This orange cranberry and walnut bread is moist and delicious! Packed with orange zest, orange juice, fresh cranberries, crunchy walnuts and drizzled with a mouthwatering orange glaze, this is sure to become a favourite bake!
I like to think of this walnut studded cranberry and orange bread as sunshine in cake form. And let’s face it, who doesn’t need that in the depths of Winter?
I’ve wanted to make a fresh cranberry cake for a long time. While cleaning out the fridge one rainy afternoon I found half a box of forgotten cranberries from Christmas (I used half to make a small batch of cranberry sauce.) I knew exactly how I was going to use them up.
This is an American quick bread recipe. Quick bread is not really a thing in the UK. If you walked into any bakery or cafe here and asked for quick bread, you would get some very puzzled looking faces in return!
what are quick breads?
Quick breads are very popular in America. Quite simply, a quick bread is a bread recipe that has been leavened with baking powder and bicarbonate of soda instead of yeast. Muffins and cornbread would also fall under the category of quick breads.
Quick breads can be sweet or savoury – the flavour combinations are pretty endless. They make a great breakfast along with a pot of coffee or tea, but they are also a perfect snack for any time of the day.
My cinnamon swirl pumpkin loaf cake and courgette (Zucchini) and apple loaf cake recipes (I highly recommend both!) are also, strictly speaking, quick breads.
why i love this orange and cranberry bread recipe
- It’s very quick to make – it takes literally minutes to mix the batter together
- Bursting with fresh flavour from the cranberries, orange zest and juice.
- It freezes well
- keeps for a good few days after baking – and if you don’t add the glaze, it’s especially nice toasted and eaten warm with butter….
step by step instructions
(scroll to the bottom of the post to find printable recipe with ingredient amounts and instructions!)
- Step one – in a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Whisk everything together well.
- Step two – in a separate bowl, stir together oil, sugar, orange extract (or vanilla extract), orange zest and a large egg until well combined.
- Step three – Stir in half of the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in orange juice, mix until just combined (it will look very messy at this stage but just like the wonderful Mr Michael, have faith! SORRY) Stir in the remaining dry ingredients until the batter is smooth, taking care not to overmix.
- Step four – Fold in walnuts and cranberries. Pour the batter into a deep greased and lined 900g (2lb) loaf tin and bake at 180C/160Fan/350F for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the bread emerges clean and it springs back in the middle when lightly pressed.
recipe notes
- When making a quick bread, you want to treat the batter like you’re making muffins. Don’t beat the living daylights out of the ingredients or you could end up with a tough bake – stir quickly but lightly and stop as soon as the ingredients are just combined.
- This cranberry quick bread recipe is delicious served warm from the oven with butter, but it’s even nicer the day after you bake it – doing this allows the flavours to develop and makes the bread even tastier.
- I love the crunch and texture of the walnuts, but if you can’t eat nuts, it’s fine to leave them out.
- Please don’t forget to add the salt – it really does help round out all the flavours.
- Worried about the cranberries sinking to the bottom of the bread? There’s an easy solution to fix that – coat them in one tablespoon of flour before adding to the batter. Fresh or frozen cranberries can be used – if they’re frozen, you don’t need to defrost them.
- You don’t have to add the orange glaze – it’s delicious with or without it! If you’re planning to eat the bread toasted, I would probably skip it.
more easy and delicious recipes to try
- peanut butter banana bread
- pumpkin spice muffins
- blueberry orange muffins
- lemon blueberry poppy seed muffins
did you make this recipe?
I really hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you thought by leaving a comment and please rate the recipe by clicking on the stars in the recipe card below.
orange cranberry and walnut bread
This orange cranberry and walnut bread with a delicious orange glaze is perfect for breakfast with coffee or as a snack for any time! Adapted from a recipe for cranberry bread from the Silver Palate Cookbook.
Ingredients
- 300g/2 cups plain (all purpose) flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspooon bicarbonate of soda
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
- 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) vegetable or sunflower oil
- 225g (1 cup) granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon orange extract or (vanilla extract)
- 1 large egg
- 180ml (3/4 cup) fresh orange juice
- 175g/1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen (no need to defrost) cranberries, roughly chopped if on the large side
- 1 tablespoon plain (all purpose) flour, to prevent the cranberries from sinking to the bottom of the bread
- 75g/1/2 cup walnuts, roughly broken or chopped
- FOR THE ORANGE GLAZE
- 50g (1/2 cup) icing sugar
- 1 or two tablespoons fresh orange juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/160Fan/350F/Gas mark 4. Grease and line a deep 900g (2lb) loaf tin with baking parchment.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Using a fork, whisk the ingredients together to combine.
- In a large bowl, beat together the oil, sugar, orange zest, orange extract and egg until smooth.
- Add half of the flour mixture to the oil/sugar mixture and stir lightly until just combined. Stir in the orange juice, then add the remaining flour, stirring gently until no streaks of flour are visible.
- Place the cranberries in a bowl and add the one tablespoon flour. Stir to coat the cranberries in the flour. Usiing a rubber spatula, fold the cranberries and walnuts into the batter, taking care not to overmix. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the bread emerges clean. Place on a wire cooling rack for 10 minutes before removing from the pan to cool completely.
- To make the icing glaze, combine the icing sugar and orange juice together until you have a smooth icing. Drizzle all over the top of the cooled cake. Allow the icing to set before cutting into slices and serving.
Notes
This orange cranberry walnut bread will keep for 3-4 days in an airtight tin.
It can be frozen, either as a whole loaf or in individual slices, for up to three months.
This recipe can also be made in a muffin tin - it will make 12 large muffins.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 243Total Fat: 20gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 17gCholesterol: 19mgSodium: 294mgCarbohydrates: 15gFiber: 2gSugar: 11gProtein: 4g
Calories and nutritional information are provided by a third party application and should be viewed as indicative figures only.
What’s the temperature and baking time for an electric oven?
180C for 50-60 minutes,but if your oven runs on the hot side, I would start checking the cake after about 45 minutes.
? the amount of orange zest is not mentioned– I used 2 oranges for fresh juice—use zest from both?Thanks!
Hi, you can use the zest of either one or two oranges – I will update the recipe card, thanks for pointing that out! ๐
Made this twice, everyone loved it. Made two of them actually, one with walnuts one without. They both taste awesome!
I’m so happy you like the recipe, Deb! Thanks for letting me know ๐