Description
This Cranberry Orange Bread is moist, tender, and fluffy and features the flavors of vanilla bean, fresh orange, and tangy cranberries! The textures and flavors here are perfection. A vanilla bean orange glaze drizzled over top seals the sweet deal. This is an awesome treat to make around the holidays – it’s so versatile and everyone loves it!
Ingredients
Scale
For the Bread:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup avocado oil (any neutral oil will work – coconut, canola, etc)
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (from 1-2 oranges)
- 2 tablespoons orange zest
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste (or extract)
- 1 cup full-fat sour cream or yogurt
- 1/3 cup whole milk
- 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
For the Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2–3 tablespoons of fresh orange juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or extract)
Optional Garnishes:
- Additional orange zest
- Additional cranberries
Instructions
For the Bread:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and spray a 9×5 inch loaf pan with nonstick spray. For easy removal, you can also line the pan with a sheet of parchment that overhangs the sides.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In another mixing bowl, whisk together the oil, eggs, orange juice, zest, vanilla, sour cream, and milk until smooth.
- Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together until they just come together without any lumps of flour (resist the urge to overmix). The batter will be thick.
- Gently fold in the cranberries and nuts (if using).
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing out the top in an even layer.
- Bake for 1 hour (begin checking around 50 minutes) or until the bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (in my oven, it took about 1 hour 15 minutes).
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the pan before removing and glazing.
For the Glaze:
- Whisk the powdered sugar, orange juice, and vanilla together until smooth, creamy, and of a drizzling consistency. If the glaze is too thick, add more orange juice as needed.
- Pour the glaze over the cooled bread.
- Garnish with additional orange zest and cranberries, as desired.
- Slice and serve!
Notes
- I love using vanilla bean paste here because you can see the flecks of vanilla bean throughout the bread and the glaze. If you don’t have the paste, vanilla extract works just fine!
- I recommend using full-fat dairy for this recipe so that the bread comes out moist and dense.
- This bread will keep, well wrapped at room temperature, for up to three days.
- This is my adaptation of my mom’s recipe, which is a take on the version from this book.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: quick breads
Keywords: cranberry orange bread, orange cranberry bread, cranberry orange cake, cranberry orange loaf cake, cranberry orange quick bread, orange cranberry quick bread