Tart and sweet cranberry bread recipe with just a tiny bit of crispness that protects each soft and moist slice. The best cranberry bread you’ll ever eat.
Cranberry bread is one of my favorite holiday traditions in our house. When fresh cranberries arrive at the supermarket I know the holidays aren’t far away.
Read on for the cranberry bread recipe…
Cranberry Quick Bread Recipe
This cranberry bread recipe is so different from the bland dry stuff that comes on catering platters. This loaf is golden brown with vibrant bits of cranberry and orange zest in each slice. Even more than the beautiful slices is how incredibly moist it is. The outside has just a tiny bit of crispness that protects a soft and moist inside. It’s perfectly tart and sweet. It’s honestly the best cranberry bread you’ll ever eat.
How to Make Cranberry Bread with Dried Cranberries
If you don’t have fresh or frozen cranberries, you can use dried cranberries to make cranberry bread. Just soak one cup of cranberries in the orange juice and buttermilk for 20 minutes before making the bread.
Homemade Cranberry Bread FAQs
- Can you make cranberry bread with frozen cranberries?
- Yes, you can use fresh or frozen cranberries for this recipe without adjusting the baking time.
- Will this recipe work for cranberry muffins?
- Yes, you can turn this cranberry bread into cranberry muffins. Just fill the muffin tins 2/3 full.
- Can you use this recipe in a bundt pan?
- This recipe will work in a bundt pan, but I would recommend doubling the recipe.
- Is it possible to cut back on the sugar?
- You can make a healthier cranberry bread by cutting the sugar in half.
- I don’t have buttermilk, is there a substitute?
- You can make your own buttermilk you can mix 1 cup of milk and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar and let sit for 5 minutes.
Looking for more amazing holiday recipes? Try these:
Healthy Oven Baked Sweet Potatoes
Vegan Maple Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Winter Salad with Roasted Cauliflower
Salted Caramel Apple Pie
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Amazingly Moist Cranberry Bread Recipe
Tart and sweet cranberry bread recipe with just a tiny bit of crispness that protects each soft and moist slice. The best cranberry bread you’ll ever eat.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 70 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 8 slices 1x
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
Ingredients for cranberry bread
- 1/3 cup orange juice
- Zest of one large orange
- 2/3 cup buttermilk*
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon iodized salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) coarsely chopped fresh or frozen cranberries**
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
Special Equipment
- Loaf Pan**
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 375° Fahrenheit. Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan with butter or shortening.
- In a small bowl, stir together the orange juice, orange zest, buttermilk*, butter, and egg.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Stir in the liquid ingredients, mixing until just combined and dry streaks still remain.
- Stir in the chopped cranberries and nuts, if using.
- Pour mixture into the prepared loaf pan*** and level using a spatula. Bake for 25 minutes, then reduce heat to 350° Fahrenheit and bake for an additional 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool at least an additional 30 minutes before slicing.
Notes
*If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can mix 1 cup of milk and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar and let sit for 5 minutes.
**If you don’t have fresh or frozen cranberries, you can use dried cranberries. Just soak one cup of cranberries in the orange juice and buttermilk for 20 minutes before making the bread.
***I use a 1 pound (8.5 x 4.5-inch) loaf pan and this one is my absolute favorite. This recipe is very forgiving and any size pan should work.
Love this recipe for cranberry orange quick bread? Pin it for later!
Looking for another awesome Easy Quick Bread Recipe? Try this Cinnamon Apple Bread Recipe!
Question, are the cranberries used in this recipe fresh, cooked?
You can use frozen or raw cranberries for this recipe, not cooked.
Thank you so much.
Is the butter to be melted or perhaps you are to cream it with a mixer?
It is melted and stirred in!
Yes, what do you do with the butter. Is it softened or melted?
It is melted and stirred in!
Thanks. That’s what I did while waiting for the response and it turned out perfectly! Yum! Thank you.
I tried another recipe like this a couple weeks ago which was good but this one with the orange zest and juice is suoerb! It’s a bit of citrus flavor with the cranberries and a little sweetness. For the flour I used a mixture of spelt, oat, white whole wheat, a bit of sorghum flour and the texture was so tender and moist! I had a slice this morning with peanut butter, and since I used walnuts in the batter I think I got all my nutrient bases covered. Thank you❣️
WOW – this is such high praise Ruth! I’m glad you enjoyed it and thank you so much for the flour tips.
Can you use dried cranberries such as Ocean Spray Craisins?
I’ve never tried and I suspect you can’t, but can’t say for sure!
I’d forever want to be update on new blog posts on this webb site, bookmarked!
Can you use dry orange spice or do you have to use a grater for the orange zest and how much dry orange spice do you put in it it’s in the spice isle?
