Vegan Cranberry Orange Bread (Whole Wheat and Oil-Free)

Recipe features

• Flavored with fresh orange juice and tart fresh cranberries.
• The vegan cranberry bread recipe is egg-free, dairy-free, oil-free, and made with whole wheat flour.
• A perfect holiday treat or give it as a holiday gift!

Ingredient notes and substitutions

The delicious recipe uses simple ingredients, but please see the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and exact measurements.

Sugar - I use organic cane sugar.

Unsweetened applesauce - This is used to keep the vegan cranberry loaf cake oil-free.  Use unsweetened applesauce.

Orange juice and zest - Fresh orange juice is best to use for the orange flavor.  Use a ¼ cup for the loaf recipe plus 2 tablespoons if you plan on making the glaze.  Zest the orange before slicing it to squeeze the juice.  When zesting your orange, a micro-plane works well; be sure to only remove the bright orange skin, not the white pith underneath.

Non-dairy milk - Any dairy-free milk will work.  Try it with oat, soy, cashew, or almond milk.  Higher protein milk like soy milk will start to make a vegan buttermilk (with an orange flavor) when mixed with the orange juice.  This will not impact the recipe.  

Vanilla extract - Adds more flavor to the cranberry orange loaf.

How to make vegan cranberry orange bread

Start the vegan orange cranberry bread by preheating the oven to 350 F (180 C), prep a 9 x 5-inch glass loaf dish with parchment paper, or use a non-stick cooking spray to grease the dish.  Leave some of the parchment paper hanging over the edge of the dish for ease of removing the bread to cool when it's done cooking.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the applesauce, sugar, orange zest, fresh orange juice, dairy-free milk, and vanilla. 

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the whole-wheat flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix them together.  I like to stop when everything is almost combined and fold in the fresh cranberries and pumpkin seeds. 

Pour the mixture into a prepared loaf pan and smooth out the top.  Place the baking dish on the center rack in the oven and bake for about 45-55 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let the sweet bread cool for about 10 minutes in the loaf pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

When the loaf is completely cooled, whisk together ½ cup of powdered sugar and 1 ½ tablespoons of orange juice until smooth to make a sweet orange glaze.  Then drizzle the icing over the top of the loaf.  

Tips

• If your baking soda and/or baking powder clumps,  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 unreliable oven temperatures.
• If transporting the bread, plastic wrap may stick to the icing. I haven’t tried this but if you do need to use plastic wrap, 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 ½ cup of powdered sugar by volume can yield different results for some people because of how packed the fluffy powder is.  I would recommend looking for the right consistency when making your icing. Add more powdered sugar if it's too runny, and 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 thick.  Similar to Elmer’s glue consistency. Probably not the best analogy for food, but I hope it helps with the visual!

Storage

Room temperature -Store loosely covered at room temperature for 1 day.

Refrigerate - For longer storage refrigerate the vegan cranberry bread covered for about 5 days.

Freeze -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!  Alternatively, store in a freezer-safe container with slices separated by parchment paper.

When ready to consume, thaw the desired amount in the refrigerator.

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• Chocolate covered Cookie Dough Bites
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I hope you enjoy the recipe for vegan cranberry orange bread!