Orange Cranberry Bread-sweet orange bread dotted with fresh cranberries and drizzled with an orange glaze! This bread is perfect for the holidays! It makes a great gift too!
Every week, I go through the grocery store flyers to see what is on sale. Josh considers the flyers junk mail and used to throw them away, but he has learned that he will have to dig them out of the trash if he throws them away, so now he saves them for me. I look forward to flyer day every week. Yes, I am a nerd! When there is a good sale, I stock up! You should see the stash of butter, chocolate chips, and cereal we currently have! I can’t stop myself:)
I also love buying whatever produce is on sale. Fresh cranberries were on sale the week before Thanksgiving so I went crazy and bought six bags. Did I need six bags? Probably not, but I can’t resist a good sale! I made cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving, but I only used one bag. So now I am on a mission to put the rest of my cranberries to good use.
To use up a few cranberries, I made Orange Cranberry Bread. Not only is this bread festive and perfect for the holiday season, but it is DEElicious!
I love this bread because it is a quick bread and I am all about easy during the holiday season! Sure, the bread has to bake in the oven, but you can do other things while the bread is baking. Turn on a Christmas movie, read a book, deck the halls with boughs of holly…whatever you want to do! ๐
When the bread is done baking, I drizzle it with a sweet orange glaze. I am calling it bread, but it could easily pass as cake! Bread that tastes like cake? YES, please!
I love the sweet orange bread with the tart cranberries! The cranberry orange combo is a winner! You can serve this bread at Christmas brunch, for dessert, or make loaves to give to your friends and family! I made one large loaf, but you could make mini loaves to give as gifts!
I am so glad I stocked up on cranberries because I am going to make this Orange Cranberry Bread again and again! I might even need to buy more, but only if they are on sale. I better go check the flyers:)
If you like this cranberry orange bread, check out:
Orange Cranberry Bread
Ingredients
For the bread:
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- Zest of 1 large orange
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- ½ cup canola or vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs slightly beaten
- 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup fresh cranberries roughly chopped
For the orange glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons fresh orange juice
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ยฐ F. Spray a 8 ½ x 4 ½ loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. In a small bowl, combine sugar and orange zest. Rub together with your fingers until fragrant. Whisk into the flour mixture. Set aside.
- In a separate medium bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, orange juice, and vanilla.
- Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined. Fold in the cranberries. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
- Bake for 70-75 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. If your loaf starts to get too brown drape a piece of foil over the top to finish baking. I did this during the last 10 minutes of the baking time.
- Remove bread from oven and place on a cooling rack and cool for 15 minutes. Loosen the sides of the bread with a knife. Carefully remove loaf from pan. Let cool completely on wire rack.
- While the bread is cooling, make the orange glaze. In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar, orange juice, and orange zest. Whisk until smooth. Drizzle the glaze over the bread. Cut and serve.
- Note-store the bread, wrapped, on the counter for 2-3 days.
Have you tried this recipe?
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I cannot use buttermilk !! ย
can you suggest a substitute please.
perhaps plain non fat.yogurt???
Will this freeze easily?
I jus made this recipe today and it was absolutely lovely. I made them into mini loaves and then the leftovers I turned into muffins. I baked them for 30 minutes but found the first batch took longer to cook since I had put to much batter in my containers. I just checked them every 5 minutes with a tooth pick. Thank you for sharing the recipe as my family and neighbors loved it and asked me to make more!
Just made this yesterday and it was delicious!
lovely!
I made this for Christmas and it came out perfect! It was moist and delicious, everyone loved it.ย
Made this last year and loved it so making it again to take to in laws this weekend. Great recipe and would not change a thing! My recipe from last year I copied said nothing about chopping up cranberries so mine were whole and think will keep it that way. Like biting into a whole cranberry!
