Cranberry Bread is an easy, festive quick bread dessert perfect for Christmas & Thanksgiving! Superb to give as a gift to family & friends!
This sweet Bread Recipe is perfect to serve around the holidays or give as a gift. For more festive quick breads, try my Pumpkin Cranberry Bread and my Cranberry Chocolate Chip Bread.
Sabrina’s Cranberry Bread Recipe
Cranberry Bread is a traditional American quick bread recipe like banana bread or Pumpkin Chocolate Bread. It is a perfect baked treat for Christmas and Thanksgiving, but you don’t have to save it only for the holidays. With frozen berries, you can make this bread even when it isn’t cranberry season.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter , softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cups whole milk
- 12 ounces fresh cranberries , (frozen okay too)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter and flour an 8×4 inch loaf pan.
- In a stand mixer cream your butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes then add in the vanilla and eggs until fully combined.
- In a separate bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and salt before adding it into the stand mixer on low speed, alternating with the milk until just combined.
- Stir the cranberries in by hand until just combined and pour into the pan and bake for 60 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
Video
Nutrition
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Notes from Sabrina
To ensure the quick bread doesn’t fall after baking, make sure you’re measuring your dry ingredients exactly, especially the all-purpose flour. If you’re using a measuring scoop, try using a butter knife to level the flour before mixing it in. Be careful not to over-mix the batter. Stop when the flour mixture is just mixed in with no streaks.
Table of contents
About this Recipe
To keep this recipe simple and traditional with cranberry flavors, I used milk as the main liquid ingredient just like in Blueberry Lemon Bread Recipe. The milk adds flavor and the fat from the milk keeps the bread moist and tender. You could use orange juice, as cranberry and orange are a traditional flavor pairing, especially around the holidays. But, it doesn’t result in the same tender texture and many people don’t keep orange juice on hand like they do milk. If this is your first time trying my recipe, I suggest making it the way it is written in the recipe card – it is truly the best cranberry loaf ever.
Can this be made ahead of time?
Yes, this bread can absolutely be made ahead of time since it can last at room temperature for a few days! This bread is perfect for gifting around the holidays due to is festive flavor and color so you can make it a day or two before the gift recipient gets it! If they don’t plan on eating it right away let them know that they can freeze it too!
Baking Tips & Tricks
- Check your fresh cranberries for any that are not ripe and for those that are overripe and mushy. Remove these from the batch before baking.
- Make sure your baking powder is fresh and not expired.
- Use an oven-safe thermometer to make sure your oven is baking true to temperature.
- Your bread might fall if it has not been fully baked, if the middle is still raw it will sink as it cools.
Serving Ideas
Most people make this recipe during the holiday season, so if you’re looking to make your Cranberry loaf a bit more festive you can top it with white chocolate chip drizzle or make a glaze with white chocolate. If you are gifting a treat basket, pair it with White Trash Christmas Snack Mix, a festive mix of candies and pretzels named that way because it’s a bunch of snack items tossed together and “white” from the white chocolate. Finish the gift off by adding some Christmas Sugar Cookies and White Chocolate Cranberry Bark.
How to Store
- Serve: You can keep cranberry bread at room temperature for 2-3 days, covered in plastic wrap in a cool, dry place.
- Store: For longer storage, seal the leftovers in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic wrap for up to 1 week in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature to serve.
- Freeze: Wrap individual slices or full loaf tightly first in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 3 months and thaw at room temperature to eat.
Frequent Questions
Use orange juice in place of the milk and the zest of one orange when adding in the vanilla extract. If you want even more orange flavor, add chopped candied orange peel to the top of the bread with a glaze.
Mix powdered sugar with just a tablespoon of water until barely able to mix, then dip the bread upside down into it. Or make an orange glaze as directed above, except instead of using water, use orange juice in its place for a punch of extra orange flavor along with the zest from one orange.
Variations
- Brown sugar: For a deeper, more caramelized flavor you can use half brown sugar and half white sugar.
- Oil Replacements: You can replace the melted butter in the recipe with coconut oil, mashed bananas, or applesauce.
- Egg Replacement: To replace the large egg in the recipe, use flax eggs. You could also use applesauce or Greek yogurt instead of flax eggs.
- Sweeteners: If you want to try different sweeteners, try coconut sugar, maple syrup, honey, or liquid stevia instead of regular granulated sugar.
- Mini Loafs: You can bake this in one large 8×4 inch loaf pan or 2 mini loaf pans. If using mini loaf pans, I recommend reducing your cook time to 30-35 minutes.
- Muffins: Bake in muffin liners for 18-20 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Remove from the muffin pan and cool on a wire rack.
Related Recipes
More Delicious Cranberry Breads
Photos used in a previous version of this post.
I have made this wonderful Cranberry Loaf many times over the years. It is a favourite of family and friends. I note the recipe instructions have omitted when salt is to be added. I add it in step 3.
This recipe is a winner especially around Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Tanis, thank you for bringing our typo to our attention. I have fixed the recipe card. So glad you enjoy the bread and thanks for the five star review!
If I wanted to use. 13×5 pan would I double or triple the recipe?
To scale up from a 8×8 pan to a 9×13 pan you double the recipe
(8×8 ? 13×9: multiply by 1.82 (2))so for a 8 x 4 pan to 13 x 5 (are you sure it’s not 9?) you could double the recipe and use the remaining batter in a mini loaf pan to give away as a gift! Let us know what you decided to do!
Can I use a 5×13 bread pan?
5 x 13 bread pan will require you to 1 1/2 times the recipe would be my guess. I have not tested this recipe using a 5x 13 bread pan.
Love this cranberry bread. Stock my freezer with cranberries when they are in season so I can bake numerous loaves!
Michele
Great Cranberry Bread. Not too sweet. Only had 5oz of cranberries so I added fresh strawberries to make 12 oz of fruit. Worked great.
If you enjoy strawberries in your bread you may want to try our Strawberry Bread recipes! https://dinnerthendessert.com/?s=strawberry+bread
Thanks so much for the 5 star review!
Try chopping up the cranberries that way they are evenly distributed throughout the loaf.
And another hint it to lightly dust your cranberries with flour to keep them from rising to the top! Did you try the recipe and if so, how did it turn out?
Are you supposed to leave cranberries whole in this recipe?
Yes! How did your Cranberry bread turn out?
what do i need to do if anything if using dried cranberries … or will it mess reciepe up?
It won’t “mess the recipe up” but it will have a dryer different flavor. Let us know if you tried the recipe and what you thought!
How can I sweeten it without using sugar?
There are many sugar substitutes. Use your favorite and let me know how the recipe turns out!
Very flavorful and moist cranberry bread recipe. My original recipe called for buttermilk, but was lost in a move recently. I added chopped walnuts and a little extra vanilla and it turned out great. ONE TIP: Slice before freezing!
This cranberry bread turned out great for me. I did make some changes. I used about 7 ounces of fresh cranberries because it’s all I had and cut them in half before tossing them with a tablespoon of sugar from the one cup called for in the recipe. I used 1 cup of whole wheat flour and half a cup of white all purpose. I used unsweetened vanilla flavored almond milk. I added a quarter teaspoon of nutmeg. I used a 9 x 5 loaf pan. I baked the loaf for 65 minutes. The cranberries are evenly distributed throughout. Will definitely make again!