Cranberry Orange Bread
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This Cranberry Orange Bread is incredibly moist bursting with cranberries and citrus flavor! This Cranberry Bread is quick to prepare and a delicious holiday breakfast or brunch!
Easy Cranberry Orange Bread Recipe
Around this time of year I love making quick breads. 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, require no yeast, no rising time, 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.
Why You’ll Love This Orange Quick Bread
- Quick and Easy! This cranberry orange bread recipe is foolproof and comes together in just about an hour. You don’t need any fancy ingredients and it’s ideal for novice bakers.
- Cranberry Orange Bliss! When you add tart cranberries and sweet orange to a simple perfectly balanced batter what you get is the best cranberry orange bread.
- Easy Holiday Breakfast! With all the classic holiday flavors, this quick bread with fresh cranberries is a fantastic make ahead holiday breakfast option that everyone will enjoy.
Cranberry Orange Bread
- Flour – Simple all-purpose flour is all you need for this recipe.
- Baking Powder – Used as a leavening agent it helps the bread rise.
- Baking Soda – It reacts with the acidic ingredients in the batter and helps the bread to rise just like the baking powder.
- Salt – A dash of salt balances the sweetness.
- Sugar – Granulated white sugar is used to add a touch of sweetness.
- Butter – I always use unsalted butter in all my baking recipes, however, if you salted butter is all you have, you’ll have to adjust the salt amount in the recipe.
- Milk – I always use whole milk or 2%, but any type of milk you have on hand is fine including dairy free varieties.
- Orange Juice – Use fresh orange juice for the best flavor.
- Orange Zest – Adds lovely hints of natural orange flavor
- Eggs – You will need large eggs to help bind the batter.
- Cranberries – You will need fresh or frozen cranberries.
Orange Glaze
- Powdered Sugar – The same as icing sugar or confectioners’ sugar.
- Orange Juice – Use fresh orange juice for the best flavor.
- Orange Zest – Adds lovely hints of natural orange flavor
This quick bread recipe is one of the fastest types of bread to make! Hence, the name! And this recipe holds true. From start to finish you can have ready to eat cranberry orange bread in just an hour!
Preheat The Oven And Prep The Pan
First, preheat your oven temperature to 350°F (177°C) so that it is ready for baking once the batter is made. Then spray an 8.5 x 4.5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. You can also grease it with oil if you prefer.
Prep The Cranberries
Before you add the cranberries to the batter they need to be prepped for baking. To do this, just sprinkle them with a teaspoon of flour and toss them to coat. Then set the coated cranberries aside for a later step. Prepping the cranberries is done to keep them from sinking to the bottom of the bread. Also, if you are using frozen cranberries there is no need to thaw them out.
Combine The Dry Ingredients
Now, on to batter making! To begin, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl.
Combine The Wet Ingredients
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, melted butter, orange juice, milk and orange zest until well combined.
Make The Matter
Then add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold them together using a rubber spatula. But do not overmix. Once there are no more large lumps, stop stirring. Finally, gently fold the cranberries into the batter.
Bake The Bread
To bake, evenly distribute the batter into the prepared pan. Then transfer the pan to the preheated oven and bake the bread for about 45 minutes to an hour. When the bread is done a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center should come out clean. If it doesn’t come out clean you need to continue baking the bread and test it again.
Cool And Serve
When done baking, allow the bread to cool for a few minutes on a wire rack then drizzle with orange glaze. Then slice it and serve it with a cup of coffee if you like.
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!
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.
Expert Tips
- Spray the pan well. You must grease the pan well with cooking spray or oil. The bread will most definitely stick if you do not.
- Don’t overmix the batter. When combining the wet ingredients with the flour mixture it’s important to gently fold them together. Having lumps in the batter is normal.
- Test your bread. A toothpick must come out clean before you remove your bread from the oven. You risk raw quick bread if you don’t test it.
- Use a serrated knife. For the neatest slices use a serrated knife to cut the bread. It’s the perfect tool that won’t squish the bread and cut perfect slices.
Storing Leftover Cranberry Orange 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 (177°C) or until heated through.
