Cranberry Orange Bread
Last fall, my sister moved into an apartment close to the city in Pittsburgh, and it didn’t take long for her to locate the neighborhood bakery. The day that I helped her do some cleaning, she gave me an assortment of cupcakes as a thank you. They were ah-mazing! Since then, she has showed up to our house and family functions with different items from the bakery, and one of my absolute favorites is their cranberry orange bread. It’s super soft, has a great orange flavor and is studded with dried cranberries. The very first time we tried it, my Chief Culinary Consultant told me I had to figure out how to make it at home. Um, that was last fall. Oops! Better late than never, right?!
The best thing about this bread is that it really isn’t much of a bread at all, except that it’s baked in a loaf pan. Rather, it has the consistency of a crumb cake or pound cake; it’s incredibly moist and dense and tastes so buttery. When I thought about how I wanted to tackle the bread, I immediately thought of adapting my favorite New York-Style Crumb Cake recipe. I doubled the recipe, baked it in a loaf pan, omitted the crumb topping and adding orange zest and dried cranberries to the batter.
I tried a couple of different iterations before settling on this one, and I think it comes quite close to the original, although my husband claims that mine is better, so… that’s good! I think this would be a fabulous loaf to have on hand for the holidays or to give as gifts. I think it would freeze well, but be forewarned that you won’t be able to stop nibbling on it once you start!
One year ago: Apple Cider Caramels
Two years ago: Pumpkin Blondies
Three years ago: Favorite Hardcore Chili
Four years ago: Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
Six years ago: Buttermilk-Chocolate Chip Crumb Cake
Cranberry Orange Bread
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup (80.81 g) dried cranberries
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- Zest of 1 orange
- 2½ cups (312.5 g) cake flour
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) salt
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces, softened but still cool
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup (160 ml) buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
To Finish:
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
- Coarse sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray an 8x4-inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray and line the pan with parchment paper, allowing excess to hang over the sides.
- Place the dried cranberries in a small saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, remove from the heat, cover and let steep for at least 15 minutes. Drain the cranberries and pat dry with paper towels.
- In the bowl of standing mixer, combine the sugar with the orange zest. Using your fingers, work the zest into the sugar until all of the sugar is evenly moistened.
- Add the flour, baking soda and salt to the bowl and mix on low speed to combine. With the mixer running on low speed, add the butter one piece at a time. Continue beating until the mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no visible butter chunks remaining, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the eggs, yolks, vanilla and buttermilk; beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute, scraping once if necessary.
- In a small bowl toss the dried cranberries with the flour until they are evenly coated. Fold the cranberries into the batter.
- Transfer batter to baking pan; using a rubber spatula, spread the batter into even layer. Bake until the top of the bread is golden brown and a wooden skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. As soon as the bread comes out of the oven, brush the top with melted butter and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Cool on a wire rack at least 30 minutes. Remove cake from the loaf pan by lifting parchment overhang. Leftovers should be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
This bread is absolutely scrumptious! It is my GO-TO without a doubt. The use of cake flour gives is a wonderful texture and the orange zested sugar just puts the flavor over the top. Like others who have commented, I use fresh cranberries tossed in some flour. Love the pop they add to the deliciousness! I have made it so many times and not a single crumb is left. I’m making two of them today. One to keep and one to share.
Michelle – I have used many of your recipes over the years and you are a gem to me and other home bakers and cooks. Thank you!!
I’m thinking a nice orange juice and powdered sugar glaze over the top would be an excellent addition!
Hi Michelle!
How’s the little angel doing? I sure wish I could hold him!
This bread looks good, I’m going to give it a try.
Just a tip. After your cranberries are plump, let them drain on a paper towel, then while still damp toss them with a bit of flour. This will prevent them from sinking to the bottom of your loaf.
Have a Joyful Day :~D
Charlie
This recipe looks wonderful. I was wondering, do the cranberries seem to fall and bake near the bottom of the pan? And if so, what could I do to prevent this.
I LOVE getting your emails. You seem to have the most consistent and delicious recipes. Thanks!!
Hi Debbie, They do sometimes, although making sure they are totally dry and tossing them with flour first does help.
I made this tonight to bring to work tomorrow to share. It is SO VERY delicious!! I greedily do not want to share…but I will because it has 12 tablespoons of butter that my waistline doesn’t need. Wonderful fall recipe.
I made this today. It’s so good! Thanks ☺
I love cranberry/orange and a bread that is really a cake is totally up my alley. Love this!
perfect flavor combo. Sounds yummy!
This bread is so perfect for fall! Orange and cranberry pair so well together.
Can you use fresh cranberries? I love cranberry orange bread–this is my favorite quick bread and even beats pumpkin. Thank you for sharing because I am definitely making this very soon.
I always use fresh cranberries…I toss them in the food processor and pulse it…then before adding toss with a teaspoon or two of flour…it’s a little wet but then they have never sunk to the bottom and the bread does turn a very pale pink but I think the fresh berries are far superior and give it a better fresher and tangier taste….I used about 1 and 1/4-1/2 fresh berries…and I think it more nutritious and more whole food is added and less sugar from fresh berries verse the dried. Also I double the orange zest. Enjoy
Could this be made as individual little loaves? If so, how many do you think it would make, and how long would I bake them?
Hi Jennifer, Yes, you could totally make smaller loaves. The number and time would depend on how large the mini loaves are; I haven’t tested it with smaller loaves, so I don’t have a definitive number.
Should these be sweetened dried cranberries (like Craisins) or unsweetened?
You can use either, whichever you prefer.
This bread looks amazing :) I love that it’s a different take on the typical “fall flavored” loaves like apple and pumpkin. I also love that you can see all the orange zest flecks throughout the loaf! Gorgeous!
That looks delicious! Pinning!!!
So happy to see this recipe. Trader Joe’s cranberry orange bread has been a favorite of mine over the years. These ingredients sound like it will be so moist. Making it today! Thanks, Michelle.
Is there any way of knowing the nutrition chart in this? As in sodium, sugar, fat grams per slice?
I do not know what the nutritional data would be for this recipe.
This recipe looks like a winner to me! I’m going to make one loaf with currants instead of cranberries because my sister loves currants. Can’t wait to make a few for the holidays. Thank you.
Mmmmm – looks fantastic!! My favorite flavour combination is cranberry and orange!! YUM
Mmm I love cranberry and orange together! This bread looks easy to make, but still totally delicious and impressive
Wish I liked the taste of cranberries, orange, and lemon in baked things but just do not. Your cake looks great.
This sounds amazing! It would be a perfect for Thanksgiving!
I think individual breads or muffins would be just the ticket. Thanks for sharing.
This looks delicious. I have fresh cranberries in the freezer. Can I use teh?
Hi Cheryl, Sure! You can skip the steeping step in hot water if you use fresh cranberries.
Made this, but tweaked a bit. I added a small amount of amaretto to the steeping process. The alcohol content cooks away leaving a nice taste to an already wonderful recipe.
Oh goodies! Am I the only one who feels like orange and cranberries are fantastic fall-flavors? Loving the photos with the teeny-tiny specks of orange zest ^^
This recipe is totally up my alley!! I am DEFINITELY going to transform this bread into muffins, and love you for it. Yum!