Cranberry Nut Bread
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Sweet, orange-scented and chock-full of cranberries and walnuts, this cranberry nut bread is perfect for the holidays.
Sweet, orange-scented, and chock-full of tart cranberries and walnuts, this cranberry nut bread is tailor made for the holidays. It’s a classic quick bread, which means it’s easy to throw together. The hardest part is chopping up the fresh cranberries because they like to roll all over the place. Don’t be tempted to substitute dried cranberries; the fresh cranberries burst as they bake, mingling with the rich batter to create tart-sweet pockets of jammy cranberries.
Cranberries are abundant over the holiday season. For more ways to enjoy them, check out my Nantucket cranberry pie, fresh cranberry sauce, and cranberry chutney.
What you’ll need to make Cranberry nut bread
How to make Cranberry Nut bread
Begin by combining the buttermilk, orange zest, orange juice, melted butter and egg in a small bowl.
Since the recipe calls for only 2/3 cup of buttermilk, you might not want to buy a whole carton. It’s easy to make your own by combining regular milk with a bit of lemon juice or vinegar (see recipe below for exact quantities). Whisk well to combine and set aside.
Next, combine the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
Whisk well.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry.
Stir gently with a rubber spatula until just combined.
Add the halved cranberries and nuts.
Mix again to incorporate.
Scrape the batter into a greased loaf pan.
Bake for about one hour, then cool in the pan on a rack for ten minutes.
Turn the loaf out onto the rack to cool completely.
Slice, serve and enjoy!
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Cranberry Nut Bread
Sweet, orange-scented and chock-full of cranberries and walnuts, this cranberry nut bread is perfect for the holidays.
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup buttermilk (see note)
- 2 teaspoons grated orange zest, from 1 orange
- ⅓ cup orange juice, from 1 orange
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, halved (see note)
- ½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F and set an oven rack to the middle position. Spray a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a small bowl, stir together buttermilk, orange zest and juice, melted butter and egg. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda. Stir the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients with rubber spatula until just moistened. Gently stir in cranberries and nuts. Do not overmix.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread evenly with a rubber spatula. Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350° F. Continue to bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean, about 45 minutes longer. Cool the loaf in the pan for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto the rack and cool at least 30 minutes before serving.
- Note: If you’d like to make your own buttermilk, check out the easy method here.
- Note: Cranberries are a bit tricky to chop because they roll all over the place. I cut them in half one at a time -- seems tedious, I know, but there aren't that many so it doesn't take long. If you're using frozen cranberries, be sure to slice them while they're still frozen.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The bread can be frozen for up to 3 months. After it is completely cooled, wrap it securely in aluminum foil, freezer wrap or place in a freezer bag. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (12 servings)
- Serving size: 1 slice
- Calories: 227
- Fat: 7 g
- Saturated fat: 4 g
- Carbohydrates: 38 g
- Sugar: 20 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Sodium: 224 mg
- Cholesterol: 31 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Can I substitute leftover homemade cranberry sauce instead of fresh/frozen cranberries?
Hi Sherri, unfortunately, that won’t work as it will make the batter too liquidy. Sorry!
I made this last night for the first time. I doubled the recipe. Absolutely delicious.
I’ve made this twice, and it was delicious both times. I first made three mini-loaves and then later the regular loaf. Thinking of making little loaves (or big ones) for Christmas gifts.
LaTresa – was the baking time different for the mini loaves? Thank you!
Can you suggest a non-nut substitute for the walnuts?
Hi Donna, you can just omit the nuts. Enjoy!
This recipe was absolutely perfect! I made my own buttermilk just like it said to do and the bread came out delicious and everyone loved it! Thank you for the recipe!
I’ve made it twice. We tweaked some things because my husband likes more walnuts and cranberries, so I doubled. One time I made the cranberries whole and the other times slightly processed. Both times I shake them in powder sugar (instead of flour) to float.
He also likes a little more zest and double the cinnamon sugar. We cook them in the long but thinner loaf pans, think they are 4 x 12 approx. Turned out perfectly both times.
I just made this bread today for Thanksgiving’s breakfast. I did a previewed taste, it was so moist and flavorful!! I did sub the nuts with white chocolate chips as my grands don’t nuts. Just wonderful, thank you Jenn!!
I just made this — doubling the recipe. The breads are in the oven and look great. My one issue is that when I combined the melted butter (it was room temperature at this point) with the other wet ingredients it turned back to a solid so the wet ingredients were clumpy.
Not sure if this is going to be a problem — when I mixed the wet with dry, the end result looked OK.
