Cranberry Bread Recipe

We’ve got a few recipes for you today that aren’t just for spring, but can be used over any season. We’ve recently been falling back in love with cranberries and their delightfully light, tart flavor.

Cranberries are only harvested in the fall, but they’re usually preserved in juices or dried fruit to be enjoyed year-round.

Easter is nigh, and it’s the perfect time to dust off your best pastel clothes and bust out your best recipes for the spring. Why not try out a sweet recipe for cranberry bread?

While bread usually has a more neutral flavor, this provides a sweet, delicious twist that makes it great as a compliment to other dishes or a treat of its own!

Here are two of our favorites.

Sweet Cranberry Bread Recipe:

Here we’ll begin with the sweeter variety. It has a coffee cake-like texture that will make you want to pour yourself another cup and keep on enjoying the morning.

You’ll only need a small number of ingredients, which are:

• 2 cups of all-purpose flour.
• 1 ½ teaspoon of baking powder.
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda.
• 1 teaspoon salt.
• 1 cup fresh cranberries; chopped.
• ¾ cup buttermilk.
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
• ¼ cup vegetable or canola oil.
• 1 large egg; lightly beaten.
• ¾ cup sugar.

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F, after you’ve set out all of your ingredients.
2. In a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan, line it with aluminum foil, and butter the bottom and sides of the foil. Set the pan aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, whisk your flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Be careful not to over-whisk your flour, lest you wind up with an airy mess on your hands!
4. Add the chopped cranberries to the bowl and stir them to evenly distribute. We recommend fresh cranberries if you have them, because their juices add a bit more tartness to the recipe.
5. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together your egg, buttermilk, vanilla, oil, and sugar.
6. With a spatula (preferably rubber), fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until everything is well mixed. Be sure not to overmix! Having a few flour lumps is A-OK.
7. Pour the batter into your foiled pan.
8. Bake the bread until the top is golden brown (around 33-38 minutes). To test whether your bread is ready to be removed from the oven, insert a toothpick into a few spots in the center of the loaf and see if it comes out clean (without any batter residue).
9. Let the bread cool completely in the pan.
10. Enjoy!

After you’ve enjoyed a bit of this tasty bread, it can be wrapped in foil and kept fresh for a little over a week.

You can store it in your fridge, and just pop it in the microwave for a few seconds to enjoy that tart yet sweet goodness whenever you want!

Side-Note: If you want to add a little more to the recipe, grab your favorite walnuts or pecans and add half a cup of them for an equally delicious cranberry nut bread recipe!

Include the nuts after you’ve mixed the ingredients together.

Cranberry Orange Bread Recipe

This next recipe is for those of you who like your cranberry bread with a little bit of zest. Orange zest! It adds a nice tang to the sweet, tart flavors of the cranberry bread.

Building off our previous recipe, this one calls for a few more ingredients:

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cup of all-purpose flour.
• ½ teaspoon salt.
• 1 teaspoon baking powder.
• ¾ cup sugar.
• 1-large-orange-worth of zest.
• ¾ cup of buttermilk.
• ½ cup of canola or vegetable oil.
• 2 large eggs; lightly beaten.
• 1 tablespoon of fresh orange juice.
• ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract.
• 1 cup cranberries (dried or freshly chopped).

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F, after setting out all your ingredients.
2. Spray your 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder together. In a separate bowl, combine the sugar and orange zest. Whisk into the flour mixture and set aside.
4. In another mixing bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, orange juice, and vanilla.
5. Remember to do this part slowly: adding the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Stir in until just combined. Next, fold in the cranberries. Pour the batter into the loaf pan.
6. Bake for around 70 to 75 minutes, or until your toothpick comes out clean. This recipe takes a bit longer to cook, and if you notice your bread getting browner than you want it, place a piece of foil over the top to finish baking.
7. Remove from the oven rack and let cool for around 15 minutes. Loosen the sides of the loaf with a knife and let it cool completely on a wire rack.

Here’s a video showing how to combine cranberries, nuts and oranges, all in one loaf!

With these cranberry bread recipes, you’re sure to have another ace added to your Rolodex of knockout desserts. Happy baking!

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What’s your favorite cranberry bread recipe?