Cranberry Quick Bread

This Cranberry Quick Bread is incredibly moist bursting with cranberries and citrus flavor! This Cranberry Bread is quick to prepare and a delicious holiday breakfast or brunch!

Around this time of year I love making quick breads. I can’t believe I just said that, I love making quick breads all the time. They’re simple to put together, but you can customize them for any time of the year with your favorite fruits and different flavors.

For this time of year, cranberries and oranges are perfect, they go great together and they are made for a quick bread such as this. Quick breads are great because as the name says they are quick, usually you can put them together in 10 minutes or less, bake and enjoy. So if you love the flavors of cranberries and orange together then this bread is for you.

What’s Quick Bread?

A quick bread is a bread that uses leavening agents other than yeast to rise. That means that we’re going to bake this more like a cake, with baking powder and baking soda. That means no kneading, no rolling, no resting (till it bakes of course) and a way more reliable finished product for our baking novices!

Ingredients

• Dry ingredients – Flour, white sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
• Wet ingredients – Honey, eggs, orange juice, orange zest, and melted unsalted butter.
• Berries – We’re using cranberries today – either fresh or frozen!

A Healthy Little Bread

You’ll love this bread, every bite will be a burst of flavors in your mouth. I’m going to go ahead and call this a healthier version of a cranberry bread because as you’ll notice there is no oil, just a couple tablespoons of butter, and you don’t want to omit the butter because it’s what helps make the bread moist.

Overall this is my kind of breakfast I love during the holidays, hope you give it a try, you’ll love it.

How To Make Cranberry Quick Bread

1. Preheat your oven: To 350 F. Spray a 8.5 x 4.5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Prep the cranberries: Sprinkle a teaspoon of flour over the cranberries and mix; set aside. This will prevent the cranberries from sinking to the bottom of the bread. If using frozen cranberries, no need to thaw them out.
3. Combine the dry ingredients: In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt together.
4. Combine the wet ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together the honey, eggs, orange juice, orange zest and melted butter. Stir into dry ingredients, do not over mix. Fold in the prepared cranberries then pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
5. Bake the bread: Bake the bread for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. To test if the bread is done, insert a toothpick into the center of the bread and if it comes out clean, the bread is done, otherwise continue baking. Allow the bread to cool completely in the pan.
6. Finish: Slice and serve.

The Key To A Moist Loaf

The all important rule of thumb when making these sweet breads is to let them rest after baking. Some swear by leaving them overnight, others by just 1 hour – either way you need to make sure it gets some alone time! Usually this doesn’t work too well for me, but go ahead and try.

How To Zest An Orange

Prepare the orange: If you’re not using organic oranges, I recommend washing them in warm water using a clean sponge. Warm water melts the wax layer that protects the fruit and dissolves any chemicals with which it has been sprinkled on top.

Grate the orange: Wipe the orange well after they have been washed and grate them on the smallest holes of your grater. You must be careful that the white and bitter part of the shell is not grated so change where you are zesting often. If you look at the orange and see you have hit any white parts you’ve zested too far.

What Else Can I Use In My Loaf?

• Blueberries
• Lemon
• Chocolate chips
• Zucchini
• Pumpkin
• Raspberries

Storing Leftover Quick Bread

Once the bread has cooled completely wrap it in aluminum foil or plastic wrap. It will stay fresh at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can also refrigerate it for up to 6 days.

Freezing

Wrap the cooled bread tightly with aluminum foil or plastic freezer wrap, then place it in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.

Reheating

If you froze the cranberry bread, thaw it out at room temperature for about an hour, unwrap it then transfer it to a baking sheet or loaf pan and bake for about 5 to 10 min at 350 F degrees or until heated through.

More Must Try Recipes?

• Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Loaf
• Pumpkin Cinnamon Bread
• Healthy Whole Wheat Banana Nut Bread
• Cream Cheese Filled Banana Cake
• Banana Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake
• Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Loaf
• Limoncello Lemon Cake
• Old Fashioned Lemon Bread
• Zucchini Bread
• Chocolate Zucchini Bread
• Banana Nut Bread