Cranberry orange bread made with fresh cranberries and a sweet orange glaze. This is one of our families favorite traditions during the holidays.
Can you tell I’m a total sucker for all things cranberry? I think almost all of my recent posts have included cranberries. I just love them this time of year!
I also love making holiday sweet breads for neighbors and friends. I always make a dozen mini loaves of Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread in October, and I love to give this Cranberry Orange Bread around Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The cranberry/orange combination is the perfect blend of sweet and tangy, and the glaze takes it over the top. It’s beautiful and completely delicious!
Consider these holiday recipes that make great neighbor gifts:
- Chocolate Peppermint Bundt Cake
- Rocky Road Fudge
- Caramel and Chocolate Dipped Pretzels
- Peppermint Candy Cane Brownies
- Brownie Truffles
- Peppermint Brownie Bark
- Christmas Cornflake Wreaths
- Homemade Caramels
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Cranberry Orange Bread
Ingredients
For the bread:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- Zest of 2 large oranges
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 1 cup oil (vegetable or canola oil)
- 4 large eggs slightly beaten
- 2 Tablespoons fresh orange juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups fresh cranberries halved
For the orange glaze:
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 Tablespoons fresh orange juice
- 1 1/2 teaspoons orange zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray two 9x5 loaf pans with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl add sugar and orange zest and stir well to combine. Add flour, salt, and baking powder and stir. 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, stirring just until combined. Fold in the halved cranberries. Pour batter into prepared pans.
- For regular loaf pans, bake for 60-75 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. For mini loaves, bake for 35-45 minutes. If your loaf starts to get too brown during cooking, place a piece of tinfoil over the top to finish baking.
- Remove from oven and set on a cooling rack for 10 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. Wrap bread well and store for 2-3 days at room temperature.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
Pat says
Toss to dust the cranberries in flour before mixing into the batter to help prevent them “floating” to the top of the bread.
Betty Arnal says
I am in the process of making this lovely loaf and am not sure how many loaf pans they fill. Don’t think I saw where it said more than one….yet you always refer to “loaf pans”. Thanks.
Lauren Allen says
Hi Betty, I typically use two 9×5 inch bread pans! I would love to know how it turned out!
Monika says
Wonderful recipe! I made this today, one as a bread loaf and made muffins out of the remainder of the batter. My family loved it! This was the first time I had used real cranberries versus the dried and was quite surprised at how tart the were but the glaze really bring it all together perfectly. Thank you so very much for sharing.
Lauren Allen says
Thanks so much for sharing! I’m happy your family loved them!
Dianne Paul says
This is my new favorite bread. It was very moist and had a lot of flavor. Sad part is, I made this last month and was going make some more today and can’t get fresh cranberries any more. They are out of season. Can you use dried?
Lauren Allen says
Hi Dianne, Isn’t that the worst? I wish stores carried fresh cranberries all year round! You can use dried cranberries as a substitute.
susan says
how in the world does one half cranberries? Could they be put in a food processor? Can’t wait to bake this!!
Lauren Allen says
I just cut each in half with a small knife.