Cranberry orange bread
Moist cranberry orange bread with fresh orange zest and juice, tart whole cranberries, pecans and a sweet orange glaze. An easy quick bread, no mixer.
10% of it needs you at the counter
- Hands-on
- 15 min
- Cooking
- 1 hr
- Resting
- 1 hr 15 min
- Serves
- 12
- Calories
- 245
- Protein
- 3 g
- Per serving
- $0.41
Why this recipe works
Cranberry orange bread is the quick bread of the holidays: tart red berries, bright orange and crunchy nuts in a tender loaf. It mixes in two bowls with a whisk and keeps well, so it's good for gifting, brunch or using up a bag of fresh cranberries.
- Rubbing the orange zest into the sugar releases its oils, so the whole loaf tastes of orange, not just the glaze.
- Tossing the chopped cranberries in a spoonful of flour helps keep them suspended instead of sinking to the bottom.
- Melted butter and orange juice make a tender, moist crumb that stays soft for days.
Ingredients
For the bread
For the glaze
You will need
- 9x5-inch loaf pan
- Parchment paper
- 2 mixing bowls
- Microplane or fine grater
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done.
Prep
Heat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan and line it with a parchment sling. Rub the orange zest into the sugar with your fingertips in a large bowl until fragrant and damp.
Mix the batter
Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into the orange sugar. In another bowl whisk the orange juice, melted butter and egg, then stir it into the dry ingredients just until no dry flour remains. The batter will be thick.
Add the cranberries
Toss the cranberries and pecans with 1 tablespoon flour and fold them into the batter. Spread it evenly in the pan.
Bake
Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, until golden and a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Tent with foil after 40 minutes if the top is browning quickly.
Cool
Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then lift it out and cool completely on a rack, about 1 hour.
Glaze
Whisk the powdered sugar and orange juice into a thick glaze and drizzle over the cooled loaf. Let it set for 10 minutes before slicing.
Techniques in this recipe
Wet batter: bake a few minutes more A few moist crumbs: done Is it baked yet?
A toothpick in the center should come out with a few moist crumbs, not wet batter. Check early: ovens vary, and overbaking dries things out fast.
Read the full guide
Cook's notes
- Zest the orange before you juice it; it's much harder the other way around.
- Don't thaw frozen cranberries. Use them straight from the freezer and add about 5 minutes to the bake.
- Wrapped well, the loaf keeps 4 days at room temperature or 3 months in the freezer (unglazed).
Nutrition per serving
245 calories
$0.41 estimated cost per serving
Where the calories come from
| Protein | 5% of calories | 3 g |
|---|---|---|
| Carbs | 67% of calories | 42 g |
| Fat | 29% of calories | 8 g |
| Fiber | 1 g | |
| Sodium | 200 mg |
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central values for the listed ingredients and amounts; not lab-tested. Cost estimated from average US retail prices.
Questions people ask
Can I use dried cranberries in cranberry orange bread?
Yes. Use 1 cup of dried cranberries, soaked in hot orange juice for 10 minutes and drained. The bread will be sweeter and less tart.
Why do my cranberries sink to the bottom?
The batter was too thin or the berries were wet. Toss them in a spoonful of flour and keep the batter thick, as in this recipe.
How do you know when quick bread is done?
A toothpick in the center comes out clean or with a few dry crumbs, and the top springs back. The center of a loaf is the last part to bake, so check there.
