Orange-glazed Cranberry bread has a moist and tender crumb and is loaded with juicy cranberries. It has the perfect balance of sweet and tangy and just like our famous Banana Bread, this loaf stays moist for a few days (in case you needed a homemade Christmas gift idea).
This is a copycat version of my favorite bakery’s cranberry loaf and this one turned out even better – more cranberries and the orange glaze makes it truly special. You’ll love every bite.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
We love cranberry recipes during the holidays like Sugared Cranberries, Cranberry Bundt Cake, and of course this Cranberry Bread recipe. If you love tangy and juicy cranberries, this recipe is a must-try!
Cranberry Bread Video Tutorial
If you enjoyed this video for Cranberry Bread, please subscribe to our Youtube Channel (P.S. Click the BELL icon so you can be the first to know when we post a new video). Thank you for subscribing!
Ingredients for Cranberry Orange Bread
- Flour – use all-purpose to give the bread structure
- Baking powder – leavening to make the loaf rise
- Salt – balances the sweetness
- Milk – best at room temperature
- Orange zest and juice – be sure to zest the orange before juicing it. Reserve a teaspoon of zest for the glaze.
- Butter – Adds moisture to the loaf. Use unsalted butter softened at room temperature.
- Sugar – to balance the tanginess of the cranberries
- Eggs – give the bread a moist, tender crumb
- Cranberries – rinsed and dried then tossed in 1/2 Tbsp of flour to keep them from sinking in the batter (see substitution options in common questions section)
How to Make Cranberry Bread
- Whisk dry ingredients – whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
- Combine wet ingredients – in a measuring cup, stir together milk, orange juice and zest.
- Cream butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl then beat in eggs until well combined.
- Combine batter – Add flour mixture in 2 additions, alternating with the milk mixture, mixing just until combined.
- Flour cranberries – rinse and dry cranberries then toss them with 1/2 Tbsp flour to coat. Fold in cranberries just until incorporated. Spread batter into buttered and floured 8.5×4.5 bread pan.
- Bake the bread for 45-50 minutes until golden on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
Pro Tip: Tossing cranberries in a little flour coats them lightly and prevents them from sinking to the bottom of the loaf as it bakes. This ensures cranberries are evenly disbursed in the finished loaf.
The Best Glaze for Cranberry Bread
Orange and cranberry are complimentarily flavored just like peanut butter and jelly. Topping the cranberry bread with orange juice and the orange zest-infused glaze makes this bread irresistible. I’m not sure if it’s breakfast or dessert but I’ve served it both ways. All you need for this easy 3-ingredient glaze is:
- Powdered sugar – I spoon it into the cup and level the top for a consistent measure.
- Orange juice – Freshly squeezed is best and don’t worry about straining. A little pulp won’t hurt the bread.
- Orange zest – do not skip the zest. It adds deep orange floral notes to the glaze.
Common Questions
Yes, you can use frozen cranberries in the same quantity and add them frozen (do not thaw). You may need to bake just a few minutes longer or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
You can substitute with 2/3 cup dried cranberries and reduce the sugar in the recipe to 2/3 cup since dried cranberries aren’t as tart. The dried cranberries will be juicer if you soak them in very warm water for 10 minutes then drain and pat dry before using.
You can make this a cranberry nut bread by folding in 1/2 cup of coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans when adding the cranberries to the batter.
This sweet bread is total comfort food. All you need is a mug of tea or coffee to go with a thick, fresh slice of cranberry bread.
Make-Ahead
- Room Temperature – wrap cranberry bread loosely in plastic wrap or store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- Refrigerate – you can cover and store the loaf in the refrigerator for up to a week.
- Freezing – cool the loaf completely to room temperature then place in a freezer-safe zip bag, removing any excess air. Freeze up to three months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before serving.
Pro Tip: Cranberries are only available for a season in grocery stores so buy extra and store them in the freezer so you can keep enjoying this cranberry bread year-round.
More Cranberry Recipes
These are our best cranberry recipes using both fresh and dried cranberries.
- Cranberry Sauce
- Sparkling Cranberry Pineapple Punch
- Cranberry Orange Scones
- Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Cranberries
- Cranberry Apple Danish
Cranberry Bread with Orange Glaze
Ingredients
Cranberry Bread Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup milk, room temperature
- Zest of 1 large orange, divided
- 1/4 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries, rinsed and patted dry
- 1/2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
Orange Glaze Ingredients:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 Tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice, or to reach desired consistency
- 1 tsp orange zest, reserved from the orange above
Instructions
How to Make Cranberry Orange Bread:
- Prep: Preheat oven to 350˚F. Butter a 6 cup (8 1/2 by 4 1/2 bread loaf pan)* then dust with flour, tapping out the excess flour.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together: flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a measuring cup, combine together milk, zest of 1 orange (Reserve 1 tsp zest for the glaze), and orange juice. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and granulated sugar on medium/high speed (2-3 minutes on high speed). It won’t be smooth, just combined. Beat in 2 large eggs, mixing until well incorporated.
- Add flour mixture in 2 parts, alternating with the milk mixture and mixing on medium/low speed just until incorporated with each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed.
- Toss cranberries with 1/2 Tbsp flour then fold them into the batter just until incorporated. Spread the batter into your prepared pan and bake for 45-50 min at 350˚F until golden on top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan 10-15 minutes then run a cake release tool or knife around the edges and transfer the loaf to a wire rack to cool completely before glazing.