I don’t normally leave comments, but I made this recipe, as written, for Christmas and it was a huge hit! It tastes amazing and plates beautifully. If you happen to have any left over, it also makes for a fabulous breakfast pastry, paired with a pat of butter and hot cup of coffee. Thank you so much for this recipe — it will definitely be one I make for years to come!
Glad you loved the recipe!
I substituted lemon for the orange and reduced the amount of glaze and it turned out perfectly. The texture is very nice.
This cake is delicious, light and refreshing, not heavy. I made it for a canasta party and several ladies wanted the recipe and I didn’t have any cake left to bring home with me, just crumbs. I’m making it today using King Arthur gluten free flour for my son’s family who eat dairy and gluten free. I made buttermilk with cashew milk and vinegar, added 1/2 t. extra baking powder, and 1 extra egg white so it will rise. Gluten free baking is tricky. I’m hoping it turns out well for dessert tomorrow.
2 Peas, I just baked your enticing orange cranberry bread. I followed recipe exactly and watched video. Mine came out dense and heavy. More like a fruitcake. Nothing like the bread/cake texture in your picture. Tastes good but density ruined it. What do you think I did wrong? Baked it until toothpick came out clean. It didn’t seem to rise at all.
The BEST orange cranberry bread!
Thanks!
Iโve made both full sized loaves and 4 mini loaves. The minis were given as gifts last year. Everyone, including my 96 year old aunt whoโs an amazing cook, fell in love with the cranberry orange bread! Itโs so moist, easy to make and will be in my baking routine for years to come. We had both dwarf and full sized orange trees in Southern California so this was a wonderful way to use our oranges. Thanks so much for the recipe!
Excellent recipe!! Everyone loved it last year so decided to stock up on fresh berries and freeze them so I can make this throughout the year.
Question: since I decided to use frozen cranberries, I didnโt thaw them and just put them into the batter as is. Most of my berries are at the top of the loaf and not throughout.
Any ideas why this has happened? Last year I used fresh berries and they stayed within the loaf and only a few were at the top.
Try tossing the cranberries in flour before stirring in.
Best recipe ever, that all I can say !!!
Does it freeze ok?
Yes!
When making the mini loaves do you bake them for the same amount of time?
Did you get a reply from Maria? I was wondering the same thing.
No, reduce the baking time, try half the time, check earlier than later:)
I just made them in 4 mini loaves and they were done in 30 minutes at 350 degrees. This is my second time making it. The first time I made it in a regular size loaf. Love the recipe. ๐
Easy and delicious! One liaf we left bare ( without frosting) They were delicious! Thank you!
Wonderful recipe! I decided to use a Bundt pan and it came out of the oven beautifully. I was afraid that the cranberries would be too tart, yet they were perfection with being paired with the orange glaze. I will definitely make this again!
I will have to try a bundt pan next time. Glad you liked the recipe!
Did you get a reply from Maria? I was wondering the same thing.
Any suggestions on a replacement for the buttermilk?? It looks so good, but I have a lactose-free kiddo!
almond milk will work
Can I use regular milk instead of buttermilk. I forgot to buy the buttermilk
You can add lemon juice to milk and let it sit for about 5 to 10 minutes to make buttermilk!
The recipe says chop cranberries but the video leaves them whole. Whatโs the difference
Either way works. I have started chopping them to make them more evenly distributed and the kids like it better this way!
Can you used dried cranberries?
Sure!
LOVE this bread, however I’ve had inconsistent consistency. My first time was super dense and moist, the second it was perfect and yesterday, it was dense and moist again. Hmmm, any suggestions?
Are you over mixing?
I have made this bread numerous time in the past 2 years.. I always look forward to the fall when cranberries are in season to make it, it is delicious! Just love the orange cranberries combination. I usually add about 1/2 teaspoon of orange liquor too.
Oh my, I made this tonight and it was delicious. I had a small piece and my husband and sons ate the rest. Definitely will be making again. Thank you!
We doubled the recipe and made a bundt cake!! Amazingly moist! A big hit! We used 2% milk and OJ instead of buttermilk.