Easy cranberry bread recipe with orange glaze, homemade with simple ingredients. Loaded with fresh cranberries and oranges. Soft, moist but still firm. Perfect for breakfast, brunch or dessert during Christmas holidays or even Thanksgiving.
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I love the combination of sweet and tart flavors in this bread. The cranberries not only add flavor, but such a beautiful pop of color making it so pleasant to look at and display. Sweet Potato Bread and Easy Pumpkin Bread {With Cake Mix} are also excellent holiday dessert choices during this festive time!
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How To Make Cranberry Bread Recipe From Scratch?
- Mix together sugar, orange zest, vanilla extract, flour and baking powder- Until roughly combined.
- Separately, mix together eggs, butter, buttermilk, orange juice- And mix until smooth.
- Dump the wet mixture into dry wet mixture- And mix until just combined.
- Add cranberries- Gently stir them in.
- Spread batter- In loaf pan.
- Bake- until bread is cooked through.
- Make orange glaze- By mixing together powdered sugar, orange juice, and orange zest.
- Transfer bread- To a serving dish.
- Drizzle glaze over the warm bread- And let it set.
- Enjoy- Cut slices and dig in!
Variations for cranberry orange bread
- Nut bread- Mix in chopped nuts such as walnuts, pecans, or almonds.
- Pumpkin version- Add pumpkin pie spice and 1-2 tablespoon of pumpkin puree to the batter for even more flavor.
- Add lemon juice and lemon zest- This adds another layer of tartness that balances the cranberry and sugar well.
- Try other toppings- Such as Lemon Buttercream Frosting, Cream Cheese Frosting, or Homemade Whipped Cream.
- Add fillings- Cut the bread in half and add fillings like Lemon Curd or whipped cream or even jams and preserves. Pie fillings are a great choice too because they are usually so thick. Try this Raspberry pie filling.
- Try adding other dried fruits– Such as roughly chopped raisins, apricots, mangoes, apples and so much more.
- Add shredded coconut– That gives these the bread even more texture and a tropical flavor.
- Try other extracts- Like almond, caramel, or cinnamon.
- Add herbs– Mix in crushed dried herbs such as rosemary, lavender, or rose.
- Consider adding mini chocolate chips- Such as milk chocolate, semi-sweet, dark, or white chocolate chips.
Tips and techniques
- Fresh cranberries vs. Frozen cranberries- Fresh will always be the best option. Frozen cranberries releases a lot of water during baking and that creates an odd texture.
- Can I use dried cranberries instead of fresh cranberries? Yes, you can. The bread will just have a chewy texture from the dried fruit instead.
- How do I know when the bread is done? It's done when an inserted toothpick in the center comes out clean.
- The top is browning, what do I do? If the top starts to brown too quickly, you can cover the bread with aluminum foil paper in the final 10 minutes.
- Adjust flavors- Add more or less extract and zest, according to your preference.
- Don’t over-bake- This will make the bread very dry and crumbly.
- Grease and flour pan– Because this prevents the bread from sticking to the pan. You can line the pan with parchment paper instead of greasing it, if you prefer that method.
- Don't over-mix- Because that makes the bread very gummy and dense.
- Use unsalted butter- Because it prevents the bread from becoming too salty.
- Homemade buttermilk substitute - Mix together 1 cup whole milk with 1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice. Let it sit for 5 minutes. Stir and then, use it in this recipe.
Storage
- Refrigerate- In a sealed container for up to 3 days.
- Freeze- Wrap well and store in a freezer safe bag or container for up to 1 month. Thaw at room temperature for an hour or in the fridge overnight.
More cranberry desserts
- Cranberry Pie {No Bake}
- Cranberry Orange Cookies {Shortbread}
- Cranberry Orange Scones {With Orange Glaze}
- White Chocolate Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies
- Coconut Cranberry Cake {With Cake Mix}
- Apple Cranberry Crisp {Cranberry Crumble}
Recipe
Orange Cranberry Bread
Easy cranberry bread recipe with orange glaze, homemade with simple ingredients. Loaded with fresh cranberries and oranges. Soft, moist but still firm.
