Last month it was my turn to bring a snack to share at my church’s monthly MOM’S CHAIR meeting. I wanted to get in the holiday spirit but didn’t want to go all-out chocolate or gingerbread. I decided on Cranberry Orange Bread. The cranberries had just the right amount of holiday punch and the bright red color highlighted the Christmas decorations. MOM’S CHAIR is kind of like my church’s version of MOPS. Us moms get together, chat, eat yummy food, listen to encouraging speakers, and occasionally make a craft or two. The kids get to hang out with their friends in the “homeschool room,” learning new things and playing games with friends. I always come away refreshed on these Fridays. It’s just what I need to recharge. So here’s how I made this delicious cranberry orange bread:
Start by mixing 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon each of baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Then throw in 2 cups of frozen cranberries and coat them in the flour mixture. This recipe works best if the berries are frozen.
Next, zest an entire orange and mix it all together. I think the combo of cranberries and oranges is just heavenly, don’t you? It’s so bright and cheery!
In a separate bowl, cream 2 eggs, 1 cup of vanilla Greek yogurt, and 1/2 cup of vegetable oil. I pour in a smidge of vanilla extract too, about 1/2 a teaspoon. Whisk it altogether so it is nice and smooth.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just enough until there are no remnants of flour. The batter should be nice and sticky.
Level out the dough in a greased glass bread pan and bake it for 65 minutes at 400 degrees. You may want to stick a knife in the middle of the cranberry orange bread to make sure all the dough has cooked.
The edges should be brown and crispy and you should smell the tartness of the cranberries.
I have also made this recipe in muffin form, both regular and mini. This recipe should make either 12 regular size muffins or 24 minis. If you decide to bake muffins, they should bake at 400 degrees for 20-22 minutes.
The group of ladies at MOM’S CHAIR really seemed to like the cranberry orange bread because there wasn’t any left! And, from personal experience of course, this bread is simply delightful warmed for a few seconds in the microwave with a little butter. And coffee! Thank God for coffee!
Here’s a pretty picture for later, just in case you want to pin the recipe for later. If you need other sweet treats or bread ideas, follow my Bangin’ Baked Goods board on Pinterest. Happy cooking ya’ll!
Cranberry Orange Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp each baking soda baking powder, and salt
- 2 cups frozen cranberries or 1 package
- zest of 1 orange
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400 degrees.
- Mix all the dry ingredients.
- Gently toss the cranberries in the flour mixture until thoroughly coated.
- Mix in the zest of 1 orange.
- In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, yogurt, oil and vanilla.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until there is no more flour.
- Pour into a greased bread pan or muffin tin.
- Bake a bread loaf for 65 minutes or until inserted knife comes out clean.
- Bake muffins for 20-22 minutes.
Notes
Can I substitute the Frozen cranberries with frozen raspberries.
Definitely!
I found 400° was too high. I checked it at 55 min. N it was kinda burnt n raw in the middle..☹️ In the past baking breads like this 350° is plenty hot enough. It’s back in the oven on 350 with a foil top 🙏🙏🙏🙏
It sounds like you have good intuition. I think your remedy sounds good. You may also want to move the rack to the middle of the oven.
The recipe turned out beautifully for me! I squeezed a bit of orange juice into the dough, and I tried blood orange Greek yogurt, which imparted an even more intense orange flavor. Thanks for sharing it!
I’m so glad it turned out well and I love your idea of the blood orange Greek yogurt! I will have to see if they have that at my market.
I always use the zest an juice of an orange in my cranberry sauce.
Yes, that makes cranberry sauce the best! I think that is the very same reason why this bread is so delicious.
As soon as I saw this recipe it made my mouth water. I printed off the recipe, ran to the store and got the ingredients I didn’t have at home. I made the recipe and it is fabulous. It smelled so good baking that I couldn’t wait for it to cool, i had to have a slice of it right out of the oven and it was wonderful. I even added a little butter. I think I’ll bake a couple more and give them for gifts. It also introduced me to Greek yogurt which I discovered I liked that too. This recipe is definitely a keeper, big time. Try it!!!
This is definitely a 5-star recipe. I tried to fill in 5 stars and it wouldn’t let me.
Thank you Diana for your kind words! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe and that you discovered Greek yogurt! It is a wonderful substitute for anything that calls for sour cream. Have a Merry Christmas!
Heidi, I have lost count as to how many loaves of this I have made since the first one. People have tried it and love it. Today I delivered two more loaves to friends. This is really good. Since I needed the orange zest I just squeezed the juice into the batter too, its great.
I love your idea of squeezing in some juice. I bet it gives it an extra punch. Thanks for the kind words!