The Best Raspberry Bread – There are almost more raspberries than bread in my recipe for the BEST RASPBERRY BREAD!! You’ll want to make it over and over because it’s super soft and just bursting with juicy berries!!
Easy Raspberry Bread Recipe
I have 40+ recipes for banana bread, cherry bread, blueberry bread, peach mango bread, and pineapple bread. There’s strawberry rolls, orange rolls, mixed berry scones and multiple blueberry muffin recipes. So many fruity breads and pastries, but none with just raspberries. It was time to change that and show some raspberry love.
This raspberry bread recipe is loosely based on my Cinnamon Ribbon Bread recipe, and I’ve also made it as muffins.I love that recipe because the bread is fall-apart soft and tender thanks to a trifecta of moisturizing and tenderizing ingredients: butter, oil, and buttermilk.
Butter adds rich flavor, oil keeps baked goods softer and springier than butter alone, and buttermilk provides lightness and fluffiness. With that lineup, it’s impossible to have dry bread. Throw in 2 cups of raspberries, and you’re destined for they juiciest and best loaf of raspberry bread ever.
The bread is bursting with raspberries in every bite. There are almost as many raspberries as there is bread, perfect for me. The only thing more perfect would be adding a cup of chocolate chips to the batter. Next time!
I definitely need to make another loaf because this one disappeared in a day. But since it’s packed with fruit, it’s automatically healthy of course.
What’s in Raspberry Bread?
For this easy raspberry recipe, you’ll need a handful of basic pantry staples. The key ingredients in this recipe are:
- All-purpose flour
- Light brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Unsalted butter
- Egg
- Buttermilk
- Vegetable oil
- Vanilla extract
- Raspberries
How to Make Raspberry Bread
This raspberry dessert recipe couldn’t be easier to make! Simply whisk together the wet and dry ingredients in two separate bowls, then combine the two and mix until just combined (the batter may be a little lumpy, but that’s okay). Toss the berries in a few tablespoons of flour before gently mixing them into the batter.
Turn the batter into a greased loaf pan, then bake for around 45 minutes to an hour. You’ll know the quick bread is finished baking when it’s set on top and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Note that baking times will vary depending on whether you use fresh or frozen raspberries. I’ve left detailed notes in the recipe card below to help you out!
Let the raspberry bread cool for 15 minutes in the pan before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool. This bread needs to cool completely before slicing and serving it, otherwise it’ll fall apart.
What to Serve with Raspberry Bread
Don’t get me wrong, this raspberry bread is perfectly delicious as is. But if you want to take things up a notch, I highly recommend making a flavored butter to slather atop a slice. Some of my favorite butters include Blueberry Butter, Strawberry Butter, Honey Butter, and Cinnamon-Sugar Butter.
You could even make a Vanilla Browned Butter Glaze to drizzle over top the entire loaf!
Should I Use Fresh or Frozen Raspberries?
I used frozen raspberries to make this loaf, and they released so much juice that I worried the tops and sides of the bread would become too browned before the center cooked through. Many times in my baking, I use frozen fruit because it saves money and I’m able to stash it in the freezer for rainy day, but save yourself the headache and use fresh berries for this fruit bread recipe.
Is There a Buttermilk Substitute I Can Use?
I haven’t tried any of the popular buttermilk substitutes when making this raspberry recipe, so I can’t say for certain if you can sub anything for real buttermilk. I highly suggest picking up the real thing if you plan on making this bread recipe. Buttermilk makes this bread extra moist and fluffy, so try to get your hands on some!
Can I Freeze Raspberry Bread?
Breads typically freeze well, so most likely the answer is yes! You’ll need to let the bread cool completely before freezing it in a freezer bag (or a few layers of plastic wrap). It should last up to 3 months in the freezer if frozen properly.
Tips for Making Raspberry Bread
There are a few things you need to keep in mind when making this raspberry bread. First and foremost, you need to let the melted butter cool for a minute or two before mixing it in with the wet ingredients. If you don’t give the butter time to cool off, you run the risk of scrambling the egg!
Also note that it’s important to not over mix the batter. Like I mentioned before, the batter will be slightly lumpy but that’s totally normal. If you try to stir out all the lumps, your raspberry bread will wind up tough and chewy.
Lastly, make sure to toss the raspberries (fresh or frozen) with some flour before mixing them into the batter. The flour will prevent the berries from sinking to the bottom of the loaf.
What Else Can I Make with Raspberries?
