An easy and beautiful sweet Orange Bread recipe that takes just 5 minutes hands on time and a few staple ingredients. Perfect to serve for breakfast, brunch or dessert, or enjoy it as a mid afternoon treat with a cup of coffee.
This quick bread is perfect for gifting for Easter, Mother’s Day and across the holidays.
Orange Bread is one of our favorite easy recipes. It can be made in a large standard loaf pan or six miniature loaf pans (as shown) for easy, beautiful, housewarming gift, hostess gift and last minute Christmas gifts for teachers, neighbors and friends.
Through the years, I’ve shared several variations of my popular sweet bread recipe. This simple and sweet Orange Bread was inspired by one of my favorite sugar scrub recipes. I love the soft, citrus flavor and scent, especially during the holidays.
Quick orange bread is made primarily with staple ingredients and it comes together so quickly and easily. I love the aroma that fills my kitchen as it’s being baked!
This quick orange bread doesn’t require any rising time because it does doesn’t contain any yeast. This means that you don’t have to plan too far in advance when you want to make it. Let’s face it, who doesn’t like bread in a hurry!
I am a bit of a quick bread devotee, or a connoisseur if you will. I’ve shared countless quick bread recipes, including a classic sweet bread, apple cinnamon bread and brown sugar bread that have been baked over a million times. I’ve got a 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!
Table of Contents
Sweet Orange Bread Ingredients
- Sugar – Use basic white sugar in this sweet bread recipe.
- Flour – All purpose flour, no need to sift.
- Baking Powder – Baking powder helps the bread to rise as it is baking and eliminates the need for yeast and rising time.
- Salt – A little salt really helps to bring out the sweetness of the bread.
- Eggs – Binds the batter.
- Milk – You can use whatever milk you have on hand. Readers have even shared positive experiences with almond milk.
- Vegetable Oil – Vegetable Oil makes the bread incredibly moist. You can substitute canola oil or melted butter in a pinch.
- Orange Zest – For a vibrant orange flavor, the zest is added into the dough and the bread is finished with the citrus slices. You can substitute with 1/2 teaspoon extract or 2 teaspoons grated candied peel. Use fresh zest for the best results, but you can use dehydrated orange zest. It’s not a 1-1 substitution because it is more concentrated, so start with 1/3 of the amount and add to taste.
Variations
- Add a Glaze – Drizzle or drench in a classic glaze, cream cheese glaze or orange glaze to take it over the top!
- Add Nuts – Add almonds, pecans or walnuts.
- Add Chocolate – Add 1 cup of chocolate chips. It pairs incredibly well with Orange Bread.
- Make Cranberry Orange Bread – Add 1 cup of cranberries to the mixture.
How To Make Sweet Orange Bread
- Prep – Preheat the oven and grease your baking dishes.
- Combine – In one bowl, mix the dry ingredients, in another mix the wet. Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet until just moist and fold in the orange zest.
- Bake – Pour the dough into the baking dishes, garnish with orange slices and bake.
Variations
- Large Loaves – Don’t want 6 miniature loaves? You can also make this Sweet Bread recipe in 2 – 1 pound loaf pans or cut the recipe in half for just 1 loaf pan and bake 50 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test.
- Make Muffins – If you prefer to make them into muffins, just grease miniature muffin tins and fill each to 2/3 full. Bake 12 minutes.
- Make it Ornate – Alternatively, you can also bake it in an ornate loaf pan with the same minimal effort!
- Add a Glaze – This bread is amazing on its own, but you can also cover sweet bread with Glaze (or drizzle if you show any restraint). Cream Cheese Glaze, Orange Glaze Recipe or Lemon Glaze are some of our favorites!
- Add Fruits – Make it a Cranberry Orange Bread by folding in fresh or dried cranberries.
- Add Nuts – Pecans or candied walnuts work well!
- Add Chocolate Chips – Chocolate orange is one of my favorite flavor combinations!
