Valentina Ablaev
This cranberry orange bread recipe makes the perfect fall dessert. The soft bread is loaded with juicy cranberries and is complimented by a subtle orange flavor. The bread is so soft yet moist, and the easy glaze adds so much flavor. If you love this bread, you will fall in love with our orange cranberry muffins.
Dessert breads are so easy to make and bring so much fall flavor! Whether you love a simple banana bread or prefer our classic apple bread, you can’t go wrong with a sweet bread recipe!
This cranberry orange bread takes a simple batter and loads it with zesty orange flavor and juicy cranberries. The fluffy bread is made light with the best flavor combination and makes the best quick bread recipe.
We really enjoy baking the bread around the holidays, wrapping it with brown parchment paper, and gifting it to teachers, neighbors, and friends.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Fall flavors. This easy bread is loaded with incredible autumn flavors.
- Easy baking. A cranberry orange bread is so simple to make and is perfect for beginner bakers.
- Holiday favorite. This cranberry bread is a Thanksgiving and Christmas staple for parties.
Ingredients for Cranberry Orange Bread
- Dry ingredients – a combination of all purpose flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
- Butter – unsalted butter, at room temperature.
- Eggs – give this bread a great spongey texture.
- Sugar – sweetens the bread.
- Cranberries – tarte cranberries add so much flavor to the bread.
- Orange – fresh orange zest and freshly squeezed orange juice.
- Sour cream – gives the bread a fluffy texture.
- Glaze – a simple lemon glaze.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions and Variations
- Add nuts: To get the best crunch, you can add pecans, walnuts, or almonds, just like in our banana nut bread.
- Orange glaze: Swap the lemon juice for orange juice to make a zesty orange glaze.
How to Make Cranberry Orange Bread
- Into a mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
- In a separate large bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar and butter for about 2 minutes or until light and fluffy.
3. Add half of the flour mixture to the wet batter and mix. Once mostly incorporated, add the remaining dry ingredients. Fold the cranberries into the batter gently.
4. Pour the mixture into a parchment paper-lined 5-inch loaf pan and bake at 350°F for 40-50 minutes. Allow the bread to cool on a wire rack before topping with glaze.
Easy Glaze for Orange Cranberry Bread
While the bread is cooling, prepare the glaze. The glaze not only adds flavor to the bread but is aesthetic as well.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, powdered sugar, and milk.
- Once the bread completely cools, dust it with powdered sugar and drizzle with glaze.
How to Make Cranberry Orange Muffins
You can easily turn this bread loaf into muffins with simple adjustments.
- Create the cranberry bread batter per instructions.
- Line a muffin tin with muffin liners and fill ¾ of the way with the batter.
- Add the muffin tin to the oven and bake at 400°F for 17-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Meanwhile, prepare the glaze. Once the muffins cool, drizzle with the glaze and enjoy.
Recipe FAQs
Though we do prefer the juiciness of fresh cranberries, you can absolutely use dried cranberries.
Yes, you can use frozen cranberries! Simply add them straight to the batter, trying not to let them thaw too much!
You can absolutely use walnuts, pecans, or almonds to add texture and flavor to this bread.
Store & Reheat
- Storage. Store leftover bread tightly wrapped and at room temperature. The bread will remain fresh for 2-3 days.
- Freeze. This loaf is great to freeze, so you can enjoy it later on! Tightly wrap the bread in plastic wrap and store it in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw: Place the loaf in the fridge overnight and allow to thaw. Allow the bread to then sit at room temperature for a couple of hours before serving.
More Dessert Recipes
If you enjoyed this cranberry orange bread recipe, be sure to try our other popular dessert recipes; here are some of our favorites:
If you tried this cranberry orange bread recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below – we appreciate it!
The BEST Cranberry Orange Bread (VIDEO)
Ingredients
cake-
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temp
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, measured then sifted
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 cup fresh cranberries
- 1 Tbsp orange zest
- 2 Tbsp orange juice
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 3 Tbsp extra light olive oil (or canola oil)
glaze-
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp milk
Instructions
prepare bread-
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Cover the bread pan with parchment paper and dust lightly with flour.
- In a mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, beat together butter, eggs, and sugar until light and fluffy.
- In a small bowl, beat the orange zest, orange juice, lemon juice, sour cream, and oil. Pour into the egg and butter mixture. Lightly beat to combine.
- Add half of the dry mixture and beat lightly. Add the rest of the dry mix and beat until just incorporated.
- Pour the mixture into the bread pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes (until toothpicks come out clean if inserted into the center of the loaf).
prepare glaze-
- Meanwhile, prepare the glaze. Whisk together the lemon juice, powdered sugar and milk.
- Once the bread completely cools, dust it with powdered sugar and drizzle with glaze.
Notes
- Storage. Store leftover bread tightly wrapped and at room temperature. The bread will remain fresh for 2-3 days.
- Freeze. This loaf is great to freeze so you can enjoy it later on! Tightly wrap the bread in plastic wrap and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw: Place the loaf in the fridge overnight and allow to thaw. Allow the bread to then sit at room temperature for a couple hours before serving.
