Cranberry Orange Bread

November 5, 2018 By Chelsey 22 Comments

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This amazing fat-free Cranberry Orange Bread combines the sweet and tangy citrus of orange with the tart pop of cranberries. The result – the best, most moist cranberry bread ever! It is perfect for the holidays and makes wonderful gifts too!

Not only is this Cranberry Orange Bread festive and perfect for the holiday season, but it is also DEElicious! It is one of my first and favorite things to bake as soon as cranberries show up in grocery stores in the fall.

The cranberry-orange combo is a winner for sure. Not sure who decided to first pair these two items together, but they were GENIUS! The tangy sweet citrus of the orange combined with the tart pop of cranberry (plus a little sugar wink wink) results in such a burst of flavor that your taste buds will be dancing in your mouth and begging for more.

This Cranberry Orange Bread recipe has been one my family has been making for years. It’s from Karen L. Pellegrin’s cookbook Fat-Free Desserts c. 1995, and is absolutely amazing! My mom used to make large batches and freeze some and then we would pull it out for special occasions like big family dinners, Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was always a favorite and everyone asked for the recipe!

The best part about this bread is that it is so quick and easy! No hand chopping required here folks! Just toss those cranberries in your food processor and pulse a few times until you have coarsely chopped pieces. Mix your dry ingredients together, wet ingredients together, combine and then stir in your cranberries and orange zest and you’re ready to go. I told you it was easy!

You can serve this Cranberry Orange Bread at Thanksgiving, Christmas brunch, or for dessert at a family gather during the holidays! It also makes wonderful gifts! I love to bake mini loaves, wrap them up with festive ribbon, and take them to friends and family for the holidays!

Happy cooking friends! And don’t forget to pin this recipe below!

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★★★★★5 from 2 reviews

This Cranberry Orange Bread combines the sweet and tangy citrus of orange with the tart pop of cranberries. The result – the best, most moist cranberry bread ever! It is perfect for the holidays and makes wonderful gifts too!

Author: The Saucy Fig
Total Time: 80-90 minutes

Ingredients

Scale

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 cup orange juice
12 oz. bag fresh cranberries
1–2 tablespoons orange rind zest, finely grated (I love this zester!)
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts sprinkled on top (optional, I skipped this step this time)

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Instructions

Heat oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit. Grease loaf pan (or mini loaf pans).
Bowl #1: Mix together the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda).
Bowl #2: Mix wet ingredients (egg whites, sugar, vanilla, juice and corn syrup).
Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and mix well.
In a food processor, pulse the cranberries until they are coarsely chopped. Add cranberries and orange rind zest to the batter and mix well.
Pour batter into greased pans and bake for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Let sit and cool for a few minutes before removing from pan to wire rack to finish cooling.

Notes

*Recipe adapted from Karen L. Pellegrin’s cookbook Fat-Free Desserts c. 1995

I’m excited to be sharing this recipe as part of Cranberry Week – now in it’s third year! See all the tasty cranberry recipes being shared today below and follow #cranberryweek on social media for more ideas all week long.

Bourbon Cranberry Sauce from Cookaholic Wife
Cranberry Apple Pie from The Redhead Baker
Cranberry Almond Shortbread Tart from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
Cranberry Cheese Ball from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
Cranberry Chipotle Glazed Baked Salmon from Palatable Pastime
Cranberry Cream Cheese Spread from Our Good Life
Cranberry Ice Cream from Kate’s Recipe Box
Cranberry Orange Bread from The Saucy Fig
Cranberry-Orange Glazed Ham from Cooking For My Soul
Cranberry Orange Scones from A Joyfully Mad Kitchen
Fall Pizza with Sausage and Squash from Caroline’s Cooking
Glazed Cranberry Almond Squares from Family Around the Kitchen
Hot Spiced Cranberry Orange co*cktail from The Gingered Whisk
Lamb Lollipops with Cranberry-Apple Mostarda from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Maple Honey Cranberry Sauce from Jolene’s Recipe Journal
Quinoa with Turkey, Brussels Sprouts & Cranberries from Books n’ Cooks
Real Cranberry Gummy Bears from Daily Dish Recipes

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Reader Interactions

Comments

Eva says
October 26, 2019 at 2:32 pm
We don’t celebrate Thanksgiving where I live but I did once, when I was working at an international school. Somebody brought in an orange cranberry sauce and that was the first time I got to taste this flavour combo. Yes, definitely genius!! Can’t wait to taste it in this bread!
★★★★★
Reply
joyce says
November 12, 2018 at 9:42 am
Hi can these be baked into muffin tins and then frozen???
Reply
- Chelsey says
  November 13, 2018 at 11:52 pm
  You know, I’ve never tried that… but I bake them in mini loaf pans all the time and they freeze perfectly! So I can’t see why the muffin tins wouldn’t work! Genius idea 🙂
  Reply
Kate says
November 11, 2018 at 9:28 pm
I love the combo of cranberries and oranges. This looks amazing!
Reply
- Chelsey says
  November 13, 2018 at 11:53 pm
  Thank you! It is the perfect holiday combo!
  Reply
Christie says
November 11, 2018 at 6:28 am
These would make perfect holiday gifts for friends and family. But, if they freeze well, I might just save them both for me!
★★★★★
Reply
See Also
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- Chelsey says
  November 13, 2018 at 11:56 pm
  I have three in my freezer right now! I love to pull them out for Thanksgiving, Christmas and any holiday parties 🙂
  Reply
Caridad says
November 8, 2018 at 3:35 am
Saw your posting on twitter and fell in love with this recipe immediately. I will try this soon!
Reply
- Chelsey says
  November 8, 2018 at 1:43 pm
  Oh thank you! I hope you enjoy and you’ll have to let me know what you think!
  Reply
Sue says
November 7, 2018 at 9:58 pm
I love the flecks of red running throughout- there’s flavor in every single bite!
Reply
- Chelsey says
  November 8, 2018 at 1:48 pm
  Thank you! Doesn’t it make for such a pretty loaf?! 🙂
  Reply
Liz @ Books n' Cooks says
November 7, 2018 at 7:39 pm
You’re totally right – whoever came up with the cranberry-orange pairing was genius. cranberry-lemon is pretty awesome too!
Look forward to trying your recipe. I may very well steal your idea and whip up several loaves to stash in the freezer for winter entertaining/house guests.
Reply
- Chelsey says
  November 8, 2018 at 1:47 pm
  They freeze perfect! It’s the best for a quick yummy holiday treat!
  Reply
Karen says
November 6, 2018 at 3:24 pm
That bread is stunning! Love the flavor combination!
Reply
- Chelsey says
  November 7, 2018 at 1:32 am
  Thank you! It is definitely one of my all time favorite sweet breads to make! 🙂
  Reply
Caroline says
November 6, 2018 at 12:47 pm
This looks so pretty, I love the way the cranberries are broken up and speckle through the loaf, and a classic flavor pairing.
Reply
- Chelsey says
  November 7, 2018 at 1:30 am
  Thank you! Orange and Cranberry are a match made in heaven for sure!
  Reply