Love this orange bread? Don’t skip this incredible Orange Pound Cake!
Tips
How To Get A Strong Orange Flavor
Zesting the outer, colorful skin of unwaxed oranges (clementines or mandarins also work) adds a lot of flavor and aroma. Simply use a zester to zest the orange. If your oranges are waxed, run them under warm running water and use a vegetable brush to scrub it off.
Reserve the orange to slice and garnish the top of your bread. It looks so pretty as well as enhancing those citrus flavors.
When Do You Know The Bread Is Baked?
Baking times will vary depending on your oven, altitude and the size and material of your baking dish. Insert a toothpick into the center of the loaf. When it comes out clean, it is done.
How To Store
- Room Temperature – Let the baked bread cool and then place it in an airtight container and it will keep for around 4 days.
- Refrigerate – You can extend the life of the bread by storing it in the fridge. It will keep well for around a week.
- Freeze – Wrap the cooled bread in foil and place in a freezer bag and it will keep for up to 3 months. Thaw it at air temperature.
Gifting this Quick Orange Bread for the Holidays?
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More Easy Sweet Bread Recipes
- Apple Cinnamon Bread Recipe
- Easy Cinnamon Bread
- Cinnamon Roll Bread Recipe
- 5 Minute Cranberry Bread
- Sweet Bread Recipe
- Funfetti Bread
You can get all 35 of my Quick Bread Recipes here!
Sweet Orange Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 cups flour
- 2 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups milk
- 2/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1 orange or clementine rind removed and sliced
- sugar for garnishing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- Beat eggs, milk and oil.
- Gradually add dry mixture to wet until just moist. Fold in the orange zest.
- Grease 6 miniature baking dishes and pour mixture an inch below to the top to compensate for rise. Garnish with orange slices and sprinkle with sugar.
- Bake for 40 minutes.
Notes
Substitutions
- Milk – You can use whatever milk you have on hand. Readers have even shared positive experiences with almond milk.
- Vegetable Oil – Vegetable Oil makes the bread incredibly moist. You can substitute canola oil or melted butter in a pinch.
- Orange Zest – For a vibrant orange flavor, the zest is added into the dough and the bread is finished with the citrus slices. You can substitute with 1/2 teaspoon extract or 2 teaspoons grated candied peel. Use fresh zest for the best results, but you can use dehydrated orange zest. It’s not a 1-1 substitution because it is more concentrated, so start with 1/3 of the amount and add to taste.
Variations
- Large Loaves – Don’t want 6 miniature loaves? You can also make this Sweet Bread recipe in 2 – 1 pound loaf pans or cut the recipe in half for just 1 loaf pan and bake 50 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test.
- Make Muffins – If you prefer to make them into muffins, just grease miniature muffin tins and fill each to 2/3 full. Bake 12 minutes.
- Make it Ornate – Alternatively, you can also bake it in an ornate loaf pan with the same minimal effort!
- Add a Glaze – This bread is amazing on it’s own, but you can also cover sweet bread with Glaze (or drizzle if you show any restraint). Cream Cheese Glaze, Orange Glaze Recipe or Lemon Glaze are some of our favorites!
- Add Fruits – Make it a Cranberry Orange Bread by folding in fresh or dried cranberries.
- Add Nuts – Pecans or candied walnuts work well!
- Add Chocolate Chips
How To Get A Strong Orange Flavor
Zesting the outer, colorful skin of unwaxed oranges (clementines or mandarins also work) adds a lot of flavor and aroma. Simply use a zester to zest the orange. If your oranges are waxed, run them under warm running water and use a vegetable brush to scrub it off. Reserve the orange to slice and garnish the top of your bread. It looks so pretty as well as enhancing those citrus flavors.When Do You Know The Bread Is Baked?
Cooking times will vary depending on your oven, but it will take about 40 minutes to bake the bread. Check for doneness by inserting a wooden skewer/toothpick in the middle of the loaf, it should come out clean.How To Store
- Room Temperature – Let the baked bread cool and then place it in an airtight container and it will keep for around 4 days.
