-all! The thing I liked best about these was how perfectly they popped out of my muffin cups, besides how lovely they look. No liner necessary! I just hate all the waste when a good portion of the muffin is left behind on paper liners.
I would really like to try tampering with the amount of almond flour, and might try replacing a cup or so with some coconut flour and an added egg, although it does seem foolish to tamper with such a good outcome.
Lastly, it is really nice to have your input, Carolyn, on changing the recipe up to afford flexibility for different fruit additions or to adjust for dietary limitations. Adventure on!
I Just made these and they are DELICIOUS!
Next time I will more than likely us a hand mixer. It took a bit longer than it should have trying to mix the thick batter in my blender.
10/10 Would recommend
Could I substitute Stevia for swerve? Same amount?
What kind of stevia? Extract or the baking blend kind that measure like sugar?
Carolyn,
I just wanted to tell you that these are amazing, I made them last nite, I read comments and made a few minor adjustments, added 1/3 c almond milk and 1/3 c coconut oil to debunk the thickness issues, and I didn’t add pecan but I did half cranberries half strawberries and I tell you that they are so light and fluffy that you cant tell the diff from those made with white flour, this is my go to now for muffins I will try different flavors of course, and even for pancakes or waffles. thanks so much for all your hard work you keep me able to survive this lifestyle!!!
Oops… I had my head in another place and used Blueberries instead of Cranberries, but O.M.G. are these ever sensational! “I found my thri-hill, on Blueberry Hi-hill” 😀
I read a lot here about them being dense but mine were a bit too wet, they came apart when I took them out of the mould. So… I used a spoon to get every last wonderful morsel out of the mould and into my mouth!! Waste not, want not LOL.
Perhaps I should use smaller eggs or should have dried the blueberries after washing them, or maybe I could just add a tablespoon of Coconut Flour to “mop up” the liquid next time, what do you think?
I’m sooo happy with my brand new Blendtec, it really whips up a storm with this mixture!
Hi Carol,
Thanks for this recipe. This looks amazing. Can’t wait to try them this weekend. I do not have sour cream in hand. Do you think I can replace the sour cream with heavy cream?
No, you can’t replace with heavy cream as it’s too liquidy. Greek yogurt works, though.
Just made these with homemade sour cream and frozen blueberries. OMG, they are delish- fluffy and moist! My hubby ate 2 right after they were done. I used a food processor instead of a blender, and otherwise followed the recipe. Thanks for sharing. Love your website!
Best low-carb muffin recipe I’ve tried!
Used greek yoghurt instead of sour cream and dark chocolate the batter was kust perfect!
According to the diabetes website these muffins have 18 g of carbs versus eight. I’m pretty sure I compared the ingredients exactly. What do you think is correct?
What diabetes website? This recipe is mine and shouldn’t be on any other website. However, chances are they are counting the erythritol, which has little to no impact on blood glucose.