Tart cranberries and sweet orange juice combine to make this Cranberry Orange Bread that is perfect for breakfast or brunch, or even for dessert! This is the perfect quick bread for the Christmas season.
Cranberry Orange Bread
For me, cranberry and orange is one of my very favorite holiday flavor combinations. Something about it just screams Christmas to me. I love the sweetness and the brightness from the orange, and the tartness from the cranberries. And we all know that we eat with our eyes first, and the orange and red colors are just stunning.
This Cranberry Orange Bread is perfect to make all holiday season long. It would even be perfect for neighbor gifts! I love serving it alongside a holiday breakfast, but it really is good all day long during the whole season!
Ingredients in Cranberry Orange Bread
This cranberry bread has:
- flour – I use all-purpose in this recipe
- sugar – you’ll need just regular, granulated sugar
- baking powder
- salt
- zest of 1 large orange – I use a microplane to zest the orange. Make sure you zest just the orange part, and not the white part under the orange
- fresh orange juice – it’s easiest if you zest the orange before you squeeze the juice from it
- eggs
- vegetable oil
- fresh cranberries – these are usually pretty easy to find at any grocery store throughout November and December
- pecans – I prefer pecans, but you could use walnuts or almonds as well
How to make Cranberry Orange Bread
This Cranberry Orange Bread is pretty simple to make!
- Prepare your loaf pan by spraying it with nonstick cooking spray and then lining it with parchment paper. I fold mine to fit and make sure to have enough hanging over the edges so that you can use those to pull the bread out when it is finished.
- Sift together all of the dry ingredients, then stir the orange zest in.
- Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. (Kind of like a hole in the middle of the dry ingredients – so that there is a sort of bowl in the center where you will pour your wet ingredients.)
- Add the orange juice, eggs and vegetable oil to the center of the well.
- Stir everything together. You want to only stir until it is moistened and mixed. Over-stirring will toughen your bread.
- Fold the cranberries and the nuts into your batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake!
- You’ll know the bread is done when a tester inserted in the center comes out without any wet batter on it, or if you gently push on the middle of the bread, it should bounce back up.
More Cranberry Recipes
Cranberry Pudding Cake with Warm Butter Sauce
Cranberry Orange Cheesecake
Cranberry Orange Baked French Toast Casserole
Cranberry Orange Cupcakes
Tools Used to make this Cranberry Orange Bread
You will need a 9×5-inch loaf pan for this recipe. I have several different kinds in my kitchen, but the basic, nonstick pans work just fine.
Lining the pan with parchment paper helps a lot to be able to get the bread out of the pan easily.
I use a fine mesh strainer for sifting the dry ingredients. You can also use a sifter, or if you don’t have either of these, you can whisk the dry ingredients with a wire whisk.
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Tart cranberries and sweet orange juice combine to make this Cranberry Orange Bread that is perfect for breakfast or brunch, or even for dessert! This is the perfect quick bread for the Christmas season.
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- grated zest of 1 large orange
- 2/3 cup fresh orange juice
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/4 cups fresh cranberries
- 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a 9×5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. Stir in the orange zest. Make a well in the center and add the orange juice, eggs and vegetable oil. Stir gently, just until almost combined. Fold in the cranberries and nuts, making sure you don’t over mix the batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake in the preheated oven until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes.
- Let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
Adapted from The Great Big Baking Book
Nutrition information provided as an estimate only. Various brands and products can change the counts. Any nutritional information should only be used as a general guideline.
Nutrition
- Calories: 212
- Sugar: 10 g
- Sodium: 125 mg
- Fat: 11 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 26 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 31 mg
Keywords: cranberry orange bread
Nut haters! don’t you hate them?! Your bread looks wonderful, and it proves that it was because the hubby liked it!
I’m crazy for cranberry-orange flavors! Thanks for the recipe!
