These Cranberry Sauce and Walnut Muffins are perfectly moist, fluffy and flavorful. These Keto friendly muffins are the perfect way to use up leftover cranberry sauce!

❤️ Why You’ll Love These Cranberry Muffins

• Sweet cranberries and crunch toasted walnuts add great flavor and texture
• Perfect way to use up leftover cranberry sauce
• Moist and fluffy, like traditional muffins
• Great to serve for Thanksgiving or Christmas brunch
• Gluten-Free and kid friendly

If you’re like most people, one leftover you can just about count on is cranberry sauce. This Keto muffin recipe puts it to excellent use! They are soft and fluffy with the sweetness of the sugar free cranberry sauce and delicious crunch of the walnuts. Oh my, they are so good, you just have to give them a try!

These gluten free vanilla muffins start off by getting a holiday twist making the absolutely perfect to add to your Christmas breakfast or brunch menu. They have such an amazing flavor, they aren’t just for breakfast. Make a batch and freeze so you can have some on hand for an afternoon snack!

And if you’re wondering, “Is cranberry sauce Keto?” This homemade sugar free cranberry sauce certainly is and it’s every bit as good as the traditional version with sugar!  

🛒 Ingredients for Cranberry Walnut Keto Muffins

• Super fine almond flour
• Oat Fiber 
• Cranberry sauce
• Eggs
• Sour cream
• Heavy cream
• Brown Swerve
• Swerve Confectioners
• Baking powder
• Ground cinnamon
• Ground nutmeg
• Orange zest
• Vanilla extract
• Toasted walnuts
• Salt

*Exact measurements are listed in the recipe card below.

🥣 Recommended Tools

• Muffin pan
• Muffin liners
• Mixing bowl
• Whisk
• Ice cream scoop

🔪 How to Make Gluten Free Cranberry Muffins

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Add the flour, baking powder, oat fiber, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt to a bowl and whisk together, then set aside.

In a separate bowl, add in the eggs, sour cream, heavy cream, sweetener, orange zest and vanilla extract, then whisk until combined.

Add the dry ingredients into the wet and mix just until combined.

Fold in the chopped walnuts.

Add large drops of the cranberry sauce.

Gently stir into the batter using a fork in a swirling motion.

Using an ice cream scoop, add the batter to silicone muffin liners or a muffin pan sprayed with non stick spray.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick, when inserted, comes out clean.

Allow to cool slightly before serving, but these are best served warm!

💡 Tips for the Best Muffins

• Use room temperature ingredients, this helps to ensure a smooth batter.
• Toast the walnuts before chopping and add them to the batter. This helps to give the nuts better flavor.
• Take your time to swirl in the cranberry sauce, instead of just whisking it in. This will give you the little dollops all over the muffin that shows exactly what’s in them. This is much more appealing than the (almost brownish) color you would get if you mixed the cranberry sauce instead. Ask me how I know this…
• Using an ice cream scoop helps to ensure even baking as all the muffins will be the same size. It’s also much easier to scoop out the batter.
• If you wanted to, you could add the walnuts on top of the muffins, instead of throughout the batter. I chose to add them into the batter for two reasons: first I love the contrast in texture in that you get a nice little crunch in every bite. Second, you’re able to see the swirl of cranberry sauce instead of covering them up with the walnuts. But they will be your muffins, so do as you like!

☑️ Storage Instructions

To ensure your Keto Cranberry Muffins stay fresh, store leftovers in an air tight container or muffin keeper like this one.

🔄 Substitutions and Additions

• Though it will change the entire theme of these muffins, if cranberry sauce isn’t your thing, you can instead use my Homemade Blueberry Sauce or Raspberry Sauce.
• If you are out of walnuts, you can use chopped pecans or almonds instead. Just be sure to toast them first, it makes a difference so it’s worth the extra step.
• To kick up the orange flavor, add in a full tablespoon of orange zest.
• If you make these instead blueberry muffins, I would also suggest swapping out the orange zest for lemon zest.

What is the Secret to Moist Muffins?

You definitely want a good balance between your wet and dry ingredients in any muffins recipe. For these low carb muffins, I use a combination of sour cream. and heavy cream to keep them nice and moist. The dollops of cranberry sauce also helps!

Can I Freeze Almond Flour Muffins?

This low carb cranberry muffin recipe freezes well. You’ll want to allow them to come to room temp. Then take each muffin and wrap individually in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for up to a couple of months.

When you’re ready to eat them, remove the wrap and allow them to sit out on the counter for about 30 minutes. If you’d like to reheat them, you can place them in the microwave for a few seconds then slather them with a big dab of butter!

How Many Carbs in Cranberries?

There are approximately 8 net carbs in a whole cup of fresh, unsweetened cranberries. Used in recipes like these cranberry Keto muffins, where there is usually less than a cup in a whole recipe, it’s a great way to add a lot of cranberry flavor without a lot of carbs.

And cranberries are healthy too! They’re a good source of many vitamins and minerals, including manganese, copper, and vitamins C, E, and K1.

Should you Pre Cook Cranberries Before Baking?

For this recipe, I do not recommend using fresh cranberries, but rather cranberry sauce, which is also sweetened and has a great combination of sweet and tartness.

What is Oat Fiber? Is Oat Fiber Keto?

Oat Fiber is made from grinding the outer husks of oats. How healthy is oat fiber? It’s pure insoluble fiber, which doesn’t dissolve in water and isn’t broken down in the digestive tract, so it has zero net carbs and is perfect for a Keto Diet. It helps give a more traditional texture and that’s why I use it so often. Check out all the Keto Oat Fiber Recipes you can make!

What is a Substitute for Oat Fiber?

To get the best results, it’s best to use oat fiber if you can. If you’re unable to find it, try a combination of psyllium husk powder and coconut flour. Since both are very absorbent, you might have to add more liquid.

If you love cranberries, you just have to try these Cranberry Walnut Crumble Bars! They are perfect for a quick breakfast bite or low carb snack.

🍽️ More Keto Muffins Recipes

• Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
• Strawberry Lemonade Muffins
• Snickerdoodle Muffins
• Blueberry Muffins
• Mock Apple Muffins
• Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Filling

If you’d like to know more about baking on Keto, this article, Keto Baking Made Easy, is loaded with tips and info that you’ll find helpful. You might also check out my Keto Sweet Treats eBook that has 50 amazing Keto dessert recipes, all with color pics, macros and more! I’m offering it at 50% off when you subscribe to my free weekly emails here.

*Originally published on November 24, 2018, updated on October 17, 2023 with new photos, new recipe information and helpful tips.