This easy Cranberry Orange Bread recipe is made with fresh cranberries and a sweet orange glaze. It’s one of our family’s favorite traditions to make each holiday season.
Want more bread recipes? Try this Lemon Poppy Seed Bread, Lemon Blueberry Bread, or Banana Bread!
Why I love this bread recipe:
- Flavor – The combination of cranberry and orange pairs as well together as peanut butter and jelly. It’s bold, sweet, tangy, and incredibly addicting.
- Quick Bread – There’s no rising required for quick breads so they only take minutes to make.
- Freezer Friendly – I love to make a big batch and freeze the extras to enjoy later or share with friends and neighbors all season long.
How to make Cranberry Orange Bread:
Combine Ingredients: Add sugar and orange zest then stir well to combine. Add flour, salt, and baking powder then stir. In a separate bowl, combine buttermilk, oil, eggs, orange juice, and vanilla. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring just until combined.
Add Cranberries: Cut the fresh cranberries in half and fold them into the batter then pour it into the bread pans.
Bake: 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 aluminum foil over the top to finish baking. Cool and make the orange glaze, then drizzle over the bread. Cut cranberry bread with orange glaze then serve.
Storing and Freezing Instructions
To Store: Wrap in plastic wrap and store at room temp or in the fridge for 2-3 days.
To Freeze: Cool completely then place in a freezer-safe bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
More Holiday Recipes:
- Chocolate Peppermint Bundt Cake
- Rocky Road Fudge
- Caramel and Chocolate Dipped Pretzels
- Peppermint Candy Cane Brownies
- Brownie Truffles
- Christmas Cornflake Wreaths
- Homemade Caramels
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Recipe
Cranberry Orange Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
For the bread:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- orange zest , from 2 large oranges
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 1 cup oil (vegetable or canola oil)
- 4 large eggs slightly beaten
- 2 Tablespoons orange juice , fresh
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups fresh cranberries halved
For the orange glaze: (Optional)
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 Tablespoons orange juice , fresh
- 1 1/2 teaspoons orange zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray two 9×5 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 aluminum foil 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
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Recipe adapted from Two Peas and their Pod.
I originally shared this recipe November 2015. Updated November 2019 and November 2023.
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Made this cranberry-orange loaf and it was delicious! Shared it with a neighbor and it’s their favorite loaf now too!
Thank you for this delicious recipe!
made these 2 loaves to gift the VA cancer ctr where i’ll go tomorrow for my infusion. to me theyre 1st responders so usually make a bundt for the entire office, but thought this way i’d give the front and the nurses their cake! they turned lovely, halving the berries was a mess so rolled them in some flour before folding them in.
tonight i made the glaze and it was so sick added maybe 4-5 T of OJ b4 it was the right consistence! I’ll ask for a small bite tomorrow so i can rate it, but give you 3 stars now just 4 appearance. thx so much, 🙂 Kelli
JUST TOOK 2 LOAVES OUTTA MY OVEN AND THEY LOOK/SMELL LOVELY. I BAKE FOR 1ST RESPONDERS AND THESE WILL GO TO VA CANCER SPECIALISTS WHERE I’LL GO THUR FOR MY INFUSION; I USUALLY BAKE A BUNDT, BUT DECIDED TO GO WITH 2 LOAFS, 1 FOR EACH SIDE OF THE OFFICE!
ILL TRY AND GET A TASTE WHILE I’M THERE, HAVE BAKED AN ORANGE CRANBERRY BUNDT BEFORE BUT WASN’T IMPRESSED!
DID ADD SOME FLOUR AROUND THE BERRIES, BUT THE RECIPE WAS A BIT CHALLENGING! THX SO MUCH:) KELLI
I tried this recipe and it was amazing! I love the combination of the tart cranberries and the sweet orange glaze. Plus, it was super easy to make which is always a plus in my books.
How would you change baking time for an 8×4 loaf pan? I’m making 6 as gifts and the store was all out of mini loaf pans!
I like it
This recipe is so yummy! I decided on a whim to make 8 mini loaves for my neighbors for Christmas, although I had never made this recipe before. Everyone commented how beautiful AND delicious it was! I doubled the recipe and it was perfect for the 8 mini loaves. Mine needed about 55 mins in the oven. I am going to start making this a yearly gift for neighbors, essential workers, etc!
Made this recipe twice – cranberries all float to the top. Can’t remove from pan – tried both nonstick spray and butter/flour. Decreased milk and added more orange juice to increase the orange flavor (kept liquid quantities the same)
If I remember right , my mother chopped her cranberries a little, maybe that could be the reason they float, I am going to make this for the first time also and I am going to chop my a little.
Coat the cranberries in flour, prevents them from sinking!
Try coating the cranberries with a light dusting of flour before adding them to the batter.
This recipe was so tasty and came out great. I did however find that the cranberries all floated to the top and are not evenly distributed. How can I prevent that in the future?
roll the cranberries in flour so they are evenly dusted with a light coat and then add them in to the wet mix.
This was my first cranberry bread. I made yesterday and was really happy with this recipe. The combination of the tartness of the cranberries and the sweetness of the frosting was delicious. Bread came out of the oven soft and moist. Advised from other reviewers, I dust the cranberries with flour which helped to have the cranberries evenly all over the bread. I will keep this recipe as one of my faves. Thank you very much for this awesome recipe.
The bread came out perfectly. The recipe was very easy to follow. The texture was very good, fluffy not gooey as some breads turn out. The cranberries balanced the sweetness. It’s a perfect bread for breakfast or afternoon snack. My husband loves it!
Came out perfect! I coated the cranberries in flour as was suggested in a comment and they stayed evenly suspended in the loaf during baking. Perfect sweetness, many times sweetbreads are too sweet but this was just right with the tang of the cranberries. Nice hint of orange also as I have had some where the orange takes over the flavor but this was well balanced. Thank you for a great recipe!