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Squares of cranberry cornbread on parchment paper, with a few pieces stacked on the side. A red and green plaid cloth is partially visible underneath, and a small bowl of cranberries is at the top.
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Cranberry Cornbread

This Cranberry Cornbread recipe combines fresh cranberries and a hint of orange zest with classic cornbread for the perfect sweet and savory side dish. Ready in 30 minutes with simple ingredients for beautiful golden results!
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Total Time45 minutes
Course: Bread, Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Servings: 16
Author: Melissa Griffiths

Ingredients

  • ⅔ cup granulated sugar
  • Zest of 1 orange
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup yellow cornmeal fine ground, not cornmeal mix
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ⅓ cup neutral oil or melted butter
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup milk or milk substitute like almond milk
  • 1 cup chopped fresh cranberries

Instructions

  • Grease a 9-inch round cake pan, square baking dish, or cast iron skillet well and set aside. Preheat your oven to 400°F.
  • In a medium mixing bowl, add the sugar and orange zest. Whisk the zest into the sugar until it smells fragrant and looks slightly wet. This helps release all the natural oils from the orange. Add the flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking powder to the bowl and whisk everything together until well combined.
  • Make a well in the center of your dry ingredients and add the oil or melted butter, milk, and egg. Stir just until everything comes together — it’s okay if there are a few small lumps. Gently fold in the chopped cranberries.
  • Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake for about 25 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  • Let it cool for a few minutes before slicing, and serve warm with butter, honey, or a drizzle of maple syrup.

Notes

Fun Recipe Development: The idea to add cranberries was from my assistant and friend Jenny. We've been working together for years and always bouncing ideas back and forth; such a great suggestion!
Adding just a hint of orange was inspired by my favorite Cranberry Orange Bread recipe and it was the perfect addition. I just went with my favorite go-to cornbread recipe as the base and am so glad I did.
We ended up with a sweet, tangy, bright cornbread that is SO good paired with savory dish like chili. This is a pretty and fun side that I hope you make OFTEN. It's going to surprise you as much as it did me!
Flexible Ingredients: This recipe is very flexible. If you want to use gluten-free flour instead of the all-purpose you can! You can use just about any oil you like or have on hand (or melted butter), and just about any milk, buttermilk, or milk alternative will also work. It's a very forgiving recipe! 
Cranberry Tips: The cranberries need to be cut up. You can use fresh or chop up frozen whole berries; it'll need a few more minutes of cooking time if using frozen berries. While you can use dried cranberries, it won't be quite the same. I didn't like the dried cranberries nearly as much as the fresh so I don't really recommend using dried. 
Make Ahead: Bake the cornbread up to 1 day ahead. Store covered at room temperature and warm before serving for that fresh-baked taste.

Nutrition

Serving: 1of 16 pices | Calories: 156kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Cholesterol: 12mg | Sodium: 196mg | Potassium: 72mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 43IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 45mg | Iron: 1mg

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