Orange cardamom muffins are delicately flavored with bright orange zest and warm, aromatic cardamom ~ this easy and unique muffin recipe is a family favorite.
For a quick, easy, comforting breakfast, nothing beats my homemade orange cardamom muffin recipe. Here’s why you need these in your life:
- The orange cardamom flavor combo is a-mazing and I bet you’ve never had it before! Neither taste is overpowering but they blend beautifully. The aroma is especially great when they’re just out of the oven, Â Definitely going to use this combo again!
- Muffins are probably the easiest of all breakfast bakes, ready from start to finish in 30 minutes.
- Uses oil not butter for a moister muffin that keeps well.
- These muffins bake up nice and tall with a little crunchy sparkle on top.
what readers say about orange cardamom muffins
DEB: “Wonderful flavor! Cardamom is not on everyone’s radar but should be. One of my favorite spices!”
VALORA: “I love this recipe! The muffins turned out soft and buttery with the perfect balance of orange and spice. They aren’t too sweet and pair well with a hot cup of tea or coffee. 10/10”
HELEN: “What a beautiful delicate combination with the taste of orange and cardamom. Thanks for the brilliant recipe.”
EMILY: “My 8 y/o daughter rates these 1 Million out of 10! We love the flavour and light, fluffy texture. Thank you for the excellent recipe.”
TONI: “The best muffins i have made!”
ELLEN: “Being of Scandinavian heritage I don’t need convincing to use cardamom. With the orange addition this recipe is 5 star. I have even made it in a loaf pan. You will not be disappointed.”
a few baking tips for orange cardamom muffins
Don’t skimp on that zest! In this recipe I use the juice and zest of the orange, but it’s the zest that really brings the orange flavor home. The outer orange colored  part of the peel, or the zest, contains the flavor and aroma oils, which provide the true essence of the fruit flavor in these orange cardamom muffins. The more you use, the more flavor payoff you’ll get.
Adjust cardamom to your taste ~ if you’re a newbie, use one teaspoon, but if you love the flavor like I do, increase to 1 1/2 teaspoons.
Sparkly muffin tops ~ I used my favorite Sparkling Sugar to add a little glitz and a sweet crunch to these muffin tops. Less homey, more coffee shop. You could use regular sugar if that’s all you’ve got, but sparkling sugar has a bigger crystal and a great texture.
How to zest an orange
- The zest of citrus fruit is the very outer part of the peel…the part that is colored.
- When you zest citrus fruit you are looking to remove just that outer colored part, with as little as possible of the white part underneath, which is bitter.
- I highly recommend using a citrus zester, which is a tool specifically created to do the job.
- Be sure to zest your fruit before cutting or juicing!
- Zest your fruit as close to adding it to your recipe as possible, because the oils start to dissipate quickly.
related: How to Make Citrus Sugar
orange cardamom for special diets (and variations)
Several readers have made these gluten free using a 1:1 baking mix.
Replace the dairy milk with your favorite plant based milk such as almond, oat, or coconut milk.
Replace the sparkling sugar with a glaze made with orange juice and powdered sugar.
Add 1/2 cup or more chopped walnuts or dried cranberries to the batter.
Add The View from Great Island as a Trusted Google Source
Orange and Cardamom Muffins
Video
Equipment
- standard muffin pan
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- zest of 1 large orange, finely grated
- 1 tsp ground cardamom, use 1 1/2 teaspoons for a more pronounced cardamom flavor.
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
Topping
- 3 tbsp sparkling sugar (or regular sugar), Find sparkling sugar on Amazon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and butter a muffin tin, or line with muffin tin liners.
- Whisk together all the wet ingredients well.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, then add to the wet ingredients and fold everything together until there are no dry bits of flour left.
- Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tins, and top with a sprinkling of the sparkling sugar.
- Bake for 20-22 minutes until risen and starting to turn golden brown around the edges. A toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin should come out without wet batter clinging to it.
Notes
Nutrition
more morning muffin recipes
Morning Glory Muffins
Fall in love with Morning Glory muffins all over again. This classic recipe combines carrots, apple, pecans, raisins, and a hint of cinnamon.
Raspberry Sunflower Seed Muffins
Try these DELICIOUS raspberry sunflower seed muffins ~ moist, fluffy, and packed with bright raspberries and crunchy sunflower seeds.
Chocolate Chip Cherry Muffins
Chocolate Chip Cherry Muffins combine sweet mini chocolate chips and tart, chewy cherries for the perfect morning pick-me-up!
Churro Muffins with Hot Chocolate Sauce
Churro muffins are a delicious take on classic Spanish churros. Dip your fluffy muffins coated in cinnamon sugar into a cup of thick warm chocolate!
Almond Poppy Seed Muffins
If you’re looking for the almond poppy seed muffin recipe, this is the one to beat ~ it’s tender, fragrant, and full of that signature crunch.
Cinnamon Toast Muffins
Cinnamon Toast Muffins ~ soft sweet gone
Amazing recipe, I had a go at making these yesterday. Lovely tasting muffins, and the muffin top with the coarse sugar was really lovely and crunchy without being overcooked.
So happy you enjoyed these and thanks for the review. I’ve just finished an orange cardamom scones recipe that is equally wonderful, will be out on the blog soon.
I thought this recipe sounded interesting and had to give it a try. I’m so glad I did – the muffins were a huge hit! Only thing is, I used blood oranges for the juice and they came out a weird shade of green. I was a bit wary about them, but the taste was great.
Since I rarely leave a recipe alone without tweaking it after the first time I make it, I made these again today but added a half cup or so of dried tropical fruit bits that I bought on clearance with no idea of what I’d use it for…and it took these to another level entirely! If anyone tries that, just coat the tiny pieces with a teaspoon or two of flour so they don’t sink to the bottom.
Incidentally, if you don’t want to buy a great big bag of sanding sugar, you can get a small jar at Walmart for a dollar and some change.
Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
Wonderful flavor! Cardamom is not on everyone’s radar but should be. One of my favorite spices!
Agreed!!
The best muffins i have made! A great way to use up carrot gluts. I will grate them and keep in the freezer just for this recipe from now on.
Thank you for this recipe. Absolutely delicious! Easy to follow directions and they turned out perfect! Will definitely be making this again.
Thanks so much for the review Louise, glad you loved them.
Flavor was nice but the muffins were dry. I’m wondering if it because measuring flour by the cup can vary amount. I usually use recipes that call for weighed ingredients. I will try again and use less flour.
You can switch back and forth between volume and metric measurements, see the toggle opposite where it says “ingredients”
These were pretty bland. If I try them again I’ll at least double the orange and cardamom.
Sorry these didn’t work for you. Did you use the full 1 teaspoon of ground cardamom? That’s pretty potent. And the zest of a full orange is also a large amount, considering the concentrated flavor oils it contains.
great. now stop linking to amazon.
Is the cardamom supposed to be a “dry” ingredient? It is part of the “wet” ingredient list. Thank you.
I add it with the wet ingredients, so that’s why it’s there.
Sue, I was going to ask the same question. is there a reason why you add the cardamom to the wet versus dry?
I just like to let it ‘bloom’ in the wet ingredients, you can do it either way.
Great easy recipe!