Fresh Cranberry Orange Bread made with classic ingredients like orange zest, fresh cranberries & brown sugar! Great flavor in this soft, moist cranberry orange quick bread recipe.
Cranberry Orange Bread is always on the menu during the holidays! I had some fresh cranberries on hand so I decided to bake a recipe for Cranberry bread that was in our family cookbook.
I love the fresh, tart flavor of cranberries and the added sweetness in this bread highlights them beautifully. The orange zest addition is a winner too- the two flavors pair well together in my opinion.
This bread is great for breakfast, or as a snack or dessert! Enjoy.
Making this cranberry orange bread
This recipe goes great for any size loaf pan. You can make “normal” standard-sized loaves or even make the mini loaves and give them away as gifts. Check out the awesome wrap that I crafted for my loaves before handing them out as edible holiday gifts in an image below.
Can you Freeze Cranberry Orange Bread?
Yes! I love making desserts throughout the Fall and Winter months so I am not stressed out about all of the baking that needs to be done for Thanksgiving and Christmas! To freeze wrap the bread tightly with aluminum foil or plastic freezer wrap, or place it in a heavy-duty freezer bag. So easy!
AVOID SUNKEN BREAD
The easiest and best way to avoid sunken bread is to use a cooking thermometer to check the inside of the loaf. Fully cooked bread will register 200°F on a thermometer. My all-time favorite thermometer is the Thermapen. It’s super fast and incredibly durable. Another great cooking thermometer is the ThermoPop which is a more basic version that works just as well!
What is orange zest?
Orange zest is a finely grated portion of the outer peel of an orange. Scraping small bits of the color orange with a zester and then adding it into a recipe can not only add a beautiful color but also add fragrance and flavor. Avoid getting too much of the white part though as that can actually be bitter.
Fresh Cranberry Orange Bread Ingredients
— Fresh Cranberries: this recipe uses 2-3 cups fresh cranberries {I used about 2.5 cups.} I just bought the Ocean Spray bag at the grocery store.
— Sugars: You’ll need 1 cup granulated sugar & 1 cup brown sugar for this bread.
— Oil: you’ll need 2/3 cup vegetable oil or canola oil
— Vanilla extract: I recommend using 2 tsp good quality vanilla
— 4 eggs
— Dry ingredients: this bread requires 3 cups flour, 2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder & 1 tsp salt
— Milk: Use 1 cup milk, either regular cow’s milk or almond milk
— Nuts: 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans are amazing in this bread!
— Orange: You’ll need 1 TBSP orange zest, which is just grated orange peel. (Don’t forget to wash your orange first!)
–2-3 TBSP coarse sugar {optional but a lovely touch!}
How to Make Cranberry Orange Bread
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and spray your loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray.
Mix together the sugars, oil, vanilla, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Add in the milk and then stir to combine.
Stir in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Gently fold in the cranberries, orange zest, and nuts.
Divide the batter evenly between all of the loaf pans. Gently sprinkle some coarse sugar on top of batter (optional).
Bake 8″ loaves about 50 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 9″ loaves bake 60-70 minutes. Mini loaves bake about 45 minutes.
Cool on a baking rack prior to serving. Enjoy!
FRESH CRANBERRY ORANGE BREAD
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups fresh cranberries
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ⅔ cup vegetable oil
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 4 eggs
- 3 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- 1 TBSP orange zest
- 2-3 TBSP coarse sugar {optional but a lovely touch!}
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray loaf pans with cooking spray.
- Mix sugars, oil, vanilla and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Add milk and stir to combine. Stir in flour, baking soda and baking powder and salt. Gently fold in cranberries, orange zest and nuts.
- Divide batter evenly between loaf pans. Gently sprinkle coarse sugar on top of batter.
- Bake 8" loaves about 50 minutes, until toothpick inserted comes out clean. 9" loaves bake 60-70 minutes. Mini loaves bake about 45 minutes.
- Cool on a baking rack prior to serving. Enjoy!
Nutrition
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Best Bread Pan?
