Spiced Orange Cranberry Bread

The cranberries are finally in the stores so let the baking begin.  I love these tart little fruits and use them in so many recipes from salads, scones, baked chicken, appetizers and my favorite Spiced Orange Cranberry Bread.  Orange and cranberries go so well together for creating that irresistible sweet-tart flavor.

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 Orange Cranberry Bread

There is nothing better than the smell of this bread baking in your oven. Oh, but there is something better, it’s eating a slice of this warm  Spiced Orange Cranberry bread, it’s just delicious.

Mixing oranges and cranberries together is like a color explosion, and the flavor combination just says bake me for the holidays.

This orange cranberry bread is my favorite bread to give as a gift, and everyone loves it. Bake your bread in miniature paper bread pans, wrap it in plastic, put a ribbon around it, and include a couple of tea bags; this makes such a festive gift, I do this every year, it’s so simple and so appreciated.

Can You Freeze Cranberries?

Yes, you can. Because cranberries have a short season I have learned to stock up on cranberries and just put the bag in the freezer; they keep perfectly well this way.   Having cranberries in the freezer means cranberry scones in May, cranberries in my oatmeal all year long, or a cranberry brie appetizer for a summer party. So while those cranberries are in the store buy several bags.

Ingredients for making homemade Orange Cranberry Bread

1. Flour
2. Sugar
3. Salt
4. Baking Soda
5. Egg
6. Nutmeg
7. Cardamom
8. Orange
9. Cranberries
10. Butter
11. Powdered Sugar

How To Make Cranberry Bread

No yeast required here, this cranberry bread recipe is a quick bread so is just uses baking soda as the leavening agent.

You just mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, fold in the cranberries spoon in the pan and bake.  It’s that easy.  You can always add a sweet orange glaze to the bread to make it even more festive.

Orange zest is the secret to making this sweet fruity bread so flavorful so try this technique, mix the sugar and orange zest together before adding it to the batter so it flavors the sugar.  I actually like making more of this to sprinkle on top of the bread.

One of my favorite kitchen tools is a citrus zester.  Next time you want to add some orange, lemon or even lime flavor to your cooked dishes or baked goods, toss in fresh citrus zest to liven things ups with citrusy flavors.

Pull out your favorite mixing bowl and turn on your oven it’s time to bake. I promise your kitchen is going to smell like oranges and spice.

After you mixed all the ingredients spoon the batter into your bread pan.  The batter will be thick. Now go make a cup of tea or coffee while this bread bakes for an hour.

Baked golden brown. Many people love the bread just like this.

But my preference is adding a sweet orange glaze on top.

Your Orange Cranberry Bread recipe

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4.38 from 8 votes

Spiced Orange Cranberry Bread

Sweet and tart this Spiced Cranberry Orange Bread is everybody's favorite.  Perfect for breakfast, brunch or a snack. Bake a pan for gift-giving for the holidays.

Course Bread

Cuisine American

Keyword bread ,, cranberry bread

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Servings 8 slices

Calories 250kcal

Author Jere' @onehotoven

Equipment

• Bread Pan 8"x5"
• Mixing bowl
• Citrus Zester

Ingredients

Spiced Orange Cranberry Bread Ingredients

• 2 cups AP, flour
• 3/4 cups white sugar can use coconut sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. cardamom
• 1 orange zested reserve 1 tsp. for the glaze
• 1 egg, large
• 2 tbsp butter, melted can use coconut oil
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1 cup cranberries, chopped

Orange Zest Glaze Ingredients

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tbls. butter, melted
• 1 tbls. orange juice
• 1 tsp. orange zest

Instructions

Making the bread

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom of an 8" x 5" loaf pan.
• Put the sugar in a large mixing bowl and add the zest of one orange.  With your fingers combine the sugar and the zest to mix.  
• Add all the other dry ingredients to the bowl with the orange/sugar mixture and mix to combine 
• Mix the egg, butter, and orange juice together then add to the dry ingredients.  Stir till just combined.
• Gently fold in the chopped cranberries.
• Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 60 minutes, until the bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• Remove the bread from the oven and let cool for 20 minutes before removing from the pan.  Finish cooling on a wire rack.

Glazing the Bread

• In a small bowl add the powdered sugar and stir with a whisk to remove lumps.
• Mix in the melted butter, orange juice, and orange zest to make a smooth icing. If your glaze is too thick add additional orange juice. If it is too runny add additional powdered sugar.
• Spoon the glaze over the cooled Orange Cranberry Bread

Notes

Juice the orange for some of the orange juice you need, you will have to add additional juice to make 1 cup.

You can replace the sugar with coconut sugar, your bread will be darker.

One Hot Oven provides approximate nutritional information as a courtesy and cannot guarantee the accuracy for any recipe on this blog.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 250kcal | Carbohydrates: 49.9g | Fat: 3.9g | Cholesterol: 28mg | Sodium: 256mg

Don’t forget your cup of tea. I am pairing this bread with a Chocolate Cinnamon Spice tea from The Loose Leaf.  This is a red rooibos tea with bits of cocoa nibs, plus orange peel, cinnamon chips, ginger, and cloves for some tasty aromatics that all combine for a subtle spicey cup of tea that pairs with the tart cranberries and flavorful orange in the bread.

Homemade Orange Cranberry Bread

There is nothing better than the right cup of tea and your favorite dessert

If you like cranberries try my favorite Cranberry Winter Fruit Salad which is full of apples, oranges, pomegranate,  and of course cranberries.

I use dried and fresh cranberries in my Orange Cranberry Scones. These scones are perfect for a brunch or an afternoon snack with a good pot of tea.

Recommend baking ingredients and equipment to make bread

Make sure to check out The Loose Leaf for some amazing tea to go with your desserts.

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Blessing to all my baking friends,