Fresh Orange Cranberry Bread
Today’s sweet zesty Fresh Orange Cranberry Bread makes wonderful snacks and edible gifts!
Beautifully rich, tart and sweet, Fresh Orange Cranberry bread is one of my favorite quick breads.
I can hardly wait for cranberry season. I love to grab up bags of the bright red super fruits and dream of ways to pop them into preparations.
A few extra bags go into the freezer to tide me over until the next season, so I can make it any time of the year.
The combination of fresh orange zest, juice, and cranberries is a classic.
When I bake Fresh Orange Cranberry Bread I have to make a double or triple batch to ensure that there will be some left at the end of the day.
As the aroma of orange and bursting berries fills the kitchen, family members emerge and linger to see how soon they may bite into its tart goodness!
Fresh Orange Cranberry Bread may be a “quick bread” yet that doesn’t refer to its cooking time. It has to do with its preparation time.
Don’t despair, it is worth the wait.
Fresh Orange Cranberry Bread transports me to a time when each fall my kids and I would gather to read and reread a beloved children’s book Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende and Harry Devlin.
This recipe differs from the one in the book, yet both offer a great opportunity to teach some basic kitchen skills such as grating, juicing, sifting, pastry cutting etc.
To assure your prep time is quick, have the orange zest and juice ready to go before beginning the mixing process.
Packed with orange zest, orange juice, fresh cranberries, dried cranberries and raisins, Fresh Orange Cranberry Bread may leave you wondering if it is actually a fresh fruit cake.
Call it what you may, just make sure you get a slice before it is snatched up!
This wonderful sweet bread may be served as a dessert or breakfast or any time. My family enjoys toasting the slices for breakfast.
Fresh Orange Cranberry Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 cup cold butter
- 3/4 cup fresh orange juice
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup raisins
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Sift the flour into a large bowl. Stir in sugar, baking powder, salt, and allspice until evenly mixed.
- Using a pastry cutter (or forks) cut in the butter, until the mixture resembles small pebbles. Then mix in orange juice, zest, and egg. Gently stir in the cranberries and dried fruits.
- Place the batter in a greased 9 X 5 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Insert a toothpick into the bread, if it comes out clean, your bread is done. If not, bake 10 minutes longer and test again.
- Cool for 15 minutes in the pan. Then flip the loaf out onto a wire rack, and cool completely before wrapping or cutting.
Nutrition
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An easy, flavorful cranberry bread–nice balance of tart and sweet! I like that it only has 1/4 cup of butter and lots of fresh cranberries. I made a few standard tweaks for high altitude (6K feet): add 2 T flour, remove 1 T sugar, add 1/2 tsp baking soda, whip egg for a minute or two. I didn’t add the raisins–just personal preference. I used a 10×4 loaf pan (to get more servings) and it took 55 mins. I will make again–thanks for the recipe!
Yummy
Can the orange juice be replaced with something else?
Hi Carmen,
Apple juice or cider would be a good substitute. :)
Looks yummy! My grandma’s recipe doesn’t call for dried cranberries or raisins. I might have to try it, but not on my mom!! lol. Thanks for sharing!