This easy Cranberry Bread Recipe is perfect for holiday entertaining -it makes a great breakfast, snack or dessert.It also makes a beautiful edible gift yielding 6 miniature loaves per batch. This quick bread recipe takes just 5 minutes hands on time!
Preheat oven to 350°F and grease 6 miniature loaf pans.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl or mixer, beat eggs, milk and oil.
Gradually add dry mixture to wet until just moist.
Pour mixture an inch below to the top to compensate for rise.
Sprinkle with cranberries and sugar. Bake 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Notes
Substitutions
Milk - Use whatever you have on hand from skim milk to vitamin D. Almond milk also works well and makes it dairy free.
Oil - Canola oil or melted butter also work well, if needed.
Cranberries - Use fresh cranberries for best results. Frozen cranberries tend to bleed a bit more and won't thoroughly bake through, though can be used. Chopped cranberries work best to fold into the batter. Use up to an entire bag depending on how much cranberry you'd like. Dried cranberries also work well.
Variations
Brown Sugar - substitute granulated sugar with brown sugar
Add Orange Zest - Make it a Cranberry Orange Bread by adding a hint of orange juice and orange zest.
Large Loaves - Make 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 ⅔ full. Bake 12 minutes.
Tips
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.
To Store
Room Temperature - Store cranberry bread in a sealed plastic bag or covered in saran wrap at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Freeze - To freeze bread, wrap tightly in heavy foil, saran wrap or place them in freezer bags (I like to do at least 2 to prevent freezer odors from seeping in). Freeze up to 3 months. Bring to room temperature to serve.