Make The Perfect Cranberry Orange Loaf

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As Delicious As It Is Beautiful

Cranberry orange loaf has the perfect balance you always get when you combine these two delicious elements. Sweet and tangy, tender and moist, this bread has it all.

Why You'll Love This Cranberry Orange Loaf

The minute I saw a recipe for cranberry orange loaf, I knew it would be amazing because cranberries and oranges make beautiful music when you pair them! It tastes even better than I imagined, and it is a thing of beauty, too!

This delightful cranberry orange loaf has it all! It is moist and tender, packed with a punch of sweet orange, and punctuated with tart, juicy cranberries that burst open as they bake!

Once the loaf cools, drizzle a sweet, orangy vanilla glaze on top and garnish to your heart’s content. Let the glaze harden before you slice it; I know it’s hard to wait for the yummy cranberry orange bread to cool.

You can use either fresh or frozen cranberries with equally amazing results. I’ve simplified the instructions, Betty-in-a -hurry-style, so you only need one bowl.

How To Make Cranberry Orange Loaf

The only slightly tricky thing is gathering the orange zest, so if you have any concerns about how to do that, refer to the helpful link I shared!

Begin by spraying or greasing a standard loaf pan. I found a pretty glass loaf pan at a thrift shop, and I love how it looks, but in the future, I will probably use a standard loaf pan for straighter end slices.

Beat the sugar, eggs, oil, orange juice, orange zest, and vanilla together. Then add the baking powder and salt and beat well to ensure they are well distributed.

Stir in the flour gradually, and mix until there are no streaks of flour showing. Finally, gently fold in the cranberries.

You can use fresh or frozen cranberries interchangeably, but either way, toss them in flour to coat them. If you use fresh cranberries, rinse and shake off excess moisture before tossing them in the flour.

Shake off any excess flour. This helps keep them suspended in the batter, so you have pretty, evenly polka-dotted slices.

Finally, pour the batter into the well-greased loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 55 minutes or until it is a lovely golden brown and a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean when you poke it in the center.

Mix powdered sugar, vanilla, orange juice, and orange zest to stir up the glaze. It does harden, so you may need to stir it up before you drizzle it over the loaf. Set it aside while the bread bakes.

Let the loaf cool in the pan for at least ten minutes before removing it, then let it cool completely on a rack before adding the glaze.

After pouring the glaze over the loaf, add additional zest and finely chopped cranberries, if desired, for a pretty garnish. The glaze will set up and harden, so patience is required to allow it time before you slice it!

Yield: 10 slices

Cranberry Orange Loaf

Print

A beautiful and delicious quickbread that is moist, buttery, tender, and studded with plump cranberries.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 55 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

• BREAD
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 2 Tbsp fresh-squeezed orange juice
• Zest from one orange
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1 Tbsp flour for coating cranberries
• GLAZE
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 Tbsp orange juice, fresh squeezed is best
• Zest from one orange
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 Tbsp finely chopped cranberries for garnish, optional

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease a 9" by 5" loaf pan well.
3. Mix powdered sugar, orange juice, and vanilla in a small pitcher or bowl until well-blended, then stir in the zest and set aside while the bread bakes.
4. Toss the cranberries with flour, shake off excess flour, and set aside. If using fresh, rinse the berries, shake off excess water and toss in flour. This step helps keep them suspended in the batter.
5. Beat the sugar, milk, oil, eggs, vanilla, orange juice, and zest together.
6. Beat the salt and baking powder into the wet mixture to be sure they are well incorporated.
7. Gradually add flour and stir until just combined and no streaks of flour show.
8. Gently fold the cranberries into the batter.
9. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake at 350 for about 55 minutes or until golden brown. A cake tester or toothpick inserted near the center should come out clean.
10. Allow the loaf to cool for at least ten minutes, then remove it from the pan and allow it to cool completely before adding the glaze.
11. Allow the glaze to harden completely before slicing the bread.

I love baking bread of all kinds. Yeastbreads are fun, but quickbreads are my favorite because you use baking powder and baking soda to make them rise instead of yeast, so they're faster! That's the whole reason they're called quickbreads, and since I'm always in hurry mode, the speed really appeals to me!

I love giving gifts of food so often; I make quickbreads in small pans so I can give a little something to a friend who could use a hug! There are so many cute disposable pans out there to make giving even more fun!

This bread freezes beautifully, so you may want to think about baking and stashing some away for some of the most welcome Christmas gifts you can give! Here's another one of my most popular quickbread recipes! You can use fresh or frozen rhubarb to bake this tasty loaf: Rustic Rhubarb Bread.

If you liked this recipe, you are my people! If you like this recipe, please share it on your social media accounts like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter! It would sure tickle me, and I would be ever so grateful!

If you haven't already, please look for me on Facebook and Pinterest, where I will share easy, delicious, family-friendly recipes every week!

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