These Orange Almond Muffins are soft, light, and fluffy, with crunchy chopped almonds. Topped with an orange-scented almond streusel, they’re perfection! Made with fresh orange juice and zest, this will quickly become your new favorite muffin!
My top tips - Be sure to use freshly squeezed orange juice. If you don’t have sliced almonds, whole almonds will work—just chop them coarsely in a mini food processor before adding. Continue for more!
👉 This orange almond muffins recipe has been a reader favorite since I first shared the recipe in 2022. It was updated with new photos and step-by-step instructions in February 2025, however the recipe remains the same.
We absolutely love our homemade muffin recipes! They're easy to make, freezer-friendly, and perfectly portable—ideal for busy mornings or on-the-go snacking!
And these orange muffins are no exception. Light, fluffy, and incredibly soft, they’re made with fresh orange juice and studded with crunchy bits of chopped almonds, adding a wonderful contrast in texture.
Plus, the simple orange almond sugar topping bakes up into a perfectly crisp, irresistible finish!
Jump to:
Reasons to love it
Texture: Light, fluffy, and studded with crunchy almonds and topped with a crisp orange almond sugar!
Small batch recipe: It makes a small batch of 6 muffins. Double the recipe to make 12.
Freezer friendly: There is no glaze or icing making it ideal for the freezer.
Dairy free: There is no yogurt, butter or milk, making it dairy-free.
Orange bliss: They're packed with fresh orange flavor, thanks to freshly squeezed orange juice and zest used in both the muffin batter and the topping.
Featured comment
From Sunita Gopalan: "Smells amazing in the kitchen as I bake and yes soft delicious muffins. Thank you"
Table of contents
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here’s an ingredient photo for a quick glance. As you can see, it's made with basic muffin batter ingredients, with the addition of fresh orange and sliced almonds. Let’s dive into those two key ingredients a bit further.
Orange: You’ll need about one medium-sized orange to yield ½ cup of fresh juice and 1 teaspoon of zest. Freshly squeezed juice and zest provide the perfect citrus flavor, unmatched by store-bought juice, which may contain preservatives or added sugars that could affect the taste and texture. Try our fresh orange smoothie recipe!
Sliced almonds: Sliced almonds are easier to chop into small pieces compared to whole almonds, and they provide a more delicate crunch. You’ll need about 6 tablespoons of sliced almonds for the orange almond muffin recipe.
How to make orange muffins with almonds?
Want To Save This Recipe?
Enter your email below, and we’ll send the link straight to your inbox. Plus, you'll get more creative recipe ideas every Sunday!
👩🍳 Pro tip: I recommend zesting your orange before juicing it—it's much easier that way!
Recipe tips
- Measure the flour correctly. Too much or too less flour will affect the end product drastically. Spoon flour into a dry measuring cup and level off the top with the straight side of a butter knife.
- The best tool for zesting citrus is a fine grater, also known as a Microplane. It lets you easily remove the fragrant dark orange outer layer while leaving the bitter white pith behind.
- Zest before juicing! It’s easier to zest your orange before you juicing
- Use freshly squeezed orange juice and not store bought.
Variations
These orange almond muffins are simple and wonderful as is, but you can always experiment with additional ingredients. Here are a few suggestions:
- Drizzle with an easy orange glaze - Stir about 1 to 2 teaspoon orange juice with ½ to ¾ cup confectioners sugar, to make a thick glaze and drizzle over cooled orange muffins.
- Stir in chopped dried cranberries or cherries.
- Use shreddded unsweetned coconut unstead of sliced almonds.
- Use walnuts instead of sliced almonds, as we did in the orange walnut cake.
- Use about 3 tablespoons of poppy seeds instead of sliced almonds in the batter.
More muffin recipes
Orange Almond Muffins
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup sliced almonds chopped
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Wet ingredients
- 2 large eggs at room tempearture
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup orange juice freshly squeezed
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
Topping
- ¼ cup sliced almonds chopped fine
- 1 ½ tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
Instructions
- Chop ½ cup of sliced almonds into small chunks for the muffin batter. Then, chop ¼ cup of sliced almonds into finely diced pieces for the topping.
- Pre heat oven to 350°F (or 177°C) and line a standard muffin pan with 12 paper liners.
- Add all dry ingredients into a medium bowl and whisk to combine.
- Add all wet ingredients into a large bowl, whisk for about 1 minute to dissolve the sugar. Add flour mixture and mix until just combined. Don't over mix.
- Evenly distribute the batter into the prepared muffin pan and sprinkle the topping on top.To make topping, Mix all the three topping ingredients, until evenly combined.
- Bake for 20 to 23 minutes, or until the tops are a deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Place pan on a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information, based on third-party calculations, should be seen as estimates, not guarantees, as various factors like product types, brands, processing methods, and more can alter the nutritional content in recipes.
More easy muffin recipes
- These pumpkin muffins with chocolate chips are truly one of the best muffin recipes you'll bake this Fall season! They are so easy to make, simple, moist, fluffy, and filled with chocolate chips!
Sunita Gopalan
Smells amazing in the kitchen as I bake and yes soft delicious muffins. Thank you
Maria Doss
Happy to hear hun - Maria🥰
Louise Castonguay
hi. the muffins are really good but l find they are
not big muffins . the cups are only 1/2 full. it makes for small muffins
Maria Doss
Hi Louise, Thank you for your feedback! We appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts. The muffins are designed to be slightly smaller, but you can certainly fill the cups a bit more if you prefer a larger portion. We’re glad to hear you enjoyed the flavor - Maria ♡