Easy Cranberry Bread Recipe – in Minutes!

By: Julie Blanner97 Comments
Updated: 8/18/22

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This easy Cranberry Bread recipe makes a great breakfast, snack, dessert and a beautiful edible gift yielding six miniature loaves per batch. This amazing quick bread recipe takes just five minutes hands on time!

I love easy quick bread recipes because they’re great for entertaining – even last minute. They’re foolproof and take very little hands on time to make… using staple ingredients I already have on hand!

All you need is sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, eggs, milk, oil and cranberries, of course!

Originally published October 18, 2018 and updated with fresh content and details December 7, 2021.

This amazing Cranberry Bread is yet another adaptation of my favorite sweet bread recipe, which only takes five minutes hands-on time to make! It’s a beautiful and festive way to celebrate the holidays, especially for gifting.

The subtly sweet flavor is balanced with deliciously tart cranberries, which also add beautiful color to this classic sweet bread.

Cranberry Bread makes a delicious breakfast, snack or dessert served with or without butter.

It makes a great gift! Yielding six miniature loaves (or one traditional large loaf) it’s great for that “one for you, one for me” mentality. Actually, five to gift and one to enjoy at home!

If you make a larger loaf, just increase baking time to 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

I love using cranberries in our cooking and baking! Don’t skip Cranberry Salsa, Cranberry Sauce with Port, this Cranberry Cheeseball, and Cranberry Orange Bread.

Table of Contents

Why You’ll Love this Cranberry Bread Recipe

So easy to make
Mostly pantry ingredients
Great for gifting
Perfect for the holidays
Great for breakfast, brunch, snacks or dessert
Beautiful color for entertaining

It’s especially delicious for the holidays – aka cranberry season! This bread is so moist it doesn’t need anything, but who can resist smothering it in a little butter? Not me!

I’ve got an incredible, FREE quick bread guide that will walk you through each and every recipe in my line-up, along with tips and tricks to enhance your baking experience!

Cranberry Bread Ingredients

Sugar – granulated white sugar makes this bread delightfully sweet. Sprinkle a little on top just before baking for a beautiful glisten.
Flour – all purpose flour, no need to sift!
Baking Powder – the leavening agent for this no yeast bread.
Salt – brings out the flavors in this easy bread recipe.
Eggs – large eggs bind the ingredients and also help leaven the bread. Don’t overmix.
Milk – use whatever you have on hand from skim to vitamin D! Almond milk is a great dairy free alternative. Milk contributes to the light texture and color of the bread.
Oil – oil makes this bread incredibly moist! I like to use vegetable oil in all of my quick breads.
Cranberries – for best results, use fresh cranberries. Frozen cranberries tend to bleed a bit more and won’t thoroughly bake through, but can be used in a pinch. Chopped cranberries work best to fold into the batter. Use up to an entire bag depending on how much cranberry flavor you’d like.

It’s so easy! No yeast, no fuss! This Cranberry Bread Recipe comes out perfectly every single time! In fact, it’s a reader favorite!

Quick bread batter topped with whole fresh cranberries and sugar in a small white loaf pan.

How to Make Cranberry Bread

Prep – Preheat oven and grease loaf pans.
Combine Dry Ingredients – In a medium mixing bowl, combine sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Combine Wet Ingredients – In a mixer or large bowl whisk eggs milk and oil.
Blend – Gradually fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just moist. Don’t over beat.
Pour Into Loaf Pans – Pour into prepared pan / pans leaving 1″ (more if you’re using 1 large loaf pan) to compensate for rise. Sprinkle with cranberries and sugar to garnish. (Optional: add a touch of orange juice to the batter or orange zest on top)
Bake – Bake and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

Want another twist? The options are endless for this easy, adaptable Cranberry Bread recipe.

Variations

Brown Sugar – substitute granulated sugar with brown sugar
Add a Glaze – although you certainly don’t need to, you can cover it using my Orange Glaze Recipe, Lemon Glaze, Basic Glaze Recipe or Cream Cheese Glaze. Seriously, soooo good! Through the years we’ve made it in a variety of ways.
Add Nuts – toss in a half cup of toasted walnuts
Add Orange Zest – Make it a Cranberry Orange Bread by adding a hint of orange juice and orange zest.

Scaling up, down or substituting? You’ll love this printable Measurement Conversion Chart!

Tips

Use your food processor – to chop your cranberries into smaller pieces if you’d like. It’s hard to slice them traditionally on a cutting board as they tend to roll!
Use the Toothpick Test – Bake time varies depending on your oven, altitude, baking dish material and size. It’s done when a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Don’t Overfill – Leave room to compensate for rise.
Add a few whole cranberries to the top for an extra beautiful and colorful presentation.

Frequent Asked Questions

Can you use dried cranberries instead of fresh?

Dried (sweetened) cranberries work well in this cranberry bread recipe, but be careful to watch your measurements.

If a recipe calls for a cup of cranberries (either fresh or frozen), use just ¾ cup of sweetened dried cranberries. They are smaller and pack a bigger punch.

How do you keep cranberries from floating on bread?

Fresh cranberries do tend to float in your quick bread dough, but this dough is dense enough that it holds the chopped fresh cranberries throughout.

Do you have to cook cranberries before baking?

No, you don’t! The cranberries will cook through perfectly during your bake time in this cranberry bread recipe.

How to Store

Room Temperature – Store cranberry bread in a sealed plastic bag or covered in saran wrap at room temperature for up to five days.
Refrigerate – Allow bread to cool and store in an airtight container or covered in plastic wrap refrigerated for up to four days. If you need to store it any longer, you should move it to the freezer to maintain the fresh flavors.
Freeze – To freeze bread, wrap tightly in heavy foil, saran wrap or place them in freezer bags (I like to do at least two to prevent freezer odors from seeping in). Freeze up to three months. Bring to room temperature to serve.

A small loaf of bread with cranberries on top, in a white ceramic loaf pan, white background.

What to Do with Leftovers

Slice and freeze leftovers to have a delicious snack later.
Cube pieces and serve as a sundae – with homemade ice cream, Fleur de Sel Caramel Sauce, and nuts.
Turn into cranberry bread French toast.

Dietary Considerations

Nut Free
Vegetarian

Gifting

I always stock up on white ceramic loaf pans during the holidays when they’re 50% off, making them less than $1 a piece at Michael’s. You can also find a set of disposable paper loaf pans here if you’re in a pinch.

They wrap easily with (optional cellophane and) a bow – a true no fuss homemade gift.