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Cranberry Walnut Bread

Cranberry walnut bread is a golden quick bread studded with bright cranberries and toasted walnuts, with orange zest in every slice. Bakes into a tender loaf with a clean toothpick test and cools before slicing for neat, thick slices.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 10 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 320
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Dry ingredients
  • 2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1.5 tsp baking powder
  • 0.5 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp orange zest
Wet ingredients
  • 0.75 cup orange juice
  • 1 large egg
  • 0.25 cup butter, melted
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
Mix-ins
  • 1.5 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, roughly chopped
  • 0.75 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan

Method
 

Prep the oven and pan
  1. Preheat the oven to 350F, then grease and line a 9x5-inch loaf pan.
Mix dry and wet
  1. Whisk all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and orange zest until evenly combined and no dry streaks remain.
  2. Whisk orange juice, large egg, melted butter, and vanilla extract until smooth and uniform, with no visible egg bits.
Combine and add mix-ins
  1. Stir wet into dry just until moistened, stopping as soon as no flour pockets show.
  2. Fold in the cranberries and walnuts, then spread the batter evenly into the pan.
Bake and cool
  1. Bake at 350F for 55-60 minutes, until golden and a toothpick comes out clean (look for a dry crumb and no wet batter).
  2. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a rack to cool fully before slicing into thick pieces.

Notes

Pro tip: Toast the walnuts until fragrant and let them cool before folding in so the nuts stay crisp and don’t soften the crumb too much. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days or refrigerated for up to 5 days; freeze slices wrapped well for up to 2 months. Dietary swap: For a lower-sugar option, use a 1:1 substitute baking sugar and keep the baking soda/powder amounts the same.