To Make the Glaze:
- In a separate bowl, stir together powdered sugar, orange juice and reserved teaspoon of zest. Stir until smooth. It should have a drizzling consistency. Add more orange juice to thin it out or powdered sugar to make it thicker.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
I made this tonight and it was moist and delicious! The only issue I had was that all the cranberries rose to the top. Is there a way to prevent that?
Hi Julie! I’m glad you loved the recipe. Did you toss your cranberries in flour? This is to help prevent the berries from sinking or rising to the top because the flour binds to the skin and works to hold the berries in place.
Doubled the recipe & baked it in an angel food cake pan = nice presentation when placed on a cake stand. Wonderful fine pound-cake-like texture; the tartness of the fresh cranberries (which I halved or quartered) along with the orange flavors & glaze are terrific. Love this recipe. Thank you!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Vicki!
It was delicious!!! Great recipe for leftover cranberries. Will definitely be making this for the holidays!
You’re welcome, Marisa! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Have not made yet, want to do for small gifts, can this be made in mini loafs ? How many and time , temp. Any info would be appreciated.
Hi Melinda! I’m sure it can be but I haven’t tested it myself to know how many this recipe would yield and how long to bake. Temperature can stay the same, just watch them in the oven since they will bake faster.
Hello Melinda,
I doubled the recipe today and made one regular loaf and three mini loaves. The mini loaves baked in approximately 40 minutes. I actually prefer them to the full size because they seemed to bake more evenly in my oven than the full size. This is a beautiful recipe and I can’t wait to make it again!
The perfect combination of cranberries & orange. This recipe is very reliable. The bread is moist, not too sweet and easy to execute. We ate it so fast – I have to make another!
Thank you for your wonderful comments. Appreciate it!
I love this recipe. Thanks for sharing. I didn’t put the zest in it since I like a light flavor of orange. It was a hit at Thanksgiving dinner.
Thank you for sharing, Jaci!
After years of my old favorite Cranberry Bread, I thought I would try a new recipe this year. My Family really enjoyed the Cranberry Bread with Orange Glaze recipe. It was actually better the 2nd day. I did chop my cranberries, just because that’s what I have always done. You really don’t need the glaze but it does give it an extra pop and it looks pretty.
Out of a Scale of 1 – 5, I am giving this recipe a 6.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Carli! Happy Thanksgiving!
I agree with a previous comment. Your recipes are wonderful but this web design is atrocious. I saw several I wanted to try, but having to dig through the ads and all the other stuff before getting to the actual recipe makes me want to look elsewhere. Please reconsider this layout. It’s driving traffic away. Thanks.
Thank you for sharing your concerns and feedback, Matty. The only way we can continue providing free recipes is by having ads on our site, so we are not able to remove those at this time. We find that most people would rather see the ads than pay to see the recipes. But we will definitely take note of your feedback and use it to improve our website.
I appreciate your feedback, and I hope you love every recipe you try.
Hi, I have chopped my cranberry’s what would be the measurement for that? Still 11/2 cups? Love your recipe!
Hi Kathy, this recipe works best with whole floured cranberries so they don’t sink to the bottom. I would measure out 1 1/2 cups of whole cranberries since chopped would equal a lot more. If it helps it should equal about 150 g fresh cranberries.
All the adds really hide your recipe well
Too bad for you
It looked like a really nice pic of the bread
What if I want to give the loaf as a gift in the ceramic loaf pan that I baked it in? I assume I can just drizzle the glaze over the top while it’s still in the loaf pan?
Hi Tori! I think that would work ok.
Just made this recipe it is 👍 it’s a little bit of citrus sweet and Tang all in one bite. For those that think the cranberries are too tart use cran raisins instead
I added one drop of vanilla extract in the glaze
Overall super!!!
Thank you Natasha
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Laureen! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Best recipe ever!!!! I’ve been using it for years. Thank you so much.
You’re very welcome! I’m glad you enjoy this recipe.
This is a favorite at my annual cookie swap brunch 😁 How would this do in the freezer, do you think? Would love to make some extras for later.
Hi Gwen! See my note in the blog above under “make-ahead” for instructions on this.
can I add some sugar to the flour that coat the cranberries?
the tartness seems a little too much for me.
Hi Dora! Tossing them in flour helps to keep them from sinking to the bottom. I’m not sure if the sugar would have the same effect. Feel free to experiment.
Why not use sweetened dried cranberries and soak them according to Natasha’s instructions in common questions mentioned above the recipe? Just a thought.
I toss them in powdered sugar . Sweetens and keeps from sinking 🙂
Use a larger loaf pan!
I followed the recipe exactly and it overflowed my loaf pan.
Taste is good, but UGH, cleaning my oven floor!
Hi Mimi! I’m sorry that happened. The recommended loaf pan for this recipe is 8 1/2″ by 4 1/2” (deep). As you can see in the images above, using this size loaf pan, we had plenty of room for the bread to grow.
Hi Natasha. This recipe sounds delicious, especially with the orange zest. I need a non-dairy substitute for the milk. Any suggestions?
Hi Chaya! I have not tested an alternative but I think you could use a DF milk of your choice. Let us know how it turns out.
My husband loved it! I thought it’s a little too tart for my taste but hey, cranberries are tart! The flavors were great together! I’ll definitely make as a treat for Thanksgiving! Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Great idea! Thanks for the review, glad to know that your husband loved it too!
Hi thanks for sharing I’m excited to make this today, I’m wondering can I use frozen cranberries?
Hi Megan, yes, you can use frozen cranberries. You can check “Common Questions” section in the recipe for tips.
So yummy! Then again I love your recipes and your happy disposition, it always makes my day, my sear.
Thank you, Beverly!