Cranberry Orange Bread
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Sweet, orange-scented, and packed with cranberries and walnuts, this cranberry orange bread is the perfect festive treat for the holidays.
Sweet, orange-scented, and packed with tart cranberries and walnuts, this cranberry orange bread recipe is tailor-made for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. As a classic quick bread, it’s incredibly easy to throw together. The trickiest part? Chopping up the fresh cranberries—they tend to roll everywhere! But don’t be tempted to use dried cranberries; the fresh ones burst as they bake, mingling with the batter to create jammy, tart-sweet pockets throughout.
Since cranberries are abundant during the holiday season, be sure to check out my Nantucket cranberry pie, fresh cranberry sauce, and cranberry chutney for even more festive inspiration.
Table of Contents
What You’ll Need to Make Cranberry Orange Bread
- Buttermilk: Adds a tangy flavor and keeps the bread super moist.
- Orange zest: Brightens up the bread with a fresh citrusy kick.
- Orange juice: Enhances the sweet orange flavor and adds natural sweetness.
- Unsalted butter: Makes the bread rich and tender.
- Egg: Holds everything together and gives the bread structure.
- All-purpose flour: The foundation of the cranberry bread. Always measure flour using the spoon-and-level method to ensure accuracy.
- Sugar: Sweetens things up and balances the tart cranberries.
- Salt: A pinch to bring out all the flavors.
- Ground cinnamon: Adds warmth and coziness that pairs perfectly with the orange and cranberries.
- Baking powder & baking soda: Give the bread a nice rise, making it light and fluffy.
- Fresh or frozen cranberries: Bursts of tart, juicy flavor in every bite.
- Chopped walnuts or pecans: Add a bit of crunch and a delicious nutty flavor.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by combining the buttermilk, orange zest, orange juice, melted butter and egg in a small bowl.
Since the recipe calls for only 2/3 cup of buttermilk, you might not want to buy a whole carton. It’s easy to make your own by combining regular milk with a bit of lemon juice or vinegar (see recipe below for exact quantities). Whisk well to combine and set aside.
Next, combine the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
Whisk well.
Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture.
Stir gently with a rubber spatula until just combined.
Add the halved cranberries and nuts.
Mix again to incorporate.
Scrape the batter into a greased loaf pan.
Bake for about one hour, then cool in the pan on a rack for ten minutes.
Turn the cranberry loaf out onto the rack to cool completely.
Slice the cranberry orange bread, serve and enjoy!
Freezer-Friendly Instructions
After the bread is completely cooled, wrap it securely in aluminum foil, freezer wrap or place in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
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Cranberry Orange Bread
Sweet, orange-scented, and packed with cranberries and walnuts, this cranberry orange bread is the perfect festive treat for the holidays.
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup buttermilk (see note)
- 2 teaspoons grated orange zest, from 1 orange
- ⅓ cup orange juice, from 1 orange
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, halved (see note)
- ½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F and set an oven rack to the middle position. Spray a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a small bowl, stir together buttermilk, orange zest and juice, melted butter and egg. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda. Stir the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients with rubber spatula until just moistened. Gently stir in cranberries and nuts. Do not overmix.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread evenly with a rubber spatula. Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350° F. Continue to bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean, about 45 minutes longer. Cool the loaf in the pan for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto the rack and cool at least 30 minutes before serving.
- Note: If you’d like to make your own buttermilk, check out the easy method here.
- Note: Cranberries are a bit tricky to chop because they roll all over the place. I cut them in half one at a time -- seems tedious, I know, but there aren't that many so it doesn't take long. If you're using frozen cranberries, be sure to slice them while they're still frozen.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The bread can be frozen for up to 3 months. After it is completely cooled, wrap it securely in aluminum foil, freezer wrap or place in a freezer bag. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (12 servings)
- Serving size: 1 slice
- Calories: 227
- Fat: 7 g
- Saturated fat: 4 g
- Carbohydrates: 38 g
- Sugar: 20 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Sodium: 224 mg
- Cholesterol: 31 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I want to replace the 6 tablespoons of melted butter with vegetable oil – how much would be the correct amount for the Cranberry Nut Bread?
