The Best Cranberry Orange Bread
on Dec 17, 2020, Updated Mar 04, 2024
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The Best Cranberry Orange Bread is sweet, gorgeous, and perfect for giving as a gift! Made with tangy orange zest, melted butter, and fresh cranberries.
This is one of my all-time favorite holiday treats. I make batches and batches of it to put on my friend and neighbor goodie plates, take to parties, have for dessert when friends come over for mom dates, and every other excuse I can think of.
I’m planning on having an intentional Christmas this year. Doing things because they mean something and because I want to and not just because I should or can. I know it might be crazy, but I just love making dozens of goodie plates for neighbors every year and that is for sure on my list for this season. This bread has made the list to go on them again, too! That’s saying something!
Tips and Tricks for Making Cranberry Orange Bread
- Isn’t it pretty? I got the tea loaf pan from King Arthur Flour last year for Christmas and I just love it.
- Plan on buying a few extra cranberries for your cranberry sauce recipe. When they are hanging out in the fridge after Thanksgiving, you’ll be obligated to make this bread.
- Mixing the orange zest with the sugar before you add anything is the secret of this bread. The sugar pulls the oils out of the zest and you are making orange infused sugar which really makes the orange flavor carry throughout the bread. Best trick ever!
- Feel free to double this recipe; it works great.
You can make this bread in just about any pan you have (including muffins)
I have made this recipe as traditional loaves, tea loaves (which are pictured), muffins, and mini loaves as well. It always turns out well and it always gets rave reviews. There’s something magical about those bright little pops of tart cranberry mixed in with all that sweet bread. Adding a little orange glaze to the mix really puts this bread over the top. You will love it!
How long to bake Cranberry Orange Bread based on pan size:
- Bake in a 9×5 inch loaf pan at 350 degrees F for about 1 hour and 10 minutes (70 minutes)
- Bake in a tea loaf pan at 350 degree F for around 50 minutes.
- Bake 12 muffins in a standard size muffin tin at 350 degrees F for 18-20 minutes.
- Bake mini loaf pans at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes (depending on the size of your pan).
Here’s a video on how to make the bread if you need some extra help!
Cranberry Orange Bread
Ingredients
For the bread:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- Zest of 1 large orange
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 cup buttermilk, (here's how to make your own buttermilk)
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 2 large eggs, slightly beaten
- 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup fresh cranberries, chopped
For the orange glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9×5 bread pan or a tea loaf pan well.
- In a large bowl, add the granulated sugar and the orange zest. Stir the mixture together until the sugar starts to turn a bit orange and is fragrant. Add the flour, salt, and baking powder to the sugar mixture and whisk to combine well.
- In a separate bowl add the buttermilk, butter, eggs, orange juice, and vanilla extract. Whisk to combine well.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Fold in the cranberries and then place the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean about 1 hour and 10 minutes for a traditional bread loaf pan (and about 50 minutes for the tea loaf pictured). If the top starts to brown too quickly, you might want to cover the bread with foil for the last 10 or so minutes of baking.
- Remove the bread from the oven and allow it to cool on a wire rack for 20-30 minutes before removing the bread from the pan. Run a knife along the edges of the pan before you turn it upside down to remove it from the pan.
- Whisk together the ingredients for the glaze until smooth. Drizzle the glaze over the warm bread and then slice to serve.
Video
Notes
- This recipe doubles well if you want to make 2 loaves.
- Bake in a 9×5 inch loaf pan at 350 degrees F for about 1 hour and 10 minutes (70 minutes)
- Bake in a tea loaf pan at 350 degree F for around 50 minutes.
- Bake 12 muffins in a standard size muffin tin at 350 degrees F for 18-20 minutes.
- Bake mini loaf pans at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes (depending on the size of your pan).
- This bread freezes great. Just cool fully, wrap up well, and freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Love Cranberry Orange Bread?! You might also enjoy these recipes:
- Soft Gingerbread Cookies
- The best banana bread recipe
- Creamy Cranberry Salad (we call it cranberry fluff) from my friend Mel at Mel’s Kitchen Cafe
I’m totally wishing I had some of this Cranberry Orange Bread in the house still, but it sure didn’t last long. I can’t wait to make another loaf. Every time I make this and give it as gifts, I’ll have multiple people ask me for the recipe. It’s just so good. Enjoy from my kitchen to yours!
I am addicted…. third batch…. hope I have enough cranberries in the freezer to get me thru the year!
Good Golly! I finally got around to making this last night and it is so delicious! I don’t know if I’m going to be able to give away the second loaf I made, the first is already gone! Thank you!!!
LOL! I normally make a huge huge batch and we eat most of it. That stuff is so good isn’t it! I’m so glad you liked it!
Oh….wow….yummy stuff! I baked 4 mini loaf pans for 46 minutes, drooling the whole time. If I ate 3/4 of 1 mini loaf in one sitting……that is roughly 2 slices from a big pan right?!? The bowl, beater and spatula were equally delicious! I only chopped half the cranberries, the other half was left whole. Next round, I will chop all the berries; the blend of orange and chopped is a better taste ratio on my tongue. Thanks for sharing!!
I made this last Saturday, it was awesome, i will be giving it as gifts this year. i doubled the recipi, i used one 9×5 loaf pan, and two mini loaf pans.
p.s. i listen to Christmas music all year thru Pandora:)
Hooray! Thank you for letting me know you liked it! I’m making another batch this weekend too!
Hi! Excitedly trying this out today! However (newbie alert) I didn’t know how to chop cranberries… so I did it by hand with a knife. Apparently, you can use a food processor. But, none the less, I am excited for this bread!
This does not look like a 9×5 pan. What size did you use? Did it take more of the recipe because it looks a lot bigger?
It’s a tea loaf pan which I love. I have made it many times in a traditional bread pan and the cooking times for both pans are indicated in the recipe! Enjoy!
Thank you for this! You have inspired me to make something for our neighbors. I’ve been subtly trying to reach out to the more shy neighbors and I’m hoping making this will help.
This is a great place to start 🙂 It’s really fun to see people’s reactions to unexpected gifts too, I think you will love it!
Hi I am making this bread and the recipe calls for baking powder but on the video it uses baking soda, what did you use?
Use what the recipes calls for, I have a friend edit the videos and they aren’t as accurate. Sorry for the confusion, I’ll be sure to update the video!
oh yum, this looks super delicious! thank you!
and don’t worry, you’re not the only one who may or may not be turning on the Christmas Pandora 🙂 love this time of year!
This looks delicious. I am going to try to substitute canola oil for the butter to save on the saturated fat. I think it probably will work ok in this recipe, thanks.
I can’t get this made fast enough! It looks delicious and perfect for giving as gifts in mini-loaf size too. I will have to find a tea loaf pan now, what a great idea. Thanks for another yummy recipe!
I doubled the recipe & made two loaves. I froze one & served it today in my Sunday school class. They raved about it. I have plans to make mini muffins & small loaves next week.
Woohoo! SO glad you loved it as much as we do. I’m making a double batch today too! One for dessert with family comes over for dinner and one for later. I like to preslice it before I stick it in the freezer so I have just pull it out and let it thaw and it’s ready!