Any idea why this happened?
Hi Nancy, Hi Nancy, I suspect that your buttermilk and orange juice must have been pretty cold, which could cause the melted butter to solidify a bit. I don’t think it would have been a problem. How did the breads come out?
You’re correct — the buttermilk and orange juice came right from the fridge.
The clumpiness did not hurt the end result — the breads came out great!
👍
Can you use sour cream instead of buttermilk?
Thanks!
Sure, just thin it with a little bit of milk.
I just made this and am waiting for it to cool. I doubled the recipe and made two loaves. The only thing is that the cooking time seemed too long. I took the loaves out five minutes before they should have been done and they seem overcooked. Perhaps 375 degrees is too hot at the beginning for that long?
Would you think this recipe can be made into muffins?
Sure! I’d keep the oven temp the same and start checking them for doneness at 20 to 25 minutes. Please LMK how they turn out!
I made this with dried cranberries and walnuts leftover from Christmas baking plus I had an orange in the fridge. It was a big hit with my husband and neighbours. Thank you!
My favorite recipe! Perfect for Thanksgiving!
I made this yesterday. Great flavor BUT when slicing it falls apart. I reviewed the recipe and the only thing I can think of is the pan I used. A nordicware braided bread pan. Anyone else experienced this ?
Hi Colleen, did you chop the nuts? If they’re too big, it can be challenging to get clean slices. Also, was it fully cooled?
Yep chopped. Just slightly warm when sliced. Only other thing that came to mind is I didnt spoon flour into measuring cup. Just scooped flour into cup and leveled off. I looked up possible reasons and it said too much flour
That may have been the case. Also, next time you make this, or any quick bread, I’d let it cool completely before slicing. Using a serrated knife with a sawing motion works well.
Can you use half brown sugar half regular sugar
Hi Mariann, While it may work, it may impact the texture of the cake. For the most predictable results, I’d stick with white sugar.
This was very good. Super moist and flavorful! I doubled the recipe and froze one of the loaves 😊
I would like to try this recipe using grain free flour, but don’t particularly care for just almond flour alone as I think it makes for a texture that’s too crumbly/gritty. Do you or other reviewers have any recommendations for a grain free flour mix–maybe adding coconut flour or cassava flour to almond flour so that it stays moist and not crumbly–and if so, what proportions would I use for the flour mix?
Hi Diane, I don’t have experience working with grain-free flours so don’t have wisdom to share – I’m sorry! You could always use gluten-free flour. If you’d like to use almond flour, this article has some good suggestions for adjustments you need to make. Scroll down to the bottom. Hope you find it useful!
Hi Diane, I’ve made this many times with Cup 4 Cup gluten-free flour. This stuff is amazing. No-one ever guesses that my baked goods are GF. FYI: Depending on the application, leftover baked goods don’t have quite the same texture as non GF flours. But in this case, with the cranberry bread– you’ll never know for the duration of the loaf! (Also fyi, Bob’s Red Mill GF flour with a similar name is not even close to the same. In the blue bag, Cup 4 Cup is the one and only!)
Delicious results made dairy free and GF! I have some dairy free and GF people in my circle so I made this with Bob’s Redmill 1:1 GF Baking flour and some almond flour (1.5C flour to .5C almond flour) + some extra baking powder just because I find that all of my GF baking requires a little bit of extra umpf! I curdled my almond milk in the orange juice to mimic the buttermilk and used oil instead of butter … which sounds sacrilegious— however the result was delicious and a treat for my peeps that usually have to say no to all the treats! Thank you Jenn! Your recipes have become some of our family standbys— the table is such a special place for people to connect with one another and your work has made our gatherings more delicious and less stressful! Thank you!!!
In the words of my son-in-law: This is insanely delicious! (and he doesn’t even like nuts, lol). Made this exactly as written for Christmas brunch. Such a hit! Wouldn’t change a thing. It will now have a permanent place on my Christmas brunch menu. Thanks, Jenn!
This bread made a lot of people happy this holiday season. I gave it as gifts, served it to guests and it was universally praised. It’s easy to make, has a great texture and is DELICIOUS.
Thank you, Jenn — wish you a wonderful New Year.
Made 7 small loaves from one recipe. Did not change baking temp as suggested but they still came out perfectly anyhow after 22 minutes. Plump little loaf to share with any guest. I substituted pecans due to friend’s walnut allergy but lots of flavor packed into a tea-compatible snack
Thank you for this delicious recipe! This one is going in my holiday cookbook. I accidentally added 1 cup of buttermilk instead of the 2/3 cup but still is very good. Next time I’ll be sure to do the 2/3 cup.