If you have lots of raspberries on hand (lucky you!), a few of my other favorite raspberry recipes include my Raspberry Peach Crisp, Raspberry Oatmeal Crumble Bars, and Watermelon Raspberry Slushies. If there are other raspberry desserts you’re dying for me to make, leave me a comment below!
The Best Raspberry Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups + 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
- ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 large egg
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- ¼ cup canola or vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 10 to 12 ounces raspberries, about 2 cups*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray one 9×5-inch loaf pan with floured cooking spray, or grease and flour the pan; set aside.
- In a large bowl, add 2 cups + 2 tablespoons flour, sugars, baking soda, optional salt, and whisk to combine; set aside.
- In a medium microwave-safe bowl or glass measuring cup, melt the butter, about 45 seconds on high power. Allow butter to cool momentarily so you don’t scramble the egg.
- To the butter, add the egg, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and whisk to combine.
- Pour wet over dry and stir until just combined; don’t overmix. Batter will be somewhat lumpy and don’t try to stir the lumps smooth or bread will be tough; set aside.
- In a medium bowl, add the raspberries, 2 tablespoons flour, and toss lightly to combine (coating berries in flour helps to reduce sinking while baking).
- Add the raspberries to the batter and fold very lightly to combine.
- Turn batter out into prepared pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula and pushing it into corners and sides as necessary.
- Bake bread for 45 minutes to an hour. Bread is done when top is set in the middle, slightly domed, springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted in the center (if you can find a patch without hitting raspberries) comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter.**
- Allow bread to cool in pan for about 15 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to cool completely before slicing and serving.
- Bread will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Fruit Bread Recipes:
Soft Cherry Bread with Cherry-Almond Glaze — This is a soft, sweet, and easy quick bread to make. It’s perfect for Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, baby or bridal showers, and would be so pretty for a brunch!
Brown Sugar Blueberry Banana Bread — Super moist blueberry banana bread made with Greek yogurt and dark brown sugar.
Peach Mango Coconut Oil Banana Bread — The softest, moistest banana bread that tastes like a tropical vacation!
Cinnamon Spice Applesauce Bread — Applesauce keeps this bread so soft and moist! It’s like apple spice cake, disguised as ‘bread’ so you can have extra!
Buttermilk Banana Bread— This homemade banana bread recipe is made with buttermilk and browned butter, which makes it super flavorful. Top it with a schmear of strawberry butter and dig in!
Coconut Oil Banana Pineapple Bread – Buttermilk, bananas and coconut oil keep this bread super moist, tender and it tastes like a tropical vacation
The Best Strawberry Banana Bread — I couldn’t get enough of this super soft, moist bread that’s bursting with juicy strawberries in every bite. It’s a fast, easy, no mixer recipe!
This was excellent. I bake a lot and my husband said it’s the best bread I’ve made so far! I added 3/4 cup walnuts. I also did them as muffins instead of a loaf. Trying it today with fresh blueberries, I’m sure it will be delicious!
Thanks for the five star review, Katie, and I’m so glad that you and your husband have both been enjoy enjoying this bread. It’s a pretty flexible recipe and it’ll be lovely with your fresh blueberries.
Made this recipe, exactly, many times. Always wonderful. Two in the oven right now. Today, 1 egg had two yolks, this batch now has 3 yolks from the 2 eggs.
The beginning of my Thanksgiving baking.
I cut them in half, double wrap and freeze them.
Thanks for sharing, Cari!
I will be making the raspberry bread again, it is SO good. I made the recipe as directed except I change the size of the pans. I used 3… 3×5 pans and baked for 40 minutes or until the toothpick test is clean..
Thanks for the 5 star review, Keno, and I’m glad to hear that you were able to have great success with this bread as mini loaves!
I have made this many times both with buttermilk and buttermilk substitute and it turns out great every time. I freeze the loaves and they are such a treat in the dead of winter. I have raspberries and saskatoon berries in my yard and at end of season didn’t quite have enough raspberries so I combined them to get the right quantity and use them up. It turned out amazing. Thank yoi for this tasty, easy and adaptable recipe. It is fantastic. I do have to bake mine for an hour but that is the only thing and it’s not a big deal when you know how to bake and test for doneness.
Thanks for the 5 star review and I love hearing that you freeze these loaves because as you said, a loaf of this in the dead of winter is an ultimate treat!
This is the best quick bread recipe ever! I will save it to use as a base for all quick breads. I did add a crumble topping because my hubby likes that. It was extra sweet and delish. Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks for the 5 star review, Sarah, and I’m glad to hear that this is the best quickbread for you and that you’re using it as a base for others! The crumble topping sounds delish!
