Cranberry Orange Bread

This Cranberry Orange Bread is easy to make, super moist, and topped with a delicious orange glaze. Perfect for breakfast or dessert!

What all are you baking for Christmas this year? I’m planning to make a batch of my soft molasses cookies, peppermint fudge, and a few loaves of this cranberry orange bread!

One thing that I love about this bread is how simple it is to throw together. All you have to do is whisk together your dry ingredients, wet ingredients, combine them, fold in some cranberries, and bake it. You don’t even need a mixer to make this bread either.

This bread is perfect for gifting to others and you can even freeze it for later. I’ve included notes in the recipe for how to prep this bread ahead of time too!

How To Make Cranberry Orange Bread

You’ll start by whisking together your dry ingredients: some all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. When it comes to the flour, just make sure to spoon it into the measuring cup and level it off with a knife. If you scoop the flour from the container, it can become packed inside the cup and you can end up with way too much flour causing a dense loaf of bread.

Then, you’ll whisk together the wet ingredients: some oil, sugar, sour cream, eggs, vanilla extract, orange juice, and orange zest. I prefer to use canola or vegetable oil for this bread, but melted coconut oil would work well too. If you do use coconut oil, just make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature so that it doesn’t solidify. The sour cream also helps to keep this bread moist, if you don’t have any on hand you can replace it with plain Greek yogurt.

Once you’ve mixed up the dry and wet ingredients, you’ll combine them and then fold in your cranberries (I sliced my cranberries in half to measure them out for this bread). Then, just pop the bread in the oven and bake it.

Once you’ve baked the bread, you’ll top it with a simple orange glaze. There is some orange juice and zest in the bread, but the glaze really enhances the orange flavor.

If you don’t want to use orange juice then you can replace it with either milk or water. You can even add a splash of vanilla extract and make a simple vanilla glaze for the top of this bread!

Baking Tips for Cranberry Orange Bread

• When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it out of the container with your measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour around, spoon it into your measuring cup, and level it off with the back of a knife.


• Make sure to mix your wet and dry ingredients together until just combined. You want to avoid overmixing the batter, otherwise, it can lead to a denser loaf of bread.


• One large orange should be plenty to have enough orange juice and zest for this recipe.

Print Recipe

5 from 5 votes

Cranberry Orange Bread

This Cranberry Orange Bread is easy to make, super moist, and topped with a delicious orange glaze. Perfect for breakfast or dessert!

Prep Time20 mins

Cook Time1 hr

Total Time1 hr 20 mins

Course: Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cranberry orange bread

Servings: 1 loaf

Author: Danielle

Ingredients

For the cranberry orange bread:

• 2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (120ml) vegetable or canola oil
• 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
• 1 cup (230 grams) sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) fresh orange juice
• 2 teaspoons orange zest
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 and 1/4 cups (130 grams) fresh cranberries, chopped (I cut mine in half, then measured them)

For the orange glaze:

• 1 cup (120 grams) powdered sugar
• 1.5 -2 tablespoons (23-30ml) fresh orange juice

Instructions

To make the cranberry orange bread:

• Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Spray a 9x5 loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
  
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, sour cream, eggs, orange juice, orange zest, and vanilla extract until fully combined. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Then, gently fold in the chopped cranberries.
• Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake at 350°F (177°C) for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If needed, cover loosely with foil for the last 10-15 minutes of baking to prevent excess browning.
  
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 20 minutes in the loaf pan. Carefully remove from the loaf pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
  

To make the orange glaze:

• Once the bread has cooled, whisk together the confectioners' sugar and orange juice. Start with 1.5 tablespoons of orange juice and whisk well. If your mixture is too thick, slowly add a little more orange juice. You want the glaze to be thin enough to drizzle, but thick enough to set up on the bread. If the glaze is too thin, add more powdered sugar as needed.
• Using a spoon, drizzle the glaze on top of the bread and spread it around. The glaze should harden up a little more after about 15-20 minutes.

Notes

Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to four days.

Freezing instructions: Bread will freeze well for up to three months, thaw overnight in the refrigerator, and bring to room temperature before serving.

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