Can’t wait to make it again!
Hi Jenn,
Can this recipe be doubled?
Thank you!
SF Ana
Sure!
Absolutely delicious! I used just a bit less sugar, and it was perfect. I used the Nordic Ware quartet bundt pans which looks great for festive food gifts.
Have a safe a joyous holiday season to you and yours, Jenn!
-Ana
You too, Ana! 💗
Hi Jenn,
Can I freeze this? I’m making a few mini loaves as gifts this week, but my husband won’t be back until the weekend. Alternatively, can I keep it in the fridge for a few days, and for how long? We have made so many winners with your recipes.
Thank you and Happy Holidays!
So glad you like the recipes and, yes, this freezes nicely!
I love cranberry nut bread and I’ve always used a particular recipe from a church cookbook I have. But I saw this recipe and made it the other day and it is absolutely delicious! This will be the cranberry nut bread I make from now on! We’ve eaten half the loaf already. I like that it has buttermilk and unsalted butter in it which makes it very moist.
I made this , it is so good and moist.I divided it in three mini loaf pans, came out perfect.
Folks you need to try this. Have used many of your recipes. Never had any issues.
I made this , it is so good and moist.I divided it in three mini loaf pans, came out perfect.
Folks you need to try this. Have used many of your recipes. Never had any issues.
Love you Jenn,
💗
This is the best recipie I’ve found for cranberry bread. Love it! I did add more cranberries.
Baked for 75 minutes.
I baked this yesterday and it is delicious. I toasted the pecans and although I chopped them, I think I need to chop them a little finer next time to make it easier to slice. I have two bags of fresh cranberries, so I’ll be baking a few more loaves to give away!
Could I substitute half of the sugar with stevia as I am a pre-diabetic. Thank you!
Hi Abi, I wish I could help but I’ve never worked with sugar substitutes so I can’t say how it would impact this. (If it helps at all, I have read plenty of comments from readers who have said they’ve replaced some or all of the sugar in a recipe with a substitute like Stevia and have had good results.) I’d love to hear how it turns out if you try it!
Unfortunately, I didn’t have any oranges, so I substituted lemons instead. Delicious!
Made this exactly and it was amazing!! My wife also loved it. Only change I made was to sprinkle a generous amount of demerara sugar which gave it a nice little crust. I’m a retired restaurant “chef” (title only – never went to a school) and your recipes are the only ones I’ve found that closely mirror my own tastes. So glad
😊
Can I use frozen cranberries for this loaf?
Marian
Hi Marian, Yes frozen will work. Enjoy!
Can I use a bundt cake pan instead of a loaf pan?
I’ve never made it in a bundt pan but I think it should work. I’d love to hear how it turns out if you try it!
This is one of my favorite recipes and I would like to use this recipe to make muffins. How many muffins would this recipe make and what temperature and length of time would you bake this for? Thank you for your help.
Hi Edith, So glad you like this! Yes, you can turn this into muffins – I anticipate it should make a dozen. I’d keep the oven temp the same and start checking them for doneness at 20 to 25 minutes. Please LMK how they turn out!
I have made this recipe before and it is a definite winner! Jenn do you think I could replace the cranberries with gooseberries? I have some on hand, they are on the smaller side. I thought I might cut some in half and just leave the rest whole. They have a tartness, similar to cranberries… thank you!
Hi Irina, I’ve never used gooseberries in any form so it’s hard to say for sure, but based on what I read online, I suspect it should work. Please LMK how the bread turns out if you try it!
Tonight is the second time I am making these with gooseberries ( my garden was prolific this year). It is a definite hit! The variety we grow here is quite a bit smaller than the gooseberries sold in stores or the European ones (we live in the great white north!). I would say they are about the size of blueberries but definitely have the tartness and consistency of the cranberries. Both versions are delicious; thanks for another crowd pleaser Jenn- my family loves it!! xo
Is this recipe sufficient to make 3 mini loaves and if so how long would you bake. How do you decide how much dough would work for mini loves? This recipe looks delicious and will bake for myself if won’t work for mini loaves ! Love your recipes
Hi Viki, I’d guesstimate that the batter would make 3 to 4 minis. I’m not sure how long they’ll take but I’d keep the temperature the same (start at 375 and reduce to 350) and check after about 25 minutes (and keep checking once every 5 minutes until done). Hope that helps!
Definitely a keeper!! The only change I made was that I didn’t include the cinnamon, thus allowing the cranberry and orange to shine. It was delicious!!!