Other Delicious Quick Breads To Try
- Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Loaf
- Pumpkin Cinnamon Bread
- Healthy Whole Wheat Banana Nut Bread
- Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Loaf
- Old Fashioned Lemon Bread
- Chocolate Banana Bread
- Cranberry Orange Muffins
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Cranberry Orange Bread
Ingredients
Cranberries
- 1½ cups cranberries (fresh or frozen, roughly chopped)
- 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
Quick Bread
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup milk
- ¼ cup orange juice
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- ¼ cup butter (unsalted and melted)
Orange Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoon orange juice
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
Make The Cranberry Orange Bread
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Spray a 8.5 x 4.5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- 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.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt together.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, orange juice, orange zest and melted butter.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix using a whisk or a hand mixer, but do not overmix. Once there are no more large lumps, stop stirring. Gently fold in the prepared cranberries into the batter.
- Evenly distribute the batter into the prepared pan and transfer it to the preheated oven. 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.
Make The Orange Glaze
- In a medium size bowl, combine all the orange glaze ingredients together and whisk until well incorporated. Start with a tablespoon of orange juice and and more until desired consistency. The glaze should be pourable.
- Finally, generously drizzle orange glaze over the bread, slice and serve.
Video
Notes
- Spray the pan well. You must grease the pan well with cooking spray or oil. The bread will most definitely stick if you do not.
- Don’t overmix the batter. When combining the wet ingredients with the flour mixture it’s important to gently fold them together. Having lumps in the batter is normal.
- Test your bread. A toothpick must come out clean before you remove your bread from the oven. You risk raw quick bread if you don’t test it.
- Use a serrated knife. For the neatest slices use a serrated knife to cut the bread. It’s the perfect tool that won’t squish the bread and cut perfect slices.
- How to store it: 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.
- How to freeze it: 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.
- How to reheat it: 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.
Nutrition Information
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Amazing, you will get rave reviews from friends and family. I make this year round.
I’m so happy to hear you liked it!
Very tasty bread! Like some others, I skipped the glaze. I had been making a similar muffin recipe, but the muffin cups are more work to fill and clean.
I will try it with some walnuts next time.
What about some vanilla?
That would be great!
This is absolutely the best quick bread! You will not be disappointed!!!!
Excellent bread and so moist. I always make cranberry bread during the holiday season, however, never with orange glaze. This will definitely be a favorite.
Why don’t you have the Orange Glaze on the printable recipe & that you use a squeeze bottle for drizzling the glaze. This is a wonderful gift to give to neighbors for the upcoming holidays.
It’s in the recipe card below the bread ingredients. Try reloading your page and see if you can see it.
Looking forward to making this. One question. Should the orange zest be dried or fresh?
I used fresh, I think it’s best.
My 10 year old daughter and I made this recipe together. It was easy to follow and made with ingredients we had on hand in our kitchen. I didn’t have orange zest, but had lemon so used that instead. We loved the bread it is very moist. Daughter even said it was better than grandma’s recipe which tends to be a bit dry. We will definitely make again!
Thank you for a simple and delicious recipe! My husband and kid loved it. So yum with some tea in the morning 😋
So glad you liked it!
I just made this bread again this morning except I used blueberrie, since cranberries are out of season.It taste good was super moist but I missed the tartness of he cranberries. Will try next time with chocolate chips.
Ohhh, that sounds awesome! Let us know how it turns out with chocolate chips once you make it!
I love this recipe so much. I made it so many times and gave away to family, friends & coworkers and they all loved it too. I’m going to try it next with blueberries.
That’s amazing, we are so happy to hear this! Let us know how it turned out 🙂
I’m going to make this cranberry bread for my ex-husband but I’m not sure what cranberries to buy. I bought whole organic whole ones.how do I put them in batter?
Hi Mary, I used whole cranberries as well. You can just follow the instructions as stated 🙂
I did add 1/2 c of walnuts but this recipe is tasty. Be sure to give some away so you don’t eat it all 🙂
Can I use dried cranberries?
Sure!
I do not have honey can I omit it and do I need to replace it with more sugar?
Yes, I would add another 1/4 cup sugar!
Unbelievably delicious! Could only give 1/2 the loaf planned to share because we ate the rest. Now up early to bake another batch of this wonderful new morning surprise. Thanks, Jo!
lol too funny! You are so welcome, glad you enjoyed it.
I used lemon and I didn’t have an orange and although this loaf was tasty and moist next time (and there will be a next time) I would stick to your version as written. Thanks again Jo for another proud to serve to others recipe.