Just like my man( not liking cranberries). I made a chocolate chip, cranberry, orange pound cake for his coworkers and they loved it recently. Great combo and good use of cranberries. I still have more in the freezer.
this is really a lovely looking loaf! I LOVE cranberries and I really like the look of this recipe, I’m gonna bookmark this for future reference x
Pfft nuthaters. They’re like anti-chocolate people – I just don’t get it. At least your hubby tries things, sometimes thats the hardest thing with fussyeaters, they wont’ even try. Well done on convertin!
Pfft nuthaters. They’re like anti-chocolate people – I just don’t get it. At least your hubby tries things, sometimes thats the hardest thing with fussyeaters, they wont’ even try. Well done on convertin!
That bread looks delicious. I love the orange cranberry combination.
And yeah, I don’t get nut haters either.
cranberry looks wonderful in bread! not a popular ingredients in my kitchen, but surely interesting to try out!!
Nut haters? But nuts are so good! Orange and cranberry are a great combo and the pecans make it that much better. Nice looking bread!
This looks so good and easy. I’m scared of baking my own bread, but I think I could handle this one.
All of your recipes are fantastic! 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
Oh Deborah, I was just thinking about making cranberry orange muffins with the bag in my freezer! But now I think I’ll try your quick loaf.
I think your co-workers are, well, um ‘NUTS’. I love all those flavors. Glad your husband liked the bread.
Hallelujah! You converted him.
Your co-workers are crazy! That bread looks so good. They are not foodies. I have the same problem at my work. (Hope they aren’t reading this) I don’t bother bringing stuff in, anymore.
Pecans are better than walnuts, anyway.
Wow! Looks so yummy!
I have a cranberry bread recipe also, which uses puree pumpkin, but I’ve never gotten around to trying it! Well, the way I drooled over your pictures, I just know what will be coming out of my kitchen tomorrow!
Love the colors and the flavors, Deb. I have never tried fresh cranberries but have tried the dried ones. Delicious!
Nice colors in this bread and a superb combination of flavors.I could go for a slice or two with my tea!
Yum! And its so pretty!
cranberry and orange are always nice together.
Looks so yummy! Orange and Cranberry are a match made in heaven. Glad your husband found it yummy.
Hope you’re keeping warm through our SLC deep freeze!
This sounds great. What is up with the folks you work with anyway? Don’t they know how good nuts are for them? This makes me realize I never posted a cranberry nut bread I made before Christmas. Hilarious!
Convert bread – love it!
errrm….I’m a nut hater. Please don’t hate me.
Almonds, pistachios or hazelnuts terrific. Peanuts, walnuts, pecans or anything else, not for me.
Otherwise this bread looks great, and nuts are easy to leave out.
Are you kidding? Whip out this combo ANY time for me!
this looks so yummy! i’ve been looking for some good loaf recipes, and this is definitely going on the list.
once i brought a marble cake to work, and i was like wtf people! no one was eating it! i felt so rejected, haha, until i brought cookies in the next week and they were gobbled up. so i came to the conclusion, no more cakes at work.
This looks soooo good. I can try it with other fruit combos too right?
Hmm maybe I should try this bread as I don’t really like cranberries either. Saving this recipe!
Thanks for visiting again. I also made a sweet bread over the weekend. Yours looks delicious. I hope to post shortly. Thanks for the encouragement.
how can anyone say no to these???
the flavours sound wonderful.
Yum – cranberry and orange is a great combination.
Be a little more tolerant…some people are allergic to nuts and some have health issues (diverticulitus) and cannot eat nuts.
Hi , Deborah
I have one question is 1 Tbsp of baking powder a lot
Or
Did you miss write it and it is supposed to be
1 tsp
Hi Taylor – the 1 tablespoon is correct! You may be able to get away with adding less, but I have not tested it with less.
Looks and smells delicious! Unfortunately, it seems to be taking a solid 15minutes more than the 45mins suggested to bake completely. I’m using regular size loaf pans – maybe I’ll try mini loaves next. Can’t wait to try it!
Can you use frozen cranberries? If you do should they be thawed?
I haven’t tried it with frozen cranberries, but my guess is that they would work. And I’d just try adding them in frozen – no thawing necessary!
Ugh, forgot the sugar, hopefully the oj will be sweet enough!
Uh oh! I hope it was still good for you. 🙂