This Orange Cranberry Nut Bread is perfect for holiday morning or a holiday work pot luck. You’ll love the moist easy cranberry bread that’s made with fresh cranberries. It’s also healthy with the addition of spelt flour.

It’s holiday season, which means it’s time to bake an Orange Cranberry Nut Bread. Finally!

I wait all year for this moist cranberry orange bread.

An Orange Cranberry Nut Bread you’ll make each holiday season

If you can find an occasion for this Orange Cranberry Nut bread, like a festive gathering or potluck, you have very lucky guests. Everyone will remember you as the person who bakes a 5 star cranberry orange bread.

Otherwise, give yourself a great start the day by simply enjoying a slice of this Orange Cranberry Bread with your a cup of coffee.

A very most cranberry orange bread

The most important thing with fruity breads is that they are moist. This recipe doesn’t let you down. It makes a very moist Cranberry Orange Bread.

Two factors that make this cranberry nut bread recipe so moist is:

• it uses 3/4 cup of orange juice, and
• it uses real butter.

Orange juice not only gives this easy cranberry bread its orange flavor, but it keeps the bread from drying out.

And of course, using real butter in this cranberry nut bread recipe adds a richness you can’t get from using oil.

The addition of spelt flour makes this a flavorful and healthy cranberry bread

I love this recipe because not only is it a moist cranberry orange bread, it’s a healthy cranberry bread because it uses spelt flour.

Baking this Orange Cranberry Nut Bread with spelt flour gives it a rustic taste. When I bake this bread for myself and really want a healthy cranberry bread, I often use 100% spelt flour, or 1/2 spelt flour and 1/2 whole wheat flour.

However, if I’m making this recipe to bring to a pot luck, I typically use 1/2 spelt flour and 1/2 all-purpose flour. And that’s the way I write the recipe below.

With 1/2 spelt and 1/2 all-purpose flour, it’s still a healthy cranberry orange bread, but it’s not noticeable.

Don’t use dried cranberries for this fresh cranberry orange bread recipe

This Orange Cranberry Bread requires fresh (or frozen) cranberries.

I like making the bread with fresh cranberries as opposed to dried cranberries because I find that it gives the bread more bite and flavor.

The fresh cranberries in this bread recipe hold their shape very well, and when you slice into the bread, the color stands out vibrantly.

You might find other cranberry orange breads that use dried cranberries or craisins. But not this recipe. Make sure you use fresh (or frozen) cranberries in this recipe.

This is a quick and easy cranberry nut bread recipe, but don’t skip this important step

There aren’t very many steps to this moist cranberry orange bread, and the ingredient prep itself is straightforward.

But to get the rich flavor of the bread, you need to toast the walnuts. This is done easily on the stovetop with a bit of butter.

TIP: I always buy bulk bags of quality walnuts because it’s cheaper that way, and they can store in the refrigerator and stay fresh for six months.

Once you have the toasted walnuts, mix all your dry and wet ingredients separately. Then combine it all together. The Orange Cranberry Nut Bread bakes for about 55 minutes total.

This is a cranberry orange quick bread recipe, meaning you don’t need any yeast

So what makes this a quick and easy cranberry bread recipe? The “quick” comes from the fact that there is no yeast.

This Orange Cranberry Nut Bread instead relies on baking powder to make it rise. Without the addition of yeast, there’s no waiting time. Simply mix the batter, pour it into the loaf pan and bake.

Helpful Tip for Quick Bread Recipes

Quick bread recipes are generally straightforward.

One important tip for making this bread is to prepare your pans so you can easily remove the cake. 

When I bake, I tend to make a parchment sling with parchment paper so I can easily remove breads and cakes from pans.

Alternatively, you can prepare your pan by buttering it and lightly dusting it with flour.

Recipes that go well with this Orange Cranberry Nut Bread

Whether you need to bring something in addition to this loaf of bread to a potluck or you just want something extra, try making one of these recipes as well:

• Vegan Bulletproof Coffee
• Pour Over Coffee
• Cranberry Whipped Butter
• Cranberry Orange Jam

Orange Cranberry Nut Bread

5 from 3 votes

Print Recipe

Serves: 12

Prep: 10 mins

Cook: 55 mins

Total: 1 hr 5 mins

This Orange Cranberry Nut Bread is perfect for holiday morning or a holiday work pot luck. You'll love the moist easy cranberry bread that's made with fresh cranberries. It's also healthy with the addition of spelt flour.

Ingredients

• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter - to toast the walnuts
• 1 cup spelt flour (or whole wheat flour)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar (you can use 1/2 cup if you prefer a less sweet bread)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter - melted
• 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
• 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line a 9x5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper.
• Melt butter in a small pan over medium heat. Add in the walnuts and toast for about 5 minutes.
• In a large bowl, mix together the flours, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
• In a separate medium bowl, beat together the eggs. Whisk in the orange juice, vanilla extract and orange zest and unsalted butter.
• Make a well in the dry ingredients and slowly pour in the wet ingredients, mixing until just combined. Fold in the walnuts and cranberries.
• Pour into prepared baking pan. In a small bowl, mix the turbinado sugar and cinnamon together. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top of the batter.
• Place in the oven and bake for 55 minutes. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes in the pan. Transfer the Orange Cranberry Nut Bread to a cooling rack to finish cooling. 

Course: Breads and Muffins, Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Orange Cranberry Nut Bread, Quick Breads

Special Diet: Vegetarian

Author: The Worktop

Tried this recipe?If you loved making this recipe I would appreciate it so much if you would give this recipe a star review! I’d love to see it too – snap a picture of your finished dish and share it with me on Instagram using #theworktop and tagging me @theworktop.