Orange Cranberry Bread
on Nov 11, 2022, Updated Dec 23, 2023
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Studded with fresh and dried cranberries and flavored with fresh orange, this quick bread recipe is a perfect the holidays.
This quick bread recipe includes a combination of dried and fresh cranberries to give the bread as much texture and cranberry flavor as possible. This bread would be welcome as a breakfast treat, a snack, or as part of a holiday spread. It is a sweet bread, but the tartness shines through, and it wouldn’t be out of place on a dinner table with a roast turkey or classic glazed ham.
Cranberry Bread with Fresh Cranberries
Fresh cranberries add a terrific burst of color and sweet-tart flavor to quick breads and muffins.
You can use either fresh or frozen whole cranberries in this bread. You don’t even have to defrost the cranberries, as once you chop the berries, they will start to thaw, and the little pieces will finish defrosting as soon as the bread begins baking in the oven.
Dried Cranberries in Cranberry Bread
Partnering with the fresh cranberries are an equal amount of dried cranberries. Make sure your dried cranberries still have some moisture, some give; they shouldn’t be too dried out. If they are on the drier side, you can let them soak in the orange juice for 30 minutes before straining them out, saving the orange juice and proceeding with the recipe as directed.
You can add a bit more orange juice to make the ¾ cup called for if a significant amount was absorbed into the dried cranberries as they soaked. If possible, use fresh orange juice – this should be pretty easy, as you also want to use fresh orange zest in the recipe, so you can just go ahead and juice a couple of oranges after you’ve zested them.
Orange Cranberry Bread: Studded with fresh and dried cranberries and flavored with fresh orange juice and zest, this is a holiday bread to make and share.
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What to Serve with Cranberry Orange Bread
Top slices with a smear of room temperature butter, either salted or sweet cream, as you like. A drizzle of honey on top of the butter would also be lovely. Serve the orange cranberry bread with coffee, tea, or a glass of Mulled Cider or maybe a Hot Toddy.
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Orange Cranberry Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1 cup fresh cranberries (roughly chopped)
- ½ cup (1 stick) butter (melted)
- 1 egg (lightly beaten)
- ¾ cup fresh orange juice
- 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease one 9-by-5-inch loaf pan.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, dried cranberries, and fresh cranberries.
- In a small bowl, combine the butter, egg, orange juice, and orange zest. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir just until combined; it’s ok to see a tiny streak of flour in some places. Scrape into the prepared pan.
- Bake for about 1 hour, until a wooden skewer inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn the bread out of the pan and cool completely, upright, on the wire rack.
