Gluten-Free Cranberry Sauce Muffins are the perfect way to use your leftover Thanksgiving cranberry sauce. They make for a lovely morning or afternoon snack with coffee! 
Do you have leftover Thanksgiving cranberry sauce? Really, who doesn’t, is the probably the better question.
I’m always surprised that the morning after the Thanksgiving or Christmas feast, I wake up hungry. In fact, starving. What’s up with that!?
I’m also always surprised that I have SO MUCH leftover Thanksgiving cranberry sauce. Every year, I don’t think there will be quite enough, so I make more at the last moment. Why I’m actually surprised each year, is beyond me.
Here’s the deal, I think people do love cranberry sauce, but in small amounts. Like a couple of tablespoons per plate. It’s really to make a mostly savory plate, a little bit sweet.
What to do with Leftover Cranberry Sauce
Actually, I love having the leftovers so I can make these quick and easy cranberry sauce muffins! They can so easily be whipped up with some or all of your leftovers! Then you can freeze some of the muffins for later, too.
My leftovers came from this Spiced Cranberry Sauce, which is oh-so-good!
When to Serve Gluten-Free Cranberry Sauce Muffins
- I love these warmed up with butter melting over them for breakfast or brunch.
- They would be so good with my favorite cup of coffee.
- And they’re also great alongside a salad for lunch.
- You can make them between Thanksgiving and the December holidays and have them for Christmas breakfast. 🙂
I decided to make them with corn meal and gluten-free flour so my son with Celiac Disease could enjoy them. And the subtle corn flavor is great with my leftover Thanksgiving cranberry sauce — especially the spiced version (above).
Recipe Tips for Cranberry Sauce Muffins
- I love using the my Spiced Cranberry Sauce recipe, but you can use any cranberry sauce you’d like to — whatever you have leftover should be perfect! To add flavor, if you use one without spices, add about 1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon cardamom, and 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves to the recipe.
Oh, and you might also love Spiced Tea Cranberry Sauce from Family Spice. The spices are similar, but it also includes Earl Gray tea. Really any version would likely work well for cranberry sauce muffins. I just love the recipes with spices because it make the muffin even more tasty!
So if you find yourself with a ton of leftover Thanksgiving cranberry sauce, as I will be, I suggest these sweet, soft and delicious cranberry sauce muffins.
Enjoy every last crumb!
Your leftover Thanksgiving cranberry sauce is the key to these super delicious gluten-free muffins. They make for a lovely morning or afternoon snack with coffee!
- 1 cup fine cornmeal
- ½ cup gluten-free, 1 to 1 all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup Spiced Cranberry Sauce (click here for the recipe)
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup golden brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
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Preheat the oven to 350°F, adjust a rack to the center of the oven and prepare a muffin tin with 12 paper cups.
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In a large mixing bowl, combine the first six ingredients, and mix to blend. Set aside.
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In another large mixing bowl, gently whisk the eggs with the buttermilk until smooth. Add the vanilla and cranberry sauce and mix until everything is evenly incorporated. Then fold in the melted butter.
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Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the well, and mix everything together.
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Divide the batter among the dozen paper cups.
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In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar and cinnamon, and sprinkle this evenly over each muffin.
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Place the filled muffin tin in the preheated 350°F oven, and bake until they're set and are just beginning to turn golden, 17 to 20 minutes.
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Let the muffins cool in the muffin tin for at least 15 minutes. Then remove them and cool them on a rack for about 30 minutes.
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Coco in the Kitchen says
These look perfect for breakfast on the post-Tgiving w/end!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family, Bella. xo
valentina says
Hope you tried them! 🙂
Deb says
What a great recipe for leftover cranberry sauce! After all the Thanksgiving cooking a quick yet flavorful way to begin the day is perfect!
valentina says
Thanks, Deb! I am forever making too much cranberry sauce.
David says
You know, it is always the foods AROUND the Thanksgiving turkey that appeal to me the most – the potatoes, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce. And then the next day, it is all about how to play with the leftovers. This is a great way to use the leftover cranberries!
valentina says
I agree — I love the foods around the turkey. And they’re so good mixed together in one bite. 😉
Laura says
This is fabulous for leftover cranberry sauce! Of course, I eat leftover cranberry sauce as is, cuz I love it so much! I’ll have to save some for these muffins! Thanks for the link love!
valentina says
I love cranberry sauce as is too! 🙂
Krista says
These were fantastic- nice and moist with great flavor. Four little boys and 2.5 dozen muffins gone in 24 hours!
valentina says
Hi Krista! This makes me so happy! Thank you for sharing! Hope you enjoyed them as much as the boys. 🙂 ~Valentina
Joanne says
Great recipe thank you! I made these for my celiac son. It’s so nice to see some gluten free recipes that aren’t vegan, keto or paleo too. Also noticed your other gluten free recipes – I’ve been looking for something like these – I love how you use almond flour or coconut flour WITH all purpose gf flour so you don’t have to use 12 eggs. THANK YOU! Can you recommend other recipes or blogs that have more recipes like these?
valentina says
Hi Joanne, I’m so happy you wrote in, and that you liked this recipe! Not sure if you read that my son also has Celiac. He just turned 16, and was diagnosed when he was 5. Here are a few more gluten-free dessert recipes that we love:
GF Easy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
GF Buckwheat Chocolate Chip Cookies
GF Banana Chocolate Chip Cake
GF Spiced Carrot Cake with Cardamom Frosting
GF Chocolate Zucchini Cake
GF Brownie Cake Recipe
And there are dozens more, plus savory GF recipes galore. Thanks so much and I hope your son (& you!) love these. 🙂 ~Valentina