I think dry orange spice would be ok but I’ve personally never used it.
I made this recipe today and it’s amazing. Will continue to make as
now it’s one of my favorite bread recipes.
I agree Have not tasted the bread but a few triple the recipe which I love the Option that you provide. The triple recipe makes 11 Mini loaf pans at 1 time which is perfect That cooks a beautifully thank you so much I can’t wait to taste said the morning beautiful recipe chop all your cranberries 1st so they’re ready to go I made 2 triple batches and a double. I am giving these away for gifts. What a delicious treat thank you again for a fabulous recipe so easily so beautiful.
Hooray! I’m happy to be a part of your holiday gifting this year!
For mini loaf pan size how long do you bake for and do you reduce the temperature after the 25 min like the regular loaf size?
Made it as loaves last year. Now mske it as muffins. Make jumbos for the men in the family. Thry love. Thanks for a recipe I can trust. Oh i am 80 years old andvlove trying new recipes
Wow that’s amazing idea! I’ll have to try a batch of muffins myself! 🙂 Thanks Jackie!
I am 70 yrs. old, and still love trying new recipes and found your recipe for this absolutely delicious cranberry bread. I love moist quick breads and this one is excellent. I made a double batch for Thanksgiving and everyone who tried it just loved it and asked for the recipe.
I did a couple of modifications: added whole, frozen cranberries, used orange juice with pulp. Also, used salted butter (by accident) but bread still did not taste overly salty.
Many commented that the bread had a pound-cake consistency, and I agree. I next want to try making in a bundt pan, similar to some pound-cake recipes. All in all, absolutely loved this recipe and will be making many more loaves to come. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Mary – Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on the cranberry bread! I’m really glad you enjoyed it and I love the idea of having it in a bundt pan!
Making this now with dried cranberries as in Australia we can’t get fresh or frozen. I soaked them in the liquid part for 30 mins. Fingers crossed it turns out well. Smells good while cooking.
Fingers crossed for you too!
Bread came out beautiful with the dried cranberries. I soaked them for 15 mins in the liquids then add them to dry ingredients;. Worked perfect.
Amazing!
I have a lot of dried cranberries and wanted to use them. I hate to throw food away, now I can make bread & give it away.
That’s great! I hate throwing away food too.
Beautiful,,delicious..thanks for the great recipe.
I’m glad you liked it!
I cut the sugar back to 1/2 a cup and it was very nice. I did not have buttermilk, so I just added 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to the 2/3 cup of mile that the recipe called for. I used lactose free milk.
Next time I might try just cooking at one temperature for the whole time … just to make it even simpler!
Thank you for a yummy Christmas bread!
Second time making this, the first was devoured immediately! No orange at home today so used tangerines as they are in season and have great flavor! Added a little vanilla, and some pulp from tangerines, I also soak my dried cranberries in the liquid, one other thing is I add an extra egg( I’m at 3,500 ft) I absolutely LOVE THIS BREAD! thanks for the great recipe, oh I also have no oven, cooks great in my cuisinart air fryer!!!
Amazing! Thanks for all of the suggestions!
Superb recipe! Made exactly as written with fresh cranberries and walnuts and it is sooooo delicious, moist and flavorful! I baked it in two mini ceramic loaf pans and had enough batter left to fill 4 regular muffins. Kept the heat the same but I just watched the time in the oven because of the smaller pans and the 4 muffins, about 35 minutes. Easy, quick and will definitely make again!
Amazing! I’m glad you loved it as much as we do!
Hi just made this great cranberry loaf , so delicious 😋, was wondering could I use this recipe using blueberries instead?
Thanks for sharing !
Blueberries have more water than cranberries so I’m not sure! Let me know if you try.
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Been searching for a moist cranberry bread for my bread maker. This recipe showed up on a listing. It sounds delicious! Is there anyway to convert to a bread maker recipe?
Follow as per bread machine instructions: wet are separated, dry are separated, yeast always last and not in contact with wet ingredients. This is considered a “quick bread.”
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Would this recipe turn out well without baking soda?
Definitely not. Baking soda is essential.
Are there significant differences in baking time for mini loaves and muffins?
I read through your notes and the comments below a couple of times and I do not see anyone mention freezing this recipe after it has been baked. I would like to make some up ahead of time and put a couple of loaves in the freezer for Christmas. I am a 67-year-old widow living by myself and I like to bake but I no longer can stand in the kitchen for days at a time doing all this baking at once. Appreciate your reply. And by the way I loved this recipe.
I haven’t tried sorry!
