Cranberry Bread – quick and easy sweet bread with whole cranberries. Delicious along with a cup of coffee or tea or a wonderful holiday gift!
If you enjoy baking with cranberries, you may also like my Homemade Cranberry Sauce and use it to make Christmas Wreath Pavlova.
One of my first and favorite things to bake as soon as cranberries show up in the store is this sweet bread. It’s quick, easy and so so delicious! I love a slice with my afternoon tea or coffee. It’s great to pack in lunchboxes, wrap with festive ribbon and gift give for the holidays or bake a couple of loaves for friends. This Cranberry Bread is sweet, the crumb is soft and can be jazzed up with orange zest, pecans or chocolate chunks. One loaf is never enough as this treat disappears quickly!
Ingredients
- fresh or frozen cranberries
- all-purpose flour
- baking powder
- baking soda
- salt
- buttermilk ( see recipe notes for homemade version)
- vanilla extract
- vegetable oil
- 1 egg
- granulated sugar
How to make Cranberry Bread?
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In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add chopped cranberries and stir to distribute.
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In another mixing bowl, whisk together egg, buttermilk, vanilla, oil and sugar. With a rubber spatula, fold in wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Do not overmix. Few flour lumps are okay.
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Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake bread until the top is golden brown and the toothpick inserted in few places in the center of the cake comes out clean.
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Cool completely in the pan.
Storing
You can keep cranberry bread at room temperature for up to 2 days. It will last longer (up to 1 week) in the fridge, wrapped in saran wrap or placed in a freezer-safe bag.
Freezing
You can freeze un-glazed bread for up to 3 months. Wrap completely cooled bread in saran wrap, then place in a freezer bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible. Place in the freezer.
What if my bread sunk in the middle?
Any sweet quick bread, or muffins for that matter, that sink in the middle is undercooked and had too much liquid added in the recipe. I’ve made this bread many many times over the years and it never sunk in the middle. It’s a fail-proof recipe! If you have bananas on your hand, you need to try my One-Bowl Banana Bread recipe as well!
More recipes with cranberries:
- Homemade Cranberry Jam (Fridge Style)
- Homemade Cranberry Sauce
- Christmas Wreath Pavlova
- Cranberry Relish
- Cranberry Pie
If you like this recipe and make it, snap a photo and share it on INSTAGRAM! Tag me @crunchycreamysweet so I can check it out and leave a comment! 😀
Cranberry Bread
Ingredients
- 2 c all-purpose flour
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 c fresh cranberries chopped
- 3/4 c buttermilk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 c vegetable or canola oil
- 1 large egg slightly beaten
- 1 c granulated sugar
Instructions
- Line a 9" x 5" loaf pan with aluminum foil. Butter the bottom and sides of the foil. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Add chopped cranberries and stir to distribute.
- In another mixing bowl, whisk together egg, buttermilk, vanilla, oil and sugar.
- With a rubber spatula, fold in wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Do not overmix. Few flour lumps are okay.
- Pour batter into prepared pan.
- Bake bread for 33 to 38 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the toothpick inserted in few places in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Cool completely in the pan.
Video
Notes
- Please note, that the nutrition value can vary depending on what product you use. The information below is an estimate.
- To make homemade buttermilk, add 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar to a cup and add enough half and half to make 1 cup of liquid.
- You can use frozen cranberries in this recipe. No need to thaw them.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published on November 26th, 2013 and updated on October 19th, 2019.
Linda Zastawnik says
Could this bread be made in a breadmaker?
Anna says
Hi Linda! I worry it would overmix the batter.
Abby Levine says
Looks delicious. Can’t wait to try it. Can I use dried cranberries?
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
Hi Abby! Sure thing! You can soak them in orange juice before using in the recipe. Let me know how it goes!
Jocelyn says
This sweet bread is absolutely amazing!! I love making it with chocolate chunks too!
Sabrina says
I love the cranberries in this! So festive and delicious!
Allyson Zea says
This quick bread is one of my favorites! Thank you so much!
Becky Hardin says
Adding this to my must make list! Love that I can make and freeze.
Rachael Yerkes says
We love using this as neighbor gifts at christmas time
Pamela says
Hello just want to say a BIG THANK YOU!!
I MADE 4 LOAVES!! 1 for my husband and 1 for my mother in law. And both was crazy about it. I did put a glaze on it made with orange juice.
Thank you so very much love it will make more.
Pamela
Chris delis says
This recipe pe looks so good. Do you think it can be doubled to make more than one loaf? Chris
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
Hi Chris! Yes, absolutely! I hope you love it!