Hi Karen, It would be the same amount, so 6 tablespoons.
The BEST cranberry bread ever. It’s work for me, but so worth the result. The citrus and cranberry go perfectly together. Thanks, Jenn!
I just bought your cookbook! All your recipes on the blog have been so great!
Glad you like this (and thanks for your support with the cookbook)! 💗
I’ve made this cranberry bread recipe many times and always love the result. This time I’d like to make muffins instead of bread. Do I need to adjust the recipe? And how long should I bake the muffins? (Thank you for being my go-to recipe guru. Thank you for always answering my questions. And thank you for your website and cookbook. 💜💙💜)
So glad you like the recipes and happy to help when you have questions! 🙂
You can turn this into muffins without adjusting the recipe with the exception of the timing. I’d start checking them for doneness at 20 to 25 min. Please LMK how they turn out!
Thanks, as always, for getting back to me, Jenn. The batter scoops very nicely into a muffin tin pan, using a large ice-cream scoop. It’s thick enough to scoop with no drips. I love cranberries so I used two cups of fruit and just one cup of sugar. The muffins are a nice mix of tart and sweet. I baked them for about 21 minutes. This was my second batter tonight. I gave half of the first batch to a couple down the street and will give half of this batch to a different neighbor tomorrow. Just sharing a little Jenn Segal love around the neighborhood. 💙💜💙
So glad they turned out nicely — thanks for reporting back (and sharing the love)! ❤️
Great recipe, easy preparation. I just made it. It was tasty and very delicious.
Thank you.
Delicious and so easy to prepare! Another winning recipe that confirms Jenn as the go-to master chef for me!
❤️ Great recipe! I couldn’t find any cranberries fresh or frozen and I did not want to use dried cranberries, so instead I got a can of tart cherries, washed off the juice and use those with a can of whole cranberry Sauce which I also rinsed. Got to be flexible right?😂 I made two loaves with the idea of freezing one. Wrong idea. One loaf was halfway gone the first evening I made this. And completely gone the next day. So easy to make. I wish I was technologically advanced enough to post the picture I took of the two loaves before they were devoured. I may have it framed.
😊
Delicious
I had a mother’s day brunch today and I made 2 new recipes – this and the spinach frittata – and both came out perfectly.
I always follow the recipe precisely the first time I make it and next time I will add more cranberries, but this was very good and everyone loved it. Moist, cake like but not too sweet. I loved the orange undertones as well.
I just made this and it was pretty tasty and easy to make. I used lemon juice and whole milk for the buttermilk and it seemed to work fine. I cut each frozen cranberry in half by hand as recommended and while tedious I agree helped distribute the flavor. One orange didn’t quite yield enough zest and juice for me, so that flavor didn’t really come through, so make sure you have a second orange or a large one. I removed 1 star for a few reasons. I had trouble with the melted butter, since when I combined all the liquid ingredients it immediately turned chunky and gave me problems. I would say the melted butter needs to cool a bit and the milk should be room temperature to avoid this. I would also use at least 1 1/2 cups of cranberries (maybe even 2) since I would’ve liked cranberries in every bite but they were a little sparse for my liking.
I followed your recommendation and let the butter cool before mixing and had no problems at all. Thanks for the heads up.
Next time I will add more cranberries. But I will definitely make it again, as I found it easy and tasty.
Have have lots of blueberries that are not very sweet. Can I substitute blueberries for cranberries or mix them?
Hi Sandra, for the best results, I’d stick with cranberries here. Sorry!
We were lucky enough to have all ingredients on hand so decided to give this a try. It was delicious!! We made the buttermilk by adding vinegar to milk and subbed in mini chocolate chips for nuts (kids are not a big fans). Orange flavor comes through nicely. Quite frankly, I would have enjoyed this better without the chocolate chips but still amazing. Thanks for another amazing recipe!
Made this today. Delicious. Very easy to make. I only made a slight modification. Instead of 1 cup plus 2 Tbs sugar, I only used 1 cup sugar. Came out perfect. Will become a family favorite. So grateful for Jenn Segal’s web site. It’s my “go-to ” source for perfect and easy to follow recipes. ( I have the cookbook & love it ! )