Pumpkin Cranberry Bread is the perfect holiday dessert bread with a moist pumpkin bread base fresh cranberries, orange juice and a hint of ginger.
I always love making Pumpkin Bread during the fall, mostly because of how much it tastes like the season. I’ve added this bread to my Dessert Recipe Page, along with a bunch of other tasty quick breads, so you should definitely check them out.
PUMPKIN CRANBERRY BREAD
This year we are baking with fresh cranberries as much as we can, so I whipped up some Pumpkin Cranberry Bread. It turned out to be a huge success, and it’s also one of my new favorite go-to’s for holiday breakfasts alongside my super popular Monkey Bread (I also have Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread and Gorilla Bread on the site!).
I cannot get enough fresh cranberries. I love them in all sorts of recipes, and I start to crave them starting right after Halloween. Another thing that I really love about this recipe is that you can make pretty much everything from scratch, even the Pumpkin Puree and Pumpkin Pie Spice.
You also don’t have to use fresh cranberries, if you’re in a rush you can use frozen or dried cranberries instead. Fresh cranberries do add a much better flavor, so if you are making this in season I do recommend them.
Cranberry Pumpkin Bread can actually keep for a day or two at room temperature, which means that you can make the bread a day or two ahead of time and it will still be fresh and ready to eat when you want to serve it. I also like making it ahead of time and grabbing a slice on mornings when I’m running a little bit behind but need something tasty and filling to help you start the day.
HOW TO MAKE PUMPKIN CRANBERRY BREAD
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Coat a 9×5 loaf pan with baking spray or grease and flour it.
- Whisk together the pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until combined.
- In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients.
- Combine it with the wet ingredients until just combined.
- Pour into loaf pan and bake for 50-55 minutes.
- Allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing from loaf pan.
Make them into Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins!
If you want to make these even more portable, prepare the batter as written, then scoop them into muffin liners in a muffin tin and bake them at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes.
OTHER DELICIOUS QUICK BREAD RECIPES
Easy Banana Bread (No Mixer!)
Pumpkin Bread
Zucchini Bread
Blueberry Lemon Bread
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VARIATIONS ON PUMPKIN CRANBERRY BREAD
- Nuts: I love mixing in some chopped nuts, like pecans, cashews, and walnuts.
- White Chocolate Chips: It’s also fun to add in a cup of white chocolate chips, they really bring out the sweetness in the cranberries.
- Toppings: Mix a little bit of brown sugar, nutmeg, or ground cinnamon with some melted butter and brush the mixture over the top of your loaf or muffins. The sugar toppings makes this bread taste even more like Christmas.
- Vegan: If you’re making a vegan version of Pumpkin Cranberry Bread, you can replace the eggs in the recipe with applesauce or a vegan substitute mixture. Keep an eye on your bread while it is cooking, as the applesauce can sometimes influence the cooking time.
PUMPKIN CRANBERRY BREAD FAQS
- How do you know when Pumpkin Cranberry Bread is done? Get a toothpick and push it into the middle of each muffin. If the toothpick is clean of batter when it comes out, they are done.
- Why did my Pumpkin Cranberry Bread fall? Because the loaf pan was filled up too much. Try filling the pan up to about an inch short of the top.
- Why is my quick bread so dense? There are a few reasons. Usually it means the oven was too hot or the batter had too much moisture. The bread also could need to cook a little longer.
- Why do quick breads crack on top? It could be because the batter was overworked. Try not to mix the ingredients together too much.
HOW LONG IS PUMPKIN CRANBERRY BREAD GOOD?
- Serve: You can leave Pumpkin Cranberry Bread out at room temperature for up to 2 days as long as you keep it wrapped up or in an airtight container.
- Store: Pumpkin Cranberry Bread lasts for up to 1 week in the fridge. Just make sure to keep it wrapped up tight enough to keep any moisture out and always allow it to cool down completely before you put it away.
- Freeze: You can freeze your homemade quick bread for around 3 months. Once again, make sure to keep it tightly sealed and moisture free.
MORE DELICIOUS PUMPKIN RECIPES:
Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin Muffins
Ultimate Pumpkin Cheesecake
Pumpkin Fluffernutter Bars
Ingredients
- 8 ounces pumpkin puree
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup orange juice
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 pinch ground ginger
- 2 cups fresh cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Coat a 9x5 loaf pan with baking spray or grease and flour it.
- Whisk together the pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, orange juice and sugar until combined.
- In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger.
- Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients until just combined then add in the cranberries.
- Pour into loaf pan and bake for 50-55 minutes.
- Allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing from loaf pan.
Nutrition
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I love the taste of this, but as stated by others, I cooked an additional 10 minutes and it was still wet on the inside and getting too brown on the outside (why eating is 4 instead of 5). I cut the loaf longways in half and cooked still another 10 minutes with no luck. Even eating it toasted did not help. I ended up eating, and enjoying, the part that was fully cooked.
Since the taste was delicious, I made as muffins the next time. Letting the batter rest 30 minutes before baking, using a level ice cream scoop for muffin batter amount, and cooking at 325 degrees F for about 25 minutes got the results I was looking for.
This is the best bread ever! My whole family loves it. It’s not too sweet.
Excellent bread recipe! Everyone that tried wanted recipe.
Instead of a lg bread pan, I used 2 smaller ones same time to bake. Was perfect!
What happened to my 5 star review?
This one? What a fabulous bread! I made it last night after scouring the internet for a one loaf recipe. I suspected & it came to be true, I had to increase the cooking time about 10 minutes. I tested after 60 minutes & it was wet, so I kept it in. This is not too sweet & a solid soft hearty bread. Thank you so much!
What a fabulous bread! I made it last night after scouring the internet for a one loaf recipe. I suspected & it came to be true, I had to increase the cooking time about 10 minutes. I tested after 60 minutes & it was wet, so I kept it in. This is not too sweet & a solid soft hearty bread. Thank you so much!
You’re welcome Dorothy! Thank you for your valuable feedback and your 5 star rating!
Someone brought in a huge bagel of cranberries for everyone to snack on at work. After 2 days of no one touching them I took them home and vowed to find something yummy to make out of them. I found this and thought that’s ideal. I tripled the recipe and made three loves as instructed. Added a streusel topping. Took them to work and they were gone before lunch. Comments: Soooo delicious, soooo moist, can I have the recipe. Will definitely make again.
I made this bread and didn’t change anything, followed the recipe, and oh my goodness! Delicious! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Fantastic!! I’ll definitely make this again! I baked two at the same time and they took over an hour to bake – probably because I baked the two pans together.
I cut the sugar by 1/4 cup per loaf and think I could have cut more, but honestly, this is a lovely recipe – I love the tangy cranberries and how moist it is.
Unfortunately I’m allergic to oranges, any thoughts on what I could use as a substitute? It looks and sounds delicious though, I can’t to try it!!!!
I am about to try this recipe out and plan to use lemon juice because that’s what I have on hand. Wish me luck
Delicious. Very light. It could pass as cake.
Can you double this recipe? Increasing the servings to 24? Would that then be 2 loaves?
Yes!
Can you use chopped cranberries? I had a lot of leftover after making some relish and wondered if chopped would make bread too moist?
You can use chopped cranberries for this recipe. Enjoy!
Just wondering if I could use frozen whole cranberries if fresh not available.
Sure 🙂
My loaf is wrapped in foil, and back in the oven at a lower temperature because it was browning on the outside and the tester was very wet after 55 minutes at 350.
I bake quick bread very often and have never had this problem. I know I made it correctly because I triple checked as I was preparing the loaf.
I used avocado oil rather than vegetable oil, and Lakanto Monkfruit Sweetener (classic white sugar replacement) one to one, as a sugar substitute. ????? Any thoughts? I would appreciate what you have to say.
I’m so sorry, I know your bread is long gone now. I don’t have an answer for you as I’ve never tested with those ingredients. My gut would say to tent it and cook at 325 until the middle is done but I don’t know how the sweetener affects anything?
This bread is perfect, sweet and tart and luscious. As soon as we finished the loaf, I started craving it again. Thank you so much for creating it!!
You’re welcome, Karen.
Amazing!!! I had to make some modifications based on what we had. I lowered the oil and halved the sugar, added the pulp of an orange, added walnuts, and used pumpkin pie spice instead of a mix of other spices.
Even so, they came out perfect. Best muffins I ever made, hands down. I ate three as soon as they came out of the oven. I’ve never used whole cranberries in baking before, but mine were frozen and couldn’t be chopped, and I’m never going back!! Thank you!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them, Rachel. Thanks for the 5 stars.
This bread is so moist and delicious. I will be making this again!
So glad you enjoyed it, Marie.
My loaf took almost 25-30 min past the given time. Outside was done but inside still wet. Made 2 of them carefully. We are in co.would high altitude cause that?? Disapointed dont usually have problems when I do breads.
High altitude can definitely have an affect on bake time.
I would have never thought to put cranberries in my pumpkin bread, but now I don’t think I can go back!
It’s so good!
Wow I have a hard time with raisins but these look like they would add so much flavor and that color is amazing!
You’ve got to try it!
We made this last week and turned out great! Definitely going to be a regular on our table for the holidays!
Yay!! Thanks for coming back to let me know.
This sounds delish. Could you substitute craisins for the fresh cranberries. If so, would I need to adjust anything else in the recipe?
You would want to use about half if you are using dried cranberries. Otherwise, it is good to go 🙂
Should the cranberries be chopped?
Nope! I used them whole.
Can’t wait to try it!
Hope you love it!
How much all spice do I use instead of all other spices?
I’m so sorry this comment got lost and I just came across it. I know your dessert is long gone now. Could you explain the question a little better so I could help?
The instructions call for water but the list of ingredients to not mention water…
I just looked back over the ingredient and instruction list and don’t see a mention of water. It’s written correctly.
It’s orange juice in the actual recipe!
When do you add the cranberries? I don’t see it mentioned in the recipe.
Sorry about that, it was meant to go in with the dry ingredients, I updated it in the recipe directions.