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Ingredients
- 1 cup Granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon Orange zest
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 1.5 cups All-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- 2 Eggs Large
- ½ cup Butter Unsalted, Melted
- ¾ cup Buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon Orange juice
- 1 cup Cranberries Fresh, Roughly chopped
Orange Glaze
- 1 cup Powdered sugar
- 1.5 tablespoon Orange juice Preferably freshly squeezed
- 1 teaspoon Orange zest
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together sugar, orange zest, vanilla extract, flour, baking powder until roughly combined.
- In another mixing bowl, add eggs, butter, buttermilk, orange juice and mix until smooth.
- Dump this wet mixture into the dry mixture and mix until just combined. Don't over-mix!
- Gently stir in the chopped cranberries until evenly distributed.
- Spread batter in a greased and floured loaf pan (Dimensions: 9x5).
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until an inserted toothpick in the center comes out clean. If the top starts to brown too quickly, you can cover the bread with aluminum foil paper in the final 10 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let it cool for 30 minutes. It would eventually be warm and not completely cool.
- While the bread is cooling, mix together powdered sugar, orange juice, orange zest until smooth and creamy.
- Next, run a knife along the edges of the pan and then, turn it upside down gently to remove it from the pan onto a serving dish or cake dish.
- Drizzle the glaze over the warm bread.
- Let the glaze set for about 15-20 minutes.
- Use a sharp knife to cut slices and enjoy!
Notes
- Read all my tips above.
- Leftovers can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
Calories: 255kcalCarbohydrates: 41gProtein: 3gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 49mgSodium: 95mgPotassium: 101mgFiber: 1gSugar: 28gVitamin A: 310IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 44mgIron: 1mg
An automated tool is used to calculate the nutritional information. As such, I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information provided for any recipe on this site.
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Kelly
I made a trial loaf yesterday to take to my parents and received outstanding reviews. 4 more loaves made today for neighbor Christmas gifts. This is the perfect quick bread - not too dense with the perfect amount of sweetness. It reminds me of a wonderfully moist pound cake with a slightly lighter crumb. The flavors pair so well together. I followed the recipe exactly yesterday. Today the only change I made was the addition of orange extract since I couldn’t get 8 tsp of zest from the 3 remaining oranges.
Geri
December 2022 I made this bread recipe today and doubled it. It made 3- 8”X 4” loaves, plus 3 cupcakes, loaves were done after 34 mins. The cupcakes were done quicker of course.
Very easy to follow instructions. It tastes amazing! I added 1/4 tsp of salt. I thought perhaps that was overlooked, with the unsalted butter. I’ll make it again for the holidays! Thank you!
Barbara Douglas
I love this recipe and make it for the holidays. I’m going to be using the mini loaf pans ( 3 x 6 ) and was wondering if you knew how many each batch will make?
Abeer Rizvi
It's been a while since I made these in mini loaf pans but I believe it makes 8 small ones. I don't fill up the small pans too high with batter because I like to add some sugared cranberry decorations at the end after baking.
Michelle Stegmaier
I accidentally left an incorrect comment on this blog. I used this blog to fix a recipe from another blog that didn’t work. I’m so sorry!
Abeer Rizvi
No worries. Glad my recipe was helpful. Happy baking!
Kristina McWilliams
amazing!! this really was the best orange cranberry bread I've ever made. my only change was the addition of more zest and more glaze.
Deb
Have made this recipe many times. So moist and delicious. Awesome orange and cranberry flavor not too strong. Took some to work. My coworkers just loved it.
Sue
Love this recipe! Easy and delicious. Will be making several for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Phyllis Wayman
I make this for Christmas for my neighbors. I love this bread. So good with a cup of tea..
Margaret
Just made this bread this afternoon. I love orange cranberry anything. It is delicious. Moist and so flavorful. Happy I found the recipe. I will make this often!
Gail
This is my second time making this. My other half ate most of the first one so I decided to make 2 this time!
Easy recipe ... DELISH!
Eileen
Can you use dried cranberries?
Abeer Rizvi
No, not in this recipe.
Barbra
Yes. I have made this wonderful recipe with dried cranberries several times. Perfect every time.