Great recipe! I’ve made cranberry bread for years, always on the dry side and not too exciting. This loaf was gone in less than a day! So moist and really tasty. Good enough to give as gifts at the holidays.
Can you make this bread a day in advance for Thanksgiving?
Can I use coconut milk?
Blog address or more recipes from blog
I pushed the cranberries to 2 cups and the pecans to 1 cup, and used yogurt diluted with a little milk instead of buttermilk. Cooked in muffin cups to share with others. (Watch the time, it is faster) Came out great, chock full of chewyness and still soft inside, good form outside.
Hello,
Could you tell me how to convert this into mini loaf pans?
I’d like to know this as well. Particularly how long to cook mini loaves at 375 before turning the oven down to 350.
Thanks!
I just made mini loaves for Christmas and left the oven at 375* for the whole 25 min. Turned it down to 350* and baked for another 20 min. or so. They turned out prefect.
I also exchanged the orange juice with frozen orange juice concentrate. Mixed the frozen juice with the milk and it gave the bread a wonderful flavor! Love this bread!
Thanks, Linda!
This recipe is a great combination of flavors! The sweetness of the orange balances the tart cranberries. Wonderful for fall! I’m wondering if anyone has had an issue with the bake time? I did use a dark non-stick loaf pan, but the bread was overly browned and very overdone on the sides long before it was done in the middle. I had to take it out after only 15 minutes at the lower temp. and it wasn’t quite done in the middle. I have a similar recipe for pumpkin bread and I bake it at 325 for about 40-45 minutes, so I will try that next time with this recipe. I also might try a glass loaf pan instead. I think 375 is just too hot in my oven with the type of pan I used.
I didn’t make this particular recipe but have had the same problem with other cranberry bread recipes. Have tried decreasing oven temperature, bringing frozen cranberries to room temperature, adjusting oven rack height. The oven temperature is correct and have measured using 2 different oven thermometers. Will be interested what others have to say.
This was delicious! I made the recipe as is and really enjoyed it.
I did put it in 3 small loaf pans, for probably close to 45 minutes at 350 degrees.
This recipe sounds delicious. I live at 7000 ft – Can you tell me what the High Altitude changes would be? Thanks in advance
can you use orange oil instead of orange zest?
Cooked exactly according to directions…after 25 minutes at degrees mine was raw in the center and burnt on top
Just made this perfect cranberry bread. The texture is perfect. Just enough sweetness but not too much. I made little loaves to share with friends. Buttermilk is the secret to this great recipe.
Can I use this recipe for individual aluminum loaf pans to give out as holiday gifts to teachers?
Wish I’d read the comments before I baked – I had the same issue as others. I’d bake this at 325 the whole time and prob not for more than an hour. Too high heat and too much time – mine was overly brown and dry after just 50 mins total following these directions. I bake all the time so I think this recipe needs to be adjusted.
Great easy recipe, even for an old Alaskan guy. Thanks a bunch
This is a great recipe! I just made it. I had some leftover cranberries from the holidays. I hate wasting good food. So, I looked for a good recipe…this was it! I would like to try some of the other recipes. I always add a sprinkle of sugar over my sweetbreads, just before baking them.
It had a slightly tart flavor (I used up my berries, so there may have been a few extra berries), but that is typical of cranberries.
Thank you for sharing this recipe!
After reading the comments, I thought that (If you don’t mind) I would throw my 2 cents in on some questions…I am a senior who loves to bake.
I would not hesitate to freeze any quick bread. I wouldn’t leave it in the freezer indefinitely, but they are usually good for a few months when wrapped properly. I think that it tastes great if you warm it in an oven on low heat (200-250). But, I favor sweetbreads warm, often with butter.
I used the boggled, dried zest and it worked great…I used two or three generous sprinkles.
Also, ovens are not always calibrated, so baking times vary for most recipes. I have a double oven…the top one bakes slower. The size and type of pan can also make a difference. If someone is concerned about the center getting doughy, I usually bake them at 350 degrees in a more shallow pan…I baked this recipe in a square glass pan, almost as directed, except that I shortened the baking time. It is always better to keep an eye on the bread when it starts to smell good…it usually takes 30 to 45 minutes total time for my sweetbreads in shallow pans with my oven.
All of the questions will be answered by the experience you gain when baking. Practice makes perfect. 🙂
Blessings!
Bottled dried zest…not boggled…that may be interesting, huh?
I will double this recipe and bake it in a large bundt pan. How much should I increase the bake time?
I have made this recipe 3 times. 1st time was OK moist and was able to slice in thick slices. The last 2 times did not turn out good. burnt on sides and fell apart into a crumbly mess when sliced. maybe I didn’t soak cranberry’s long enough? I know how to bake but am going to give up on this one.