Cranberry Orange Bread — The fresh cranberries in this cranberry orange bread contrast nicely with the sweet orange glaze, making it the perfect blend of sweet and tart!
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Orange-Glazed Cranberry Orange Bread
The combination of cranberries and oranges is just wonderful and reminds me that the holidays are just around the corner.
This glazed cranberry orange bread bread is fast, easy, and you don’t even need a mixer to make it. It’s soft, tender, springy, and loaded with fresh, juicy cranberries in every bite.
The bread is wonderfully perfumed with both orange zest and orange juice, and the sweet orange glaze drizzled on top helps balance the tartness of the cranberries!
Cranberry Orange Bread Ingredients
I topped this cranberry orange bread with glaze, but it’s technically optional. To make this moist cranberry orange quick bread recipe, you’ll need:
- Milk (I used unsweetened cashew milk)
- Lemon juice
- Egg
- Canola oil
- Granulated sugar
- Light brown sugar
- Orange zest
- Orange juice
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda and baking powder
- Salt
- Fresh cranberries
- Confectioners’ sugar
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
Buttermilk Substitute Tip
Rather than using buttermilk I combined Silk Unsweetened Cashewmilk with lemon juice to mimic the moisturizing and tenderizing effects of buttermilk while keeping the loaf dairy-free.
Silk is so irresistibly creamy and thick but with fewer calories than skim milk. Eating more plant-based protein is a great goal and Silk Cashewmilk or Silk Almond Milk are my milks of choice for baking and smoothies.
They’re so low in calories and fat, they’re vegan and dairy-free, and I always get impressive-tasting results. It’s an easy swap for your seasonal and holiday recipes!
How to Make Glazed Cranberry Orange Bread
Making this cranberry bread with orange glaze is so quick and easy! Here’s an overview of the recipe steps:
- Stir together the milk and lemon juice and set it aside for 10 minutes. This gives the milk time to curdle a bit (this will mimic buttermilk).
- Add the egg, oil, sugars, orange zest, orange juice, and vanilla extract to a large bowl and whisk to combine. Add the milk mixture and stir to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet, then fold in the cranberries.
- Turn the batter into a greased 9×5-inch pan and bake until the edges are set and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Once the bread is done baking, let it cool completely before drizzle the orange glaze over top.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, any unsweetened milk (dairy or non-dairy) should work in this recipe. And if you have real buttermilk on hand you could use that in place of the cashew milk and lemon juice.
I’ve only ever made this cranberry orange bread as written, so I’m not sure how it’d turn out using frozen berries. If you try it out, please leave me a comment below letting me know how your bread tastes!
You’re likely fine to use frozen cranberries (added straight to the batter, no thawing needed). You’d just need to bump up the bake time slightly.
Most likely, yes, although I’ve only made this cranberry orange loaf as written. Note that dried cranberries won’t release moisture like fresh ones do, so that may affect the texture of the bread.
Yes, but I’m not sure what the exact bake time would be with mini loaf pans since all pans, ovens, climates, etc. will differ.
Yes! This cranberry orange quick bread freezes incredibly well if wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and / or stored in a freezer bag. You don’t want to freeze this quick bread with the glaze on, though!
Tips for the Best Cranberry Orange Bread
When making the cranberry quick bread glaze, you’ll have to play around with the amount of juice you add to achieve the right consistency.
Also, you’ll likely have some glaze leftover. I like to spread it on the cut side of the bread as if I was buttering toast. You can never have too much glaze!
Make sure to give your orange a thorough wash under warm tap water before zesting it. The peel can contain chemicals leftover from growing the fruit, and you don’t want to zest that directly into your bread.
Recipe Variations to Try
This is a fairly straightforward orange cranberry bread recipe, and you can try making a few swaps to suit your personal preferences or use up other ingredients you have on hand. Just note that substituting or adding ingredients might affect the bake time and/or texture of the bread!
- Swap the milk for buttermilk: I paired cashew milk with lemon juice to mimic buttermilk. You can replace the milk and lemon juice and an equal amount of buttermilk if you have some that needs using up.
- Add white chocolate chips: This recipe calls for 2 cups of fresh cranberries. If desired, you can replace up to 1/2 cup of the cranberries with white chocolate chips. Just remember that the cranberries release moisture as they bake and help keep the bread super moist so replacing some of the berries with a dry ingredient will affect the texture of the bread slightly.
- Add nuts: Just like the white chocolate chip swap, you can add chopped pecans or walnuts to the batter. Read my notes above on what to expect when replacing the berries with a dry ingredient.
- Adjust the glaze: I love the orange glaze on this orange cranberry bread, but you can make a plain glaze by combining the powdered sugar with milk instead of orange juice.
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Cranberry Orange Bread with Sweet Orange Glaze
Ingredients
Bread
- ½ cup Silk Unsweetened Cashewmilk, Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almondmilk or another milk may be substituted
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup canola or vegetable oil
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon orange zest, from about 1 large orange
- â…“ cup freshly squeezed orange juice, from about 1 large orange
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 2 cups fresh cranberries, plus more for sprinkling
Glaze
- 2 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
- about 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray one 9×5-inch loaf pan with floured cooking spray, or grease and flour the pan; set aside.
- To a medium bowl or large glass measuring cup, add the milk, lemon juice, and stir to combine; set aside for about 10 minutes. This will cause the milk to curdle a bit so that it resembles and acts like buttermilk.
- To a large bowl, add the egg, oil, sugars, orange zest (zest the orange before juicing it), orange juice, vanilla extract, and whisk to combine.
- Add the milk and lemon juice mixture and whisk to combine.
- Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and stir to combine; don’t overmix.
- Add the cranberries and stir to combine. (I haven’t tried the recipe with dried cranberries.)
- Turn batter out into prepared pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula and pushing it into corners and sides as necessary.
Evenly sprinkle a few cranberries over the top. - Bake for about 70 minutes and tent pan with a sheet of foil at the 30-minute mark by loosely draping a sheet of foil over the top and sides of pan. This prevents top and sides of bread from becoming overly browned before the center cooks through. Bread is done when the top is set in the center, domed, springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted in the center (if you can find a patch without hitting cranberries) comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. Baking times will vary based on oven and climate variances, how moist the cranberries are, etc. Bake until your bread is done in your oven.
- Allow bread to cool in pan for about 20 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to cool completely before glazing.
- To a large bowl, add the confectioners’ sugar, orange juice, and whisk to combine until smooth. You may have to play with the sugar and juice ratios slightly to achieve desired glaze consistency.
- Evenly drizzle glaze over bread, noting you will likely have extra. I spread the extra glaze on the cut slices of the bread as if I was buttering toast.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Bliss Cake – The flavors of Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars in a soft, easy, no-mixer cake!
Cranberry Chocolate Chip Blondies – Super soft, buttery bars packed with chewy cranberries! And there’s a chocolate overload in every bite!
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Cranberry Oatmeal Crumble Bars — The bars are soft, slightly chewy, and the hearty oats with big crumbles are a perfect contrast to the juicy cranberry filling.
Cranberry Bliss Seven Layer Bars — These bars feature a buttery graham cracker crust that’s topped with white chocolate chips, chocolate chips, walnuts, dried cranberries, coconut, and sweetened condensed milk.
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