Cranberry Bread Recipe: 4 Tips for Making Cranberry Bread
Written by MasterClass
Last updated: Nov 27, 2022 • 2 min read
Tart cranberries meet warm spices and zesty orange flavor in this easy cranberry bread recipe.
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What Is Cranberry Bread?
Cranberry bread is a quick bread made from fresh (or frozen) cranberries, flour, sugar, eggs, and a liquid, like buttermilk. Quick breads, like zucchini bread or pumpkin bread, are made with leavening agents rather than yeast, and cranberry bread is no exception: The addition of buttermilk helps activate the baking soda and guarantees a tender, moist crumb.
Serve cranberry bread at breakfast with a swipe of cream cheese or Italian mascarpone and sliced pecans, or drizzle it in icing and serve it for dessert.
4 Tips for Making Cranberry Bread
If it’s your first time making this sweet bread studded with tart pops of acidity, here’s what to know:
- 1. Fresh vs. frozen cranberries. You can make cranberry bread with fresh or frozen cranberries. If you choose to use frozen cranberries, avoid thawing them before adding them into the batter because the excess moisture will lead to a soggy loaf. (Dried cranberries won’t result in the same level of tartness, so reserve them as a mix-in for walnut or banana bread.)
- 2. Add different flavorings. While standard cranberry bread is full of flavor, you can add diced pineapples or apples, walnuts, cloves, maple syrup, or chocolate chips to the batter to create a more complex bite.
- 3. Prepare for a lengthy bake time. Like all quick bread recipes, cranberry bread requires close to an hour in the oven. To prevent the top from burning while the rest of the loaf catches up, loosely cover with aluminum foil about halfway through baking as needed.
- 4. Storage. Cranberry bread will keep at room temperature covered in plastic wrap or aluminum foil for a few days, and you can also freeze it. Simply wrap the loaf whole or sliced in a layer of plastic wrap, followed by aluminum foil, and store it for up to six months in the freezer.
Cranberry Bread Recipe
makes
1 loafprep time
15 mintotal time
1 hr 15 mincook time
1 hrIngredients
For the orange glaze:
- 1
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9-inch loaf pan with parchment paper, allowing plenty of overhang on either side.
- 2
Combine the flour, sugars, baking soda, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, orange zest, and salt in a large bowl.
- 3
In a glass measuring cup, combine the buttermilk, egg, vanilla extract, and oil. Whisk to incorporate.
- 4
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and fold with a spatula, mixing just until the dry streaks disappear.
- 5
Add the chopped cranberries.
- 6
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 50–60 minutes.
- 7
While the bread bakes, make the orange glaze. Combine the orange juice and powdered sugar in a large bowl, and whisk until smooth and glossy. Add the butter, season with salt, and whisk to combine.
- 8
Remove the loaf from the oven, and let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Place the loaf on a wire rack and cool completely before drizzling it with the glaze.
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