Cranberry Orange Bread

This Cranberry Orange Bread is packed with seasonal flavors that can be enjoyed year-round. It doesn’t require any special equipment to prepare and stays true to the nature of quick breads, there’s no yeast involved. A yogurt infused homemade batter is filled with citrus zest and fresh cranberries. Serve a slice or two, any time of day you need a tasty sweet fix.

What Are Quick Breads?

Quick breads are loaf cakes and savory breads that don’t require any yeast or rise time to make. They can be both sweet and savory, made with a variety of customizable mix-in ingredients and flavors. Sweet breads are cake-like in taste and texture and are most often baked in a loaf shape resembling a loaf of bread. This Cranberry Orange Bread is sweet and filled with fresh tart cranberries and orange zest for a delightful flavor combination.

Ingredients to Make Easy Cranberry Orange Yogurt Bread Recipe

Sweet breads are a year-round favorite at our house. I love to host tea parties and brunches, and I would be sorely remiss if some sort of sweet bread wasn’t included on the menu. I particularly love making this bread with yogurt for the tang and texture yogurt that it lends to the batter. It’s a cake-like bread that’s perfect served for a Christmas dessert, too.

Key ingredients to make homemade Cranberry Orange Bread: (Scroll down for the full printable recipe card.)

• Flour – All-purpose flour sifted with granulated sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda.
• Cranberries – Fresh cranberries rinsed, dried and picked over.
• Butter – Salted or unsalted butter, melted.
• Yogurt – 2% or whole milk Greek yogurt adds creaminess to the batter.
• Eggs – 3 large eggs add richness to the batter.
• Orange – Oranges zest adds an intense orange flavor.
• Flavorings – Orange extract and vanilla extract. Orange extract gives a more concentrated flavor than orange juice alone.
• Glaze – Powdered sugar, fresh orange juice and orange zest.

How to Make the Best Cranberry Orange Bread Recipe

If you’ve never baked with fresh cranberries before this quick bread is a great place to start. I worked on this quick bread recipe until I felt it had just the right balance of sweet flavor versus the tart cranberries. The sweet orange glaze drizzled on top is a must.

• Heat Oven and Prepare Pan – Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a standard 9x5x3-inch loaf pan or spritz with cooking spray.
• Sift the Dry Ingredients – Use a whisk to sift together the all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a large bowl.
• Stir Together the Wet Ingredients – In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, yogurt, eggs, orange zest, orange extract and and vanilla extract.
• Combine – By hand mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients stirring until fully moistened. The batter will be thick.
• Stir in Cranberries – Gently fold the whole cranberries into the batter until they’re evenly distributed.
• Transfer to the Prepared Pan – Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pan spreading the batter evenly.
• Oven – Bake for 50-60 minutes until golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes back clean. Cool completely.
• Cool and Glaze – Remove from the pan and onto a wire rack to cool completely, then drizzle with the sweet orange glaze.

Kitchen Equipment to Make Cranberry Orange Bread Recipe

• One 9×5-inch loaf pan.
• Balloon whisk.
• Large bowl and medium mixing bowl.
• Measuring cups and measuring spoons.
• Large rubber spatula or wooden spoon to mix the batter. You can use a hand mixer or stand mixer to make the batter, but it’s not necessary and blends together easily by hand.

Recipe Variations, Tips and Substitutions

• Sour Cream – You can substitute sour cream for yogurt in this recipe.
• Nuts: -You could add nuts to the batter. Use chopped walnuts, almonds or pecans.
• Orange – You could use lemon juice for the glaze and lemon zest for the batter.
• Alternate Pans – You can divide the batter into four 5-inch loaf pans or two 8-inch loaf pans. The baking time is directly related to the size of the pans so adapt the time and always check the center with a toothpick prior to removing from the oven.
• Dried Cranberries – This recipe was designed to use fresh tart cranberries. That said, you could adapt this recipe using dried cranberries when they aren’t available.
• Gluten Free Flour – You can make this bread using your favorite brand of gluten free flour in a 1:1 ratio.
• Fresh or Frozen Cranberries – This bread was specifically designed to use fresh cranberries. Frozen cranberries could work, but will need to be thawed and well drained before adding to the batter.
• Clean and Dry the Cranberries – Rinse, pick over and dry the cranberries prior to adding them to the batter. If the cranberries are still wet, it will introduce additional liquid to the batter and affect how it bakes.
• Nonstick Loaf Pan Versus Glass Loaf Pans – If you bake this quick bread recipe in a glass pan you may need to add to the baking time. Nonstick metal pans heat up more quickly in the oven and tend to bake more quickly. Start with 8-10 minutes or so and adjust the time from that point.

Storage and Leftovers

• When to Serve Cranberry Yogurt Bread – You can enjoy this bread for breakfast, brunch, dessert and holiday gatherings.
• Leftovers – Store baked Cranberry Orange Yogurt Bread in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic wrap and aluminum foil chilled in the refrigerator for up to one week.
• Freezer – You can cool and freeze this bread for up to 2 months. When freezing, thaw and glaze just before serving.

More Cranberry Desserts and Sweets to Make

This cranberry sweet bread is so delicious you may find yourself going back over and over again to sneak another slice. More desserts and sweets using cranberries that you may also like to try:

• This single layer Christmas Cranberry Cake will take you from brunch to dessert.
• Serve this Cranberry Apple Fruit Chutney as a condiment or side for Thanksgiving.
• Cranberry Pretzel Salad is a seasonal riff  on strawberry Jell-O salad.
• Cranberry Orange Sweet Rolls are a made from scratch delicacy.
• Cranberry Orange Butter Cake never lasts long.
• The family will flip for this creamy Cranberry Fluff.
• Enjoy a freshly baked batch of Cranberry Muffins with your morning cup of coffee.
• You may also like this recipe for Nantucket Cranberry Pie from Barefeet in the Kitchen.

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Helpful Kitchen Items:

• 10-inch Loaf Pan
• Stand Mixer
• Mixing Bowls
• Silicone Spatulas