Orange Cranberry Bread

A sliced Cranberry Bread Recipe sitting on a wooden cutting board surrounded by fresh cranberries and sliced oranges.

An incredibly moist and flavorful quick bread that tastes of bright citrus, balanced with tart cranberries and then topped with a sweet orange glaze.

Course Breakfast or Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Cranberry Orange Loaf, Orange Cranberry Bread, Orange Cranberry Quick Bread

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 1 30

Resting in Oven 20

Servings slices (makes 1 loaf)

Calories 444kcal

Author Heather

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients for Quick Bread

2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients for Quick Bread

3 large eggs
3/4 cup oil
6 ounces whole milk Greek Yogurt *see Note #1 below
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 heaping tablespoon orange zest *from about 3 medium sized oranges
2 teaspoons orange extract

Cranberries for Quick Bread

1 1/4 cups fresh or frozen cranberries *see Note #2 below
1 tablespoon all purpose flour

Orange Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar *divided, see Note #3 below
2 teaspoons orange extract *divided
6-8 teaspoons orange juice *divided

Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions

Lining Loaf Pan

Lightly spray the sides and bottom of a 9 inch loaf pan with cooking spray. See Note #4 below.
Using a large piece of parchment paper (approximately 15 x 20 inches) cut a long strip off of the larger size. Place that strip along the length of the loaf pan.
Trim the remaining piece to fit the width of the loaf pan
Lightly spray the lined pan with cooking spray. See Note # 5 below.

Quick Bread

Preheat oven to 325℉.
In a medium sized mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a separate large mixing bowl whisk together eggs, oil, yogurt, sugar, orange zest and orange extract. Set aside.
If using fresh cranberries rinse, drain and dry with a dry cloth. Add cranberries to a small mixing bowl along with 1 tablespoon of flour. Set aside.
Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until just incorporated, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl halfway through mixing. See Note # 6 below.
Remove approximately 1/4 cup of the cranberries and set aside. Mix in the rest of the cranberries to the batter.
Transfer batter to loaf pan.
Scatter the remaining 1/4 cup of cranberries over the top of the quick bread and gently press the cranberries just below the surface of the dough.
Bake the quick bread for approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes or until the bread springs back in the center when lightly touched. (It may take up to 1 hour and 30 minutes depending on your oven.)
Once baked, turn off oven and crack the oven door open. Leave the quick bread in the oven for an additional 20 minutes. See Note # 7 below.
Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes.
Using the parchment, lift the quick bread from the pan and let fully cool to room temperature.

Orange Glaze

In a small mixing bowl add 1/2 cup powdered sugar along with 1 teaspoon of orange extract. Whisk in 2 teaspoons of orange juice and slowly add more until a thick smooth consistency is reached. See Note # 3 below.
Pour over the top of the fully cooled quick bread and spread evenly. Let dry for 30 minutes to 1 hour and the repeat the process with the remaining glaze ingredients.

Notes

Recipe Notes

Note #1- Whole milk Greek yogurt produces the best textured quick bread. However, 6 ounces of flavored yogurt such as Yoplait yogurt may be used also. It will just not have as rich and wonderful of a texture.

Note #2- If using frozen cranberries, do not rinse or defrost them. Simply add the flour to the frozen cranberries just before adding to the batter.

Use only 1 cup if using dried cranberries and eliminate the 1 tablespoon of flour.

Note #3- Applying the orange glaze twice after allowing the first application to dry will create a thicker glaze topping. To do so, divide the ingredients in half and apply the first application. Let dry for approximately 30 minutes to 1 hour and then mix up the second half of the glaze ingredients. Apply the second application and let dry for a similar amount of time.

Note #4- Lining a loaf pan with strips of parchment paper will allow for incredibly easy release of this quick bread. Additionally, the parchment catches any glaze that may fall to the sides of the loaf making for very easy clean up.

Spraying the loaf pan allows the parchment to stick to the pan. This prevent the parchment from slipping when adding the better to the loaf pan.

Note #5- For both the spray and the oil I adore Chosen Foods avocado oil and cooking spray. The links are through Amazon. However, Costco has the absolute best value on these products.

Note #6- It is important to not over mix the batter to maintain the texture of the quick bread. Stop mixing once the flour has disappeared and the batter is smooth.

Note #7- This quick bread is incredibly moist due to the cranberries and using oil instead of butter. Because of this it requires a longer baking time at the lower oven temperature of 325℉. Leaving the bread in the oven with the oven turned off and the door cracked open will ensure even baking in the center of the loaf.

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