Nice bread, but I wouldn’t call it the ‘best’…the search continues for the perfect recipe. I thawed my berries a bit to shorten the bake time and that worked.
Out of curiosity, what are you looking for in a recipe? What is important to you?
My ideal loaf:
Lighter in color, so the raspberry color pops. Perhaps that means white sugar or honey instead of brown.
Needs a secondary flavor to pop the raspberry flavor, not just sweet bread. Perhaps lemon, orange or almond?
Lighter in color – tent the pan with foil in the last 35% of baking
Honey – does not behave like a dry ingredient so you’d need to compensate for that
Secondary flavor – add lemon zest, add blueberries, add orange zest, almond extract, lemon/orange/any extract you’d like; add sea salt, add chocolate chips, add matcha, there are so many different directions to go from the more simple to the more exotic
Yes, the tenting worked perfectly. It’s the interior of the bread that would highlight the raspberries better if it were lighter in color (for the ideal loaf). This IS a nice recipe! Thank you for sharing with us!
This was amazing. I think the brown sugar really makes it. The loaf has a depth of flavour that you don’t get with just white sugar.
It also actually has enough fruit! I usually double the fruit in quick breads because there isn’t enough.
I did reduce the brown sugar by a quarter cup and found it was still sweet enough. I will probably reduce both sugars a bit more next time. It’s not too sweet, but I do prefer to have a bit less sugar when possible.
Thanks for the 5 star review, Julia, and I’m glad you enjoyed this so much and that you plan to make it again!
My go to dessert bread…great for gifts in small Loaf pans…thank you for sharing!
Thanks for the 5 star review, Katie, and I’m glad this is your go-to dessert bread and you have been gifting some too, how nice!
This turned out very well. I only had 1/2 the raspberries called for, so I threw in a very ripe banana with the wet ingredients. Mine needed a full hour at 350. I like the crunchy top.
Thanks for the 5 star review, Amy, and I’m glad it turned out great with the banana – and yes, not surprising you would need to bake it for longer since bananas add more moisture to the batter.
AVERIE, THAT RASPBERRY BREAD LOOKS & SOUNDS SO GOOD!!!! I CAN’T WAIT TO RUN TO THE STORE TO PICKUP SMOME RASPBERRYS!!! I 💘 SO MANT OF YUR RECIPES!!!! KEEP IT UP YUR SO AWESOME!!! CANDICE
Thanks, Candice, for the nice compliments and I hope you love the bread!
Perfect recipe for muffins for my second season raspberries! Each loaf equals a dozen muffins.
Thanks for the 5 star review, Fran, and I’m glad this is perfect for your second season of raspberries – wow, I’m envious! :)
how long do you bake for muffins? Thank you.
In general muffins bake for about 20-25 minutes. However, it will depend on their size, your oven, your batter, etc. Keep an eye on them – not raw, not burnt. Take them out when they’re done based on how they are, not what the time on the clock says.
Why does my recipe seem wet I am using two cups of raspberries. Is that too many.?I made it last year and it was better. It’s a great loaf, just seems doughy around the raspberries. I baked it close to one hour. I made another one with the same problem. Maybe you could help me.
Toss the berries in 2-3 tbsp of flour, or so. So they are a bit coated, that may help. If they are very ripe or very juicy, this will be more prone to happening so don’t wait to bake with them until they’re super ripe or past their prime. And/or just bake another 5-10 mins, or whatever is needed.
So yummy!
Glad it was a winner for you!
Can I substitute Almond Flour for AP Flour… Trying to watch what I eat
I doubt it, although I haven’t tried. One has gluten, one does not. Almond flour actually has more calories and more fat than all-purpose flour.
If you are trying to make this GF then I would use one intended for baking like this https://amzn.to/46KDi5S
I have been making this raspberry bread for several years and it is perfect! I make 12-15 small loaves, freeze them, and it becomes a quick grab & go breakfast during the busy week! This is a favorite of everyone. Thanks for the recipe, now I wonder if I can use blackberries, as I have an abundance of those too!
Thanks for the 5 star review, Elaine, and I’m glad this is a favorite for you and that you’ve been able to make it in smaller loaves to build up a freezer stash with!
Yes you can use blackberries, too.
I haven’t made this recipe yet, but I have made several others and only had issues with one of them. This loaf im making tomorrow with white chocolate chips and glaze that’s also white chocolate drizzled and maybe adding crushed peacons !!
You should not have any issues with my recipe. It’s amazing and has been a fan favorite for about 8 years now with many 5-star reviews!