- Refrigerate – You can extend the life of the bread by storing it in the fridge. It will keep well for around a week.
- Freeze – Wrap the cooled bread in foil and place in a freezer bag and it will keep for up to 3 months. Thaw it at air temperature.
So I made this bread today… and it was SO GOOD! I divided the recipe in half to make one loaf, and baked it for 50 mins. Instead of the vegetable oil, I used Greek yogurt, and added a 1/2 cup more flour as well as a 1/4 cup more milk. The orange flavor was great! I highly recommend, thanks for the recipe!
Thanks for sharing your variation!
Hi! Would it be okay to use orange flavoring instead of the orange zest to get the ‘orange’ flavor in the bread?
Absolutely! Enjoy! Use orange extract.
This is the first sweet bread that I’ve ever made, and it came out just lovely. I made a mistake at the store and bought baking soda instead of baking powder but decided to give it a try anyway. I cut the entire recipe in half so that I only had one large loaf and used 1 tsp of baking soda instead of the 1 tbsp of baking powder, along with 2.5 tsp of fresh squeezed orange juice as the acid for activating the baking soda. For the first 30 minutes in the oven it looked as though the center was not going to rise but it pulled through and ended up being absolutely beautiful and delicious. Though mine might taste slightly different from the original due to the added orange juice, I found the orange flavor to be just strong enough but still very delicate, and the texture is perfect.
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it, Maggie, thanks for sharing! I love that you put your own twist on it.
Hi Julie, I’m going to be making the orange bread, but only want to make one loaf! Should I halve the recipe? Is a “1 1/2 pound loaf” equal to a 9 x 5 loaf pan?
Yes, enjoy!
Are the orange slices added before or after baking? Looks both beautiful and delicious!
Before, enjoy!
Every thing looks delicious
thank you for sharing, very easy
ORANGE BREAD!!!! OMG!!! I need to make this bread this weekend! Looks so good!
This looks like a nice and light treat to have in the house!
I love lemon bread, but I’ve never had orange bread. It looks simply delicious! I’m adding it to my holiday baking list!
The orange slices on this bread just add to the beauty and flavor. LOVE this sweet treat.
This is the prettiest bread!
Oh my gosh this looks delicious! going to make it this winter for sure!
XO Ellen
This was a hit at our Christmas brunch.
Baked minis in aluminum pans well-greased and placed on cookie sheet for 25 minutes.
Baked full-sized pans 1/2 filled 45-50 minutes. Placed orange slices on top and batter rose over them for a delightful surprise of fresh orange mid-level. Will add a full layer of orange slices next time. Also I sprinkled about three tablespoons of sugar over top of batter, resulting in a beautiful crunchy crust.
Excellent fresh recipe with a moist cake texture. No change needed for high altitude.
Thanks for stopping back by to share! Glad you enjoyed them as well! Happy Holidays!
This looks so perfect and delicious! Love the fresh orange flavor!
Hello, where did you purchase your ceramic mini bread loaf pan(s)?
Michael’s, enjoy!
Hi Julie! Could I make this in a bundt cake pan?
Sure! I’d love to see photos…it will be beautiful! Brush the sides with non stick-cooking spray, allow it to cool a bit and release. Enjoy!
So beautiful! Love this!
Hi Julie, I have problem getting this cooked in 40 minutes, not sure why as its still wet inside, I believe the ingredients here c means cups? I would really love to make this bread as I love the citrus taste a lot.
Did you use mini loaves? If you did a full load, you’ll have to increase baking time.
Hello Julie-Yesterday I made both your peppermint cookies and the sweet orange bread. Oh my gosh, they are both delicious and I’ve passed them onto my 4 sister!
Love your blog and your ideas!
Thanks for making my day, Sandy! I really appreciate you taking the time to comment and share! I wish I didn’t enjoy those so much…there’s always January for dieting, right? Happy Holidays!