The Best Cranberry Orange Bread
on Dec 17, 2020, Updated Jun 30, 2024
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
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 – it is the perfect winter treat.
There’s something magical about the bright little pops of tart cranberry mixed in with all that sweet bread that makes Cranberry Orange Bread special. Adding a little orange glaze to the mix really puts this bread over the top.
Whether you are giving it as a gift or serving it at breakfast, it pairs well with Banana Bread. You could also make a Crustless Quiche or a Bacon and Cheese Egg Bake, some Sweet Potato Hash, cut up some fruit and you have a sweet little brunch.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Super easy to make with simple ingredients
- Makes a wonderful Christmas gift.
- It’s delicious in the morning with a cup of tea or coffee.
Recipe Ingredients
- Sugar
- Oranges: Used for zest and juice.
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Baking powder
- Buttermilk: You can use store bought or make a buttermilk substitute.
- Butter
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Cranberries
- Powdered sugar: For making the glaze.
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Cranberry Orange Bread
Step #1. Put the sugar and orange zest in a bowl and mix together until the sugar turns a bit orange and is fragrant. Then add the dry ingredients.
Step #2. In a separate bowl, put all of the wet ingredients and whisk to combine well. Then combine the wet and dry ingredients, stirring just until combined.
Step #3. Add the cranberries and gently fold them in.
Step #4. Pour the batter into a greased pan and bake at 350F until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Recipe FAQs
I used this tea loaf pan to make the bread pictured here but I have also made it in a traditional bread loaf pan, as muffins, and in mini loaf pans. The pan you use will change your baking time so be sure to check the recipe notes.
Yes. You can use frozen cranberries instead of fresh cranberries – let them thaw for about 10 minutes while you’re mixing up the bread and then they will be thawed enough that you can chop them.
Dried cranberries would work in this recipes but they are usually sweetened so I wouldn’t recommend it because the finished product will be overly sweet. If you can find unsweetened dried cranberries, that would work the best.
Yes! It can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. Be sure that the bread is fully cool before wrapping it in plastic wrap and then putting it in an airtight container or freezer zip-top bag.
Expert Tips
- 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.
- While baking, if the top is starting to brown too quickly, cover the bread with foil for the 10 minutes or so of baking.
- Plan on buying a few extra cranberries for your cranberry sauce recipe for Thanksgiving. When they are hanging out in the fridge after the holiday, you’ll be all set to make this bread.
- Feel free to double this recipe; it works great and makes it easier to give a loaf away or freeze it for later.
- If you freeze this bread, you can make and add the glaze after it thaws.
How long do I bake Cranberry Orange Bread based on pan size?
- Bake in a 9×5 inch loaf pan at 350F for about 70 minutes (1 hour and 10 minutes).
- Bake in a tea loaf pan at 350F for around 50 minutes.
- Bake 12 muffins in a standard size muffin pan at 350F for 18-20 minutes.
- Bake mini loaf pans at 350F for 30-35 minutes (depending on the size of your pan).
Video on Making Cranberry Orange Bread
More Quick Bread Recipes to Consider
From Scratch Recipes
Overnight Sourdough Muffins
Homemade Bread
Pineapple Zucchini Bread Recipe
From Scratch Recipes
The best banana bread recipe
Roll Recipes
Buttery Garlic Knots
Did you make this recipe? Leave a ⭐️ review and share it on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest!
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 F 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 9×5 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).
- If you would rather use frozen cranberries in this recipe, let them thaw while you’re making the batter (about 10 minutes). Then chop the cranberries and add them to the batter.
- This bread freezes great. Just cool fully, wrap up well, and freeze for up to 3 months.
I decided to bake muffins instead of bread because knowing me, I’d eat half the loaf before anyone else got to it. This recipes perfectly makes enough batter for 12 regular muffins, which I baked at 350 for 18 minutes. I added walnuts for an extra crunch and they came out amazing! The smell is absolutely Devine.
Thank you for sharing that! I’m guilty of eating way too much of it too (and just bought oranges for my first batch of the year!) so I’m certainly going to try it as muffins. Thank you for the feedback!
I bought a extra long loaf pan, but I don’t know how to adjust the oven temperature and cooking time. Can you help me with that?
Oven temp will be the same and just take 15% off of the baking time (pretty standard for any recipes using that pan), so if it’s an hour bake time, it should be done around 45 minutes. Does that help? Holler if you need some more information!
Yummy!
it’s my 2nd time baking this and omggg… I AM IN LOVEEEE.. Thank you soo much for this yumilicious recipe!!
It was great, in fact I made it for Christmas and I had extra cranberries and I’m making another loaf.
This was the most disappointing recipe I have tried! WAY too much butter!! This recipe was more like a fried dough rather than bread.
I just made this recipe last night and it’s simply delicious. My only problem is that every time I make cranberry bread the berries float to the top. What is the trick to get them to bake throughout the bread?
You could give them a quick toss in a tablespoon of flour before adding them to the bread, that generally solves sinking and floating issues!
It’s in the oven right now and my house smells SO good! This is my favorite combo for a gift bread, so glad I found your recipe as it looks better than my old standby…from the Ocean Spray package.
Thanks for sharing.
How did it turn out Peggi?!
so using my GF flour to make this. LOOOOVE the combo! Orange and cranberry
Did the GF flour work? What brand did you use?! I’m so glad you tried it with GF flour, I think that will be useful to other people so thank you.
What are the size dimensions on your tea loaf pan? I’ve had my eye on one that’s 12×4, does that sound about right or are they closer to 16 inches?
12″ x 4″ x 2½” tea loaf pan holds the equivalent of a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan.
This is the one that I got from King Arthur Flour 🙂 https://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/tea-loaf-pan I love it and the little pieces are perfect for kids!