The recipe for this cranberry orange bread is as simple as it is delicious and is a must for Christmas season. Don’t forget the fragrant clementine orange sugar glaze! It adds so much flavour.
Enjoy this festive sweet bread with a cup of our Italian Hot Chocolate. It’s absolutely perfect when eaten sitting by the Christmas tree.
Christmas Baking
We all have our favourites when it comes to Christmas season baking. I like cookies but I absolutely have to have a slice of sweet bread with my morning coffee with a splash of homemade eggnog to feel truly festive. Cranberry orange bread is one of those bakes.
It’s hard to find a better pairing for cranberries than oranges. Fragrant and sweet clementines, which are abundant around Christmas season, make beautiful music together with tart and sparkly cranberries.
This sweet loaf recipe is very easy and straightforward, made soft and moist with an addition of full fat Greek yogurt to the batter. You can also use sour cream instead.
Drizzle a little bit of citrus glaze and you might not need that second cup of coffee to wake up well before dawn on Christmas morning!
Can I use dried cranberries?
I like using fresh or frozen cranberries but dried cranberries could also be used. Simply soak them in 1 cup/250ml of orange juice or hot water for 30 minutes to 1 hour before adding to the batter.
Drain well before mixing them in!
How stunning are those cranberries! If you look very carefully at the one in the center, you will see a reflection of me with my Canon.
Tips for The Best Cranberry Bread
- Use the best tasting, fragrant oranges. I prefer clementines or mandarin oranges.
- Use Greek yogurt or sour cream for a moist crumb
- You can substitute freshly squeezed orange juice with carton juice but it won’t have the same intense flavour.
- Check if the top of the bread is browning too quickly approximately 40 minutes into baking. Loosely cover with aluminium foil if that is the case to ensure even baking.
- Drizzle the loaf with a beautiful orange flavoured glaze.
- Glaze while the bread is still warm. This way it soaks up the flavour more.
Overall this cranberry orange bread is a real winner. It’s delicious, easily adaptable to any flavour and super quick to prepare.
More Sweet Bread Recipes:
- Nutella Crust Banana Bread
- Pumpkin Bread with Butterscotch Streusel Topping
- Lemon Ricotta Bread
- Russian Pound Cake (Keks)
This recipe was originally published in 12/2013. Updated with new text and photos and republished in 11/2020.
Cranberry Orange Bread
Ingredients
- 250g/2 cups all purpose flour
- 200g/1 cup white sugar
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 250ml/1 cup Greek yogurt or plain yogurt full fat
- 60ml/1/4 cup milk whole or 2%
- 60ml/1/4 cup orange juice from 1 clementine orange/ a mandarin orange
- 60ml/1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs large
- 2 tsp vanilla
- orange zest from 1 clementine or a mandarin orange
- 150g/1 ¼ cup cranberries fresh or frozen or dried (see recipe notes)
For the orange glaze
- 60g/1/2 cup icing sugar/powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp orange juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Grease your 5"X9" (1.5 Qt./1.5 L) loaf pan.
- In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a smaller bowl whisk yogurt, milk, orange juice, oil, vanilla extract, orange zest and eggs.
- Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and combine until blended, then gently fold in cranberries.
- Pour the mixture into the loaf pan and bake for 60-65 minutes until the cake tester comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes, then remove from the pan.
- Prepare the glaze by mixing icing sugar and orange juice in a small bowl. Pour the glaze over the top of the warm bread. Let it cool completely before slicing.
Notes
- You can substitute fresh or frozen cranberries with dried ones. soak them in 1 cup/250ml of orange juice or water for 30 minutes to 1 hour before adding to the batter. Drain well before mixing them in.
- Glaze the bread while it's still warm, so it absorbs the flavour!
Nutrition
