Orange Cranberry Bread

This vegan orange cranberry bread is moist, sweet, and a pretty festive dessert.  It’s full of zesty little cranberries, sweet orange juice, and gets a little crunch from the pumpkin seeds.  The icing drizzle is optional, but it makes it look a little more elegant and super tasty.

How to Make a Festive Cranberry Bread

The recipe is simple to put together, mash a banana really well, then add the zest and juice from an orange (⅓ cup), plant-based milk, vanilla extract, and mix together.  In a large bowl, whisk the whole-wheat flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix together.  I like to stop when everything is almost combined and fold in the cranberries and pumpkin seeds.  Pour the mixture into a prepared loaf pan and top with a tablespoon of raw shelled pumpkin seeds.  Bake at 350 F (180 C) for about 45-50 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test.  When the loaf is completely cooled, whisk together ¼ cup of powdered sugar sifted and ½ tablespoon plant-based milk.  Then drizzle the icing over the top of the loaf.  

Substitutions

• Raw pumpkin seeds can be substituted for any chopped nut
• 1 cup of whole-wheat flour can be substituted with 1 cup of all-purpose flour for a lighter bread (in texture) without adjusting for the liquid in the recipe.

Tips for Baking Orange Cranberry Bread

• When zesting your orange, a micro-plane works well, and be sure to only remove the bright orange skin, not the white pith underneath.
• If you don't get a ⅓ cup of fresh orange juice from your orange, make up the difference with additional plant-based milk. If more some reason you don't get anywhere near a ⅓ cup, use store-bought orange juice if you have it or juice another orange.
• If using store-bought sweetened orange juice for the entire ⅓ cup of fresh orange juice, it will alter the sweetness of the bread from the added sugar.
• My baking soda clumps, so I sift it so it evenly distributes in the dry ingredients.
• Oven temperatures can be inaccurate. An inexpensive oven thermometer can help you know your oven's actual temperature. These are very helpful in preventing baking mishaps due to inaccurate oven temperatures.
• Wait on icing the loaf until you are ready to serve.
• If transporting the bread, don't use plastic wrap, it will stick to the icing. If you do need to use plastic wrap, I haven't tried this but I've read you can use toothpicks to tent the plastic wrap so it doesn't touch the bread. Then take out the toothpicks before serving.
• Measuring a ¼ cup of powdered sugar can vary for some people because of how packed the fluffy powder is. So I would recommend looking for the right consistency when making your icing. Add more powdered sugar if it's too runny, add more milk if it's too dry (a little goes a long way).
• You want the icing to be thick to set up on your bread, if it's too thin it will just melt into the bread. It needs to be spoonable, but not run off your spoon like soup, but not too. Think Elmer's glue consistency. Probably not the best analogy for food, but I hope it helps with the visual!
• It may look like ¼ cup will not mix with just a ½ tablespoon, but just keep mixing and you'll see powdered sugar only needs just a touch of liquid to turn into a glaze.

Storing Leftovers

• Store at room temperature covered for 1 day or refrigerate for up to a week.
• The bread can also be frozen unglazed or glazed for up to 3 months.
• I like to slice leftovers and freeze the individual slices. To do this line a baking tray that will fit in your freezer with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Place the slices on the tray (not touching each other) and freeze overnight. Then transfer the frozen slices to a freezer bag or container. Now they're frozen individually! When ready to consume, thaw the desired amount in the refrigerator.

This wasn’t intentional, but the loaf has some festive holiday colors.  Green from the pumpkin seeds, red from the cranberries, and white from the glaze.  I just thought pumpkin seeds and cranberries sounded good and the drizzle would dress up the loaf.  How festive!

I hope you enjoy the recipe for orange cranberry bread!

Orange Cranberry Bread

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• Author: Allie
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 45-50 minutes
• Total Time: 60 minutes
• Yield: 1 loaf 1x
• Diet: Vegan

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Description

Vegan orange cranberry bread popping with fresh cranberries, sweetened with fresh orange juice, a delightful crunch from pumpkin seeds, and drizzled with a glaze. Very festive for the holidays!

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 ripe banana (mashed)
• 1 orange (zested and juiced(⅓ cup of juice from a navel orange))
• ¾ cup plant-based milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups whole-wheat flour
• ⅔ cup raw cane sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup fresh cranberries (small ones halved and large ones quartered)
• ¼ cup raw shelled pumpkin seeds (plus 1 tablespoon for topping)

Glaze

• ¼ cup powdered sugar
• ½ tablespoon plant-based milk

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C), grease or line a 5x9 inch (14x23 cm) loaf pan.
2. Mash the banana in a medium bowl, then add the orange zest, fresh orange juice, plant-based milk, and vanilla. Mix to combine.
3. In a large bowl whisk together the whole-wheat flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix, stopping halfway through (to help prevent over-mixing) and fold in the cranberries and ¼ cup shelled pumpkin seeds.
5. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf pan and sprinkle on the 1 extra tablespoon shelled pumpkin seeds.
6. Bake for about 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean.
7. Let the bread cool completely, then whisk together ¼ cup of powdered sugar and ½ tablespoon of plant-based milk. Drizzle over the bread.
8. Store covered at room temperature for 1 day, refrigerate for up to 1 week, or freeze for up to 3 months.

Notes

The icing should be the consistency of Elmer's glue (not the best analogy for food but hopefully helpful).  Depending on how packed the powdered sugar is, measuring it by volume and not weight can vary from one person to another.  So look for consistency, not too runny and not too thick.  You should be able to spoon it on the bread but not easily poured.  If it's too thin add more powdered sugar, too thick add just a smidge of milk.  

The raw cane sugar can be substituted for another granulated sugar.

• Category: Dessert
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: American

Keywords: holiday cranberry bread, oil-free holiday vegan cranberry bread, vegan holiday bread