Cranberry Orange Bread is an easy quick bread that's perfect for the holiday season. Serve it for brunch on Christmas or Thanksgiving, or just because!
Prep: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 5x9 inch loaf pan, or spray with nonstick cooking spray.
Combine dry ingredients: Add all dry ingredients to a large bowl and whisk well. Set aside.
Combine wet ingredients: Mix milk and orange juice in a large measuring jug and set aside for 5 minutes. The milk will curdle, which is exactly what we want - that way it behaves like buttermilk (you can prep the cranberries while you're waiting). Then whisk in the butter, and then the remaining wet ingredients.
Make batter: Add wet to dry ingredients and fold (using a spatula or wooden spoon) JUST until combined. Do not overmix. Toss cranberries in ½ tablespoon flour and ½ tablespoon sugar and fold into the batter.
Bake: Spread batter in prepared loaf pan and bake for 55-70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out mostly clean. Loosely cover the bread with aluminum foil after around 40 minutes of baking time, to keep it from getting too brown.
Cool and glaze: Cool the bread in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack and cool completely. To glaze, combine orange juice and confectioner's sugar until smooth and spread over cooled bread.
Video
Notes
Ingredient notes
Orange juice: Fresh or bottled is both fine to use.
Oil: I make this bread with oil for convenience, but can't deny that the taste is even richer when it's made with melted butter instead. Feel free to use whatever you personally prefer?
Cranberries: Fresh or frozen cranberries can both be used. I let frozen ones thaw a little on the counter to make sure the flour/sugar they are tossed with sticks to them.
Recipe tips
Prep the cranberries: If you're using fresh cranberries, make sure you dry them well with paper towels after rinsing. Don't skip coating them in flour and sugar, this is very important to keep them from all sinking to the bottom!
Don't overmix: As with any quick bread (or muffin, for that matter), it's crucial you do not overmix the batter. Overmixing will result in a dense, gummy bread, so only fold the wet and dry ingredients together until just combined.
Pay attention to the baking time: Overbaked, dry bread is not very nice to eat! Every oven runs differently (and even your pan will affect the baking time and how your bread rises!), so keep a close eye on it.
Loosely cover the pan with foil for the last 20 minutes, to avoid the top getting too brown.
Check the bread every 5 minutes for the last 15 minutes of baking - just make sure you do it quickly so the temperature doesn't drop too much in the oven.
I know it's hard to judge when exactly a baked good is ready, so to be absolutely sure get yourself a thermometer with a probe (FYI, that's an affiliate link and I may make a commission if you click through and make a purchase). Breads and cakes are done when the internal temperature reaches about 210°F! This knowledge has totally changed my baking (I'm terrified of underbaked anything), and I've been able to say goodbye to dry baked goods!