I love pecans but for the holiday season do you think I could substitute pistachio nuts for a holiday colour? Would the flavour be fine?
Sure, Linda, pistachios will work (just make sure to use unsalted). 🙂
Can you make muffins from this recipe? If so, what would you recommend for the cook time and temperature?
Hi Philip, Yes, you can turn this into muffins. I’d keep the oven temp the same and start checking them for doneness at 20 to 25 minutes. Please LMK how they turn out!
Hi Jenn. I tried the recipe to make muffins and it worked well. I baked at 375 degrees and they were done in 25 minutes. The yield was 12 muffins. Very good. I liked the idea of halving the cranberries so they burst in the batter. Created a delicious combination of tart and sweet. I think one of the greatest strengths you have is the creation of complex flavors in so many of your recipes.
They also freeze well. To reheat, I wrapped each individual muffin loosely in a paper towel and microwaved for 45 seconds. This technique also works for your pumpkin muffins.
We had some fresh cranberries left from the holidays. Cranberry bread did not sound like my favorite but tried it to use up the fresh berries.
Wow! That is all I can say. This is going on the regular holiday rotation. We might even stock up on fresh berries & freeze them to enjoy this bread later in the year. Followed the recipe exactly. I’ve come to trust your recipes after scones, cakes, breads, entrees, etc. always stellar. Thank you 🙂
Two weeks ago, a friend brought me three slices of her Cranberry Nut Bread, a recipe which she derived from the 1980’s. She admitted: “it’s a bit dry and burned, but suggested adding a bit of butter, prior to eating it.” It seemed nutritious enough, that I was prompted to locate a more current version of that recipe, when I bumped into “Once Upon a Chef.” I was simply elated and tried it immediately! It was fit for a King, but it was nonetheless consumed by two peasants–my husband and I. However, I must confess the following: I discovered how to make buttermilk; I deviated from the baking temperature to 350d all together; used a Pyrex Loafer; used Whole Wheat Flour; used packaged Cranberry (crushed at home), fresh unavailable.
Wonderful recipe! Perfect for breakfast, afternoon tea or even dessert.
Every other recipe I have tried was too dry. I think the buttermilk adds so much moisture. The first bread was so delicious, I made 2 more the next day to share! Yum!
I’ve probably made this ten times in the last month. The only change I make is to use the last 2T of sugar (instead of flour) when I grease the pan. Adds a sweet little crunch on the outside edges.
I LOVE this bread!!! I have used another recipe for years which is fine, but this one blows it away and will be my go-to going forward. I didn’t have buttermilk on hand so I made it with the milk and lemon juice as suggested. Not a fan of any kind of citrus zest so left that out but used the freshly squeezed orange juice. Slicing the cranberries in half sounded like too much commitment for me; I just used the cuisinart. I made mini loaves and gave them away as Christmas gifts (the recipients loved them!) and we also enjoyed some on Christmas morning!
Another delicious recipe! I make this for Thanksgiving and Christmas every year. Thank you!
Another excellent recipe – Thank you!!!
My husband claims that this is the best thing I have ever baked!
This recipe is fantastic. I made it once just as written. The family loved it. The second time, I reduced the sugar to 1 cup, replaced some of the white flour with whole wheat and reduced the butter to four tablespoons and added two tablespoons of ground flax seed. Still delicious!
This recipe is perfection….. tart cranberries, walnuts, subtle hints of orange and cinnamon. Absolutely delicious! Can this recipe be doubled or even tripled without any adverse effects? I want to bake several for neighbors as Christmas gifts. Thank you for another winning recipe.
Hi Judy, So glad you enjoyed it and you can definitely double it! Sometimes something gets lost in translation when doing more than doubling a recipe, so you could try tripling it, but keep that in mind. 🙂
Your recipes are regulars in our household–easy to follow with easy to find ingredients. I recently made this bread with an eye toward reducing the fat and sugar. Instead of the melted butter, I increased the buttermilk (fat free) to one cup and used 1 T of vegetable oil. I also reduced the sugar to 2/3 cup. The bread was moist and tender with a great cranberry taste.
Can white whole wheat flour be substituted for all the AP flour? Can some or all the sugar be substituted with maple syrup?
Hi Tracy, I don’t recommend using maple syrup for the sugar. Regarding the flour, I’d suggest starting by using half whole wheat and half all-purpose to make sure you like the texture. If you do like it, the next time you make this, you can up the ratio of whole wheat to white a bit more. Also, you may want to consider white whole wheat as it’s lighter and milder tasting than regular whole wheat flour (yet just as nutritious). I’d love to hear how it turns out!