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Cranberry Walnut Bread

Cranberry walnut bread—an easy American quick bread with bright cranberries, toasted walnuts, and orange zest. Baked until golden with a clean toothpick, then cooled for easy slicing.
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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
Add-ins
  • 1.5 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, roughly chopped
  • 0.75 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan

Method
 

Prep the loaf pan and oven
  1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and line a 9x5-inch loaf pan.
Mix the batter
  1. Whisk all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and orange zest in a bowl. Whisk until evenly combined.
  2. Whisk orange juice, large egg, melted butter, and vanilla extract in a separate bowl. Mix until smooth and uniform.
  3. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Stop as soon as no dry flour pockets remain.
  4. Fold in fresh or frozen cranberries, roughly chopped, and walnuts, toasted and chopped. Mix until the add-ins are evenly distributed.
  5. Spread the batter into the prepared 9x5-inch loaf pan. Level the top so it bakes evenly.
Bake and cool
  1. Bake at 350F for 55-60 minutes, until golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Rotate the pan once halfway through for even browning.
  2. Cool the loaf in the pan for 10 minutes. This sets the crumb for cleaner slicing.
  3. Turn the loaf out onto a rack to cool completely before slicing. Wait until fully cool for the best texture.

Notes

For the best rise and moist crumb, stir the wet into the dry only until moistened—overmixing can make quick bread tough. Store tightly wrapped at room temperature for up to 3 days or refrigerate up to 5 days; freeze slices up to 2 months. To make it dairy-free, replace the melted butter with an equal amount of melted neutral oil.