I love the flavor combination of cranberry and orange.  The taste of those two tart fruit flavors together are just perfection.  This Cranberry Orange Quick Bread Recipe is so festive feeling, it just screams “Fall Holiday!”  It’s a beautiful tender loaf that could just about pass for cake, drizzled with a sweet orange glaze.  It is my Christmas dessert dreams come true!

This quick bread recipe uses fresh orange zest and juice squeezed from the oranges to give it the most bright, intense orange flavor in both the bread and the glaze.  Add the pop of the whole fresh cranberries and it’s simply divine.  You are going to love making this over and over again for a breakfast, brunch or dessert treat.

A couple of tips for this bread recipe:

• If you haven’t ever used Bakers Joy non-stick baking spray, let me introduce you to it.  This non-stick cooking spray has flour in it so it is perfect for spraying pans for quick breads, brownies and cakes. 
• Freshly squeezed orange juice is best for this recipe – I zest and juice two large naval oranges and that usually gives me enough juice and zest for the bread and the glaze.
• You can substitute buttermilk for the half and half if that is what you have on hand, I just love the texture half and half adds to quick bread.
• Please don’t use dried cranberries – they are not the same.  Fresh cranberries are abundant through the fall and they make all the difference.  I leave my cranberries whole, but I do wash them thoroughly and