I bake a lot of bread and the pans I prefer are either ceramic, glass or cast iron. These pans will bake bread more evenly and release the bread more easily after baking. I don’t like using dark or nonstick pans because the bread cooks unevenly. It darkens on the outside before the bread is cooked on the inside, so the coloring is uneven. Read more about which bread pan is the best here!
Can you substitute dried cranberries for fresh?
Yes, you can switch one out for the other when you’re in a pinch. Using dried cranberries as-is is fine, but it will result in chewy bites as a raisin would. You can rehydrate cranberries a little before baking by placing them in a pot of hot water for 15-20 minutes and then straining before adding to the recipe.
Can you use Mandarin zest instead of orange zest?
Absolutely! If you find yourself with a clementine, small cutie, mandarin or other “orange” variety, but not an actual ”orange” you can still zest them up and use them the same. The flavors are still pretty much on-point and your family will most likely never notice the difference.
More amazing quick bread recipes that we love:
- Sweet Coconut Quick Bread
- Best Zucchini Bread recipe
- Easy Lemon Quick Bread
- Yogurt Banana Bread recipe
- Dutch Apple Quick Bread
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Quick Bread
- Caramel Banana Nut Bread
- Best Ever Pumpkin Bread
- Lemon Buttermilk Quick Bread
- Caramel Apple Quick Bread
- Easy Banana Bread
- Cinnamon Raisin Quick Bread
- Peppermint Chocolate Quick Bread
- Cinnamon Roll Quick Bread
Cranberry Orange Bread is an amazing quick bread recipe that brings the flavors of orange and cranberry together in every soft bite. You’re going to love it!
GiGi says
I see the zested orange in your pictures, but not in the recipe. When are you adding it to the batter?
Tappy Swarner says
Orange zest is not listed….amount?
Terri @ that's some good cookin' says
Could your bread sound any more like Christmas!? This looks wonderful and I love the loaf wraps–they're perfect.
Jessica Williams says
Sorry everyone! I updated it- you use 1 TBSP of orange zest and you add it in with the cranberries and nuts. 🙂 ENJOY! It really is delicious!
cris says
How many loaves can this recipe make? What size pan did you use?
Jessica says
I just made this again last week – it made 6 mini loaves. It will make 2 regular sized loaves.
Bonnie Oakes says
where do you get the labels you rap around the bread I like to make them
Jessica says
I mention where I got them lower down the post- I got fancy and printed out loaf wraps from Our Thrifty Ideas and added holiday die cuts
from My Mind’s Eye. Look at me bring all crafty! ????
Laura says
I would love to try this recipe- unfortunately, there are ads blocking the entire post.
Jessica says
I’m so sorry! I’m having issues right now and am trying to fix it. You can still print the recipe and see it that way!
Tasa says
Would it be possible to make the mix ahead of time (the night before)? These would work as mini muffins, right? Thanks!
Jessica says
Yes, that’d work just fine Tasa!
Aurelene Beck says
Where is the orange juice for the orange favor?
Jessica says
This recipe just uses orange zest- which yields a stronger orange flavor that just orange juice.
Kathy Kasiorek says
This sounds delicious. Want to make Cranberry Orange bread as part of Holiday gifts. If using mini loaf or muffin pans do you bake them different, different time or temperature?
Jessica says
Yes, the bake time would be reduced- muffins bake in about 22 minutes & mini loaves bake in about 40-45 minutes.
Mona Ohl says
This bread was so delicious! The first time I made this recipe I made 2 loaves. Now Im making it with mini loaf pans for gifts. Should I put the 6 filled mini loaf pans on a cookie sheet to bake them or just on the rack itself? Thanks! And thank you for all the great recipes too! Merry Christmas!
Nellie says
I just put the pans on the rack itself! Merry Christmas to you too!
Teresa says
Excellent easy prep cranberry orange bread. It lasted two days (and there is only two people in this house)!
Thanks much for this fantastic recipe.
Nicole says
Yeah this bread never lasts long around here either haha