Simple and elegant, this fresh cranberry quick bread makes an excellent brunch item for adding to a holiday menu at Thanksgiving or Christmas time. Fresh whole cranberries in a slightly sweet bread base with a hint of orange has a festive sparkling sugar top.
PREP TIME 25 minutesminutes
COOK TIME 45 minutesminutes
YIELD 8servings
Ingredients
1 1/2cupsflourplus 1 tablespoon for the bread pan
3/4cupsugar
1tspbaking powder
1/4tspsalt
1/4tspbaking soda
1egg
1/2cuporange juice
2tbspbuttermelted
1tbspwater
1 1/2cupsfresh cranberries
1tbspsparkling sugaroptional
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8x4-inch bread pan with softened butter and sprinkle with a tablespoon of flour. Set aside.
Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda to a large bowl and whisk them together.
In a separate small bowl, whisk together the egg, orange juice, melted butter and water until smooth.
Add the liquid to the dry flour mixture and fold together until just combined. Add the fresh cranberries and fold them into the bread batter.
Spoon the bread batter into the prepared bread pan and smooth it into an even layer. Sprinkle the sparkling sugar, if using, evenly over the top.
Bake for 45 - 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Recipe Notes
Variations
I love the simplicity of this classic cranberry bread but there are definitely fun ways you could make easy variations:Cranberry Nut Bread: Add 1/2 cup of chopped pecans, walnuts, pistachios, or hazelnuts to the bread batter along with the cranberries.White Chocolate Cranberry Bread: Add 1/2 cup white chocolate chips along with the cranberries.Lemon Cranberry Bread: Substitute Meyer lemon juice for the orange juice.Glazed Cranberry Bread: Skip the sparkling sugar and coat the bread with this easy vanilla glaze.