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One of the most festive loaf breads you can make during the holidays is this cranberry orange nut bread! It’s speckled brightly with day glow fuchsia cranberries, orange zest, and walnuts.
Cranberry orange nut bread is a great loaf for late fall, early winter as cranberries, oranges, and walnuts are all in season. Buy an orange and squeeze it fresh to get the best juice for this recipe (grate the peel first).
You can easily prep the cranberries by pulsing them a few times in the food processor, or manually cut them in half first, then do a rough chop.
The result is a tangy, slightly sweet bread with occasional explosions of cranberry tartness, mellowed with walnuts.
Cranberry Orange Nut Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup chopped fresh cranberries
- 3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
- 3/4 cup orange juice
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 Tbsp orange zest
Method
1 Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
2 Combine dry ingredients: Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in the chopped cranberries and walnuts to coat with the flour mixture. (Coating with flour will help suspend the nuts and cranberries in the dough and keep them from sinking.)
3 Combine wet ingredients: In a separate bowl combine the orange juice, sugar, melted butter, egg, and orange zest.
4 Add wet ingredients into dry: Pour the orange juice sugar mixture into the flour nut cranberry mixture and fold until just blended. (Don't over-mix!)
5 Bake: Transfer dough into a well buttered 8x4 or 9x5 loaf pan. Bake at 350°F for 50 to 55 minutes or until done (a tester inserted into the center comes out clean).
6 Cool: Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.
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Links:
Cranberry Walnut Oat Bread from Rachel Cooks
Shuna's Cranberry, Orange, Walnut Bread recipe
Cranberry Cake from The Kitchn
Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
Cranberry Orange Nut Bread
Love this recipe! Usually double and put one in freezer. I do leave the cranberries whole. I’m using our local Maine cranberries. Yum
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Worst cranberry bread recipe that I have ever tried. I should have known better to stick with a proven recipe but I was trying something different. I am sorry I did. I bake a lot every week including over 200 cookies every Saturday for a shelter. I also bake breads throughout the year. If I could give this no stars, I would. Just a “bland” tasting bread. I also made three separate loaves because I wanted to make sure that it wasn’t a fluke. Total waste of ingredients and time. I will definitely stick with my tried and true recipe. Lesson learned. Five stars from people that just read a recipe or change the recipe is not a true rating. This rating is based on following EXACTLY the recipe listed here.
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can you substitute pecans for walnuts?
Rose, yes you can! I love this bread with pecans.
Very moist! Delicious! A keeper recipe!
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Can dried cranberries be used
Yes, Teresa, you can–other readers have been happy with this swap. Elise recommends soaking the dried cranberries in orange juice for better texture and flavor, and I second that. Happy baking!
HI SARA , HOW MUCH ORANGE JUICE DO YOU USE TO SOAK THE CRANBERRIES IN?
Hi Doris,
Enough orange juice to cover the cranberries–the exact amount will depend. Let them soak for maybe an hour, drain them, and then use however much orange juice you have left as part of the orange juice in the bread batter.