Jessica says
I just made this- WOW. I had a big bag of cranberries leftover from thanksgiving and didn’t know what to do. I made fresh cranberry juice this morning, but that in turn left me with a lot of cranberry pulp. I used a cup of the cranberry pulp instead of a cup of diced cranberries, and I also threw in a third of a bag of white chocolate chips. Instead of one big loaf pan, it went into four mini loaf pans. After 24 minutes the toothpick came out clean and they taste INCREDIBLE. One for me, three as gifts! Will make again
Esther says
This is a great recipe!! I am hooked and will be making it again and again. My uncle sends us Maine cranberries every year and this is the perfect recipe for them! Thank you for sharing!
Megan says
That cranberry looks delicious – great photo!
Christin says
This has to be the prettiest quick bread I’ve ever seen!
Lisa says
Made this today as muffins. They were quite nice. Next time I would increase the amount of cranberries and skip the butter and sugar on top.
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
Hi Lisa! That’s fantastic! I am always in for more cranberries. 😀 Thank you for trying the recipe! Have a beautiful day! -Anna
April says
This is the best recipe I have ever come across in my life. I’m not joking. This bread taste like some kind of coffee cake. It’s amazing! I’ve made this exact recipe (except for using almond milk and vinigar to make buttermilk) and it’s amazing. I’ve even tweeked it by only using 1/4 cup of sugar and it’s STILL amazing. It really doesn’t need all that sugar to be good. I’ve even gone further and replaced some of the flour with cocoa powder then added nuts and cherries to make chocolate cherry bread and it’s STILL amazing. This is the best recipe in the world and the best tasting bread (cake to me) in the world. I’m soooo happy I found this recipe. I live for making food and I’m so shocked that the best I’ve come across does not have tons of eggs or tons of butter. Just 1/4 cup of oil. I don’t feel very guilty when eating this. I just feel happy! Thank you for this recipe! I seriously never write glowing review like this. I just REALLY love this so much!
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
Hi April! This comment just made my day!! THANK YOU! Thank you for trying my recipe, loving it, playing with it ( I am always so happy to see my readers experimenting with the recipes!) and for coming back to let me know. That means a lot! I absolutely love your chocolate cherry version – so so delicious! 😀 Have a beautiful day! -Anna
cath says
It’s so delicious I put the recipe up at my blog to! This will be lovely year round! Thank you for sharing!
CrunchyCreamySw says
Sí, pero yo recomiendo sumergiéndolos en un zumo de naranja calentado primero antes de añadir a la masa. ¡Gracias!
Emily says
Giving baked gift is the best. We just moved and I am totally using Christmas and baked goods to win over the neighbors.
Nancy says
Happy Thanksgiving, Anna! I hope your weekend is full of good food and lots of cranberries 😉 This bread looks fantastic. I love the pop of red against the white bread. I’m definitely adding this to my must-bake list this year, especially since I’ve never baked with fresh cranberries before (shocking, I know).
CrunchyCreamySw says
Happy Thanksgiving, Nancy! You simply must try this bread – you will love it!
Jessica says
Your bread looks perfect, Anna! I love making these kinds of breads as Christmas gifts, and this looks like the perfect one to make this year!
CrunchyCreamySw says
Me too! I know I will be making it again to give! Thank you, Jessica!
Kate says
This bread looks so good! I adore cranberries and quick breads are so easy to make, especially for a holiday brunch. Pinning!
CrunchyCreamySw says
Thank you, sweet Kate!
Laura says
This looks delicious, the crumb looks so tender, I’ve just baked my first cranberry recipe of the season and I’m so excited there here at last. I’m featuring this recipe on my blog on a feature I do called Baking News.
CrunchyCreamySw says
I am so glad to see so many fans of cranberries! Thanks, Laura!
Amanda says
You’ve made me really excited to start baking with cranberries…and to try this bread!
CrunchyCreamySw says
Yay for cranberry season! Thanks, Amanda!
Stephanie says
This bread looks like the perfect combination of sweet and tart… love it!
CrunchyCreamySw says
Thank you, Stephanie!
Donna says
Perfect holiday gifting pairing with your luscious Cranberry Jam!! What sort of plate or container would you “give” it in?
Also..in France it is often QUITE difficult to obtain fresh cranberries…could I possibly use frozen in this recipe?…Perfect brunch-worthy fare for these chilly days!
CrunchyCreamySw says
I love giving the jam in little Weck jars. They are adorable and perfect for it!
I think frozen cranberries would be great in this bread too. Let me know if you give it a try, Donna!
Thank you so much!
Curry and Comfort says
Beautiful cranberry bread!! Wishing you a wonderful and Happy Thanksgiving too my friend. 🙂
CrunchyCreamySw says
Happy Thanksgiving to you, sweet Ramona!
Averie Cooks says
The texture is awesome looking! Gotta love buttermilk and I love the red cran/white bread – great contrast!
CrunchyCreamySw says
I love baking with buttermilk! Thanks, Averie and thanks for the pin!