Cranberry Orange Bread

Cranberry Orange Bread is an easy quick bread recipe that’s soft and moist with tons of orange flavor. It’s bursting with fresh cranberries and a delicious orange glaze on top!

I love quick bread so much – especially my banana bread recipe and my lemon bread. Orange and cranberry flavors go so well together and are perfect at the holidays. This Orange Cranberry Bread is has the best orange flavor throughout – and that sweet orange glaze is the perfect finisher to mix with the tart cranberries. I couldn’t stop sneaking pieces of this bread and it’ll for sure show up on both my Thanksgiving Christmas tables.

Ingredients Needed

• Sugar: The bread uses granulated sugar and the glaze uses powdered sugar (confectioners’ sugar).
• Orange: I used orange juice and orange zest to give the best orange flavor – fresh is best.
• Buttermilk: Buttermilk is needed for the bread to rise properly. You can also use regular milk or non-dairy milk and add 1 tsp vinegar or lemon juice.
• Cranberries: This recipe was tested with fresh cranberries. If you use frozen, be sure to thaw them and pat dry.

How to make Cranberry Orange Bread

1. Stir together the sugar and orange zest in a large bowl, set aside.
2. Whisk together buttermilk, orange juice, oil and egg. Set aside.
3. Whisk together flour mixture, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a small bowl. Set aside.
4. Add wet ingredients to sugar mixture and stir until combined. Stir in dry ingredients, then fold in chopped cranberries.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs (test in the very center of the loaf). Cool before removing from pan.
6. Once cool, make the glaze by whisking powdered sugar with orange juice and adding just enough cream or milk to get a drizzle. Drizzle over bread; let set. Slice and serve.

Expert Tips

• Since I can never find frozen cranberries at my store, I used fresh and this recipe has never been tested with frozen cranberries. If you want to try with frozen, make sure to strain and dry them before adding them in.
• Let the icing on this bread dry on a wire rack before serving or storing.
• You can store this recipe at room temperature or place in the freezer for about a month or so. Wrap it well in plastic wrap or place in an airtight container.

Cranberry Orange Bread Recipe

5 from 4 votes

Soft and moist and fluffy – this Cranberry Orange Bread is a quick bread that's bursting with orange flavor and cranberries.

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes

Yield 10 servings

Serving Size 1 serving

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

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Ingredients

 

Bread:

• ▢ 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
• ▢ 1 tablespoon orange zest
• ▢ ¾ cup (177ml) buttermilk
• ▢ ¼ cup (59ml) fresh orange juice
• ▢ ¾ cup (177ml) vegetable oil
• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ 2 cups (248g) all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 1 ½ cups fresh cranberries coarsely chopped

Glaze:

• ▢ ½ cup (57g) powdered sugar
• ▢ 1 tablespoon orange juice
• ▢ 1-2 tablespoons heavy cream or milk

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Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray (or baking spray, the kind with flour in it).
• Stir together the sugar and orange zest in a large bowl, set aside.
• Whisk together buttermilk, orange juice, oil and egg. Set aside.
• Whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a small bowl. Set aside.
• Add wet ingredients to sugar mixture and stir until combined. Stir in dry ingredients, then fold in chopped cranberries.
• Pour mixture into prepared pan. Bake 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs (test in the very center of the loaf). Cool before removing from pan.
• Once cool, make the glaze by whisking powdered sugar with orange juice and adding just enough cream or milk to get a drizzle. Drizzle over bread; let set. Slice and serve.

Recipe Notes

• If you don’t have buttermilk, add 1 teaspoon lemon juice or white vinegar or measuring cup, then fill to the ¾ cup mark with milk. Let sit 5 minutes before using.
• You can also do this method if using nondariy milk.
• This recipe has only been tested with fresh cranberries (I can never find frozen in my grocery stores).
• When making the glaze, you can use heavy cream, half and half, milk or nondairy milk. The less fat in the milk the less you’ll need to use – so start with 2 teaspoons and work your way up if not using heavy cream.

Recipe Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 500kcal | Carbohydrates: 75g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 11g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 287mg | Potassium: 152mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 38g | Vitamin A: 102IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 52mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Author Dorothy Kern

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