Cranberry Orange Bread
This festive cranberry orange bread is easy and delicious. Anyone receiving this bread whether it's your neighbor, teacher, or yourself, will be please with the sweet and tart combo.

The Story Behind the Recipe
Years ago when blogging first started to become a ‘thing’, I started a family blog. Occasionally I would share some of my favorite recipes that I enjoyed, but I mainly shared about our first child. It’s super fun to go back and reread some of those posts. There are a lot of things I didn’t remember, and I love that there are pictures to go along with all of those old memories.
I always dreamed of starting a food blog. I could never commit at the time though. I just lived vicariously through my sister who started her blogspot recipe blog.
Anytime I would need a family recipe, I would check her blog first. And even though it has probably been almost 4 years since she updated it with new recipes, I still check it out occasionally for recipes. When I was glancing at it last, I saw her recipe for Cranberry Orange Bread. That immediately sparked my interest, and I knew I had to try it out.

My sister got this recipe from her mother-in-law, Linda. They would make this recipe together to share with friends and neighbors at Christmas time. It was a time when they didn’t have a lot of money, so this was the best they could do. In my opinion, home baked goodies delivered to the door at Christmas time is 10x better than any soap with a ribbon tied around it.
Anyways, I whipped this batch of bread up this afternoon, and boy is it delightful. I love a good cranberry and orange combo. Those two flavors work together so well, and these loaves are no exception. The original recipe has walnuts in it, but I didn’t care to add those since I really wanted the cranberry to shine. My sister also used store bought orange juice instead of freshly squeezed juice. Boy does that add more character!
This bread cooks a lot faster than a typical quick bread, which I l love. However, if you are wanting more than 2 mini loaves, which you will, I highly suggest doubling this recipe. Then take a loaf or two to a neighbor and sit and eat the rest yourself.

F.A.Q.s and Troubleshooting for Cranberry Orange Bread

Additional Recipes
If you love cranberries, orange, and quick breads make sure to check out this other recipes of mine.
- Orange Bars (with honey whipped cream)
- Almond Poppyseed Bread (with Orange Glaze
- Sour Cherry Almond Cake
- Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip

Cranberry Orange Bread
Ingredients
- ¾ cup sugar ,divided
- 1 egg
- 1 cup cranberries coarsely chopped
- zest of 1 orange
- ¾ cup freshly squeezed orange juice about 3 navel oranges
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour sifted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Grease two mini loaf pans and set aside.
- In a small bowl, pour 2 TBS of the sugar on top of the cranberries and set aside.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, place the zest of the orange, the orange juice, oil, and remaining sugar together and give it a quick mix.
- Add in the egg and mix until combined.
- Finally, add in the dry ingredients and mix well.
- Gently fold in the sugared cranberries and then divide the batter evenly into your two mini loaf pans.
- Bake for 42-45 minutes until the tops are golden and feel soft in the center.
- Remove from pans and cool on a rack.
Hi Mary Susan!
Love, love the chocolate cherry brownie, my family loved it too1 Love seeing you on GTU!
About the Cranberry Orange bread…..doesn’t it need some oil or melted butter? It seemed a little too dense & heavy? I has good flavor with the cranberry & orange.
Kathleen
I’m so glad you loved the Cherry brownies! And thanks for tuning in to GTU.
For the bread, it is a dense bread, but there is oil in it. Just 2 TBS. It’s missing from the recipe, so I’ll fix that typo. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!!
I don’t see an egg in the cranberry orange bread recipe.
I see it in the instructions but not the recipe. Thanks. Can’t wait to try this
So sorry about that. I fixed the recipe to add 1 egg. Thanks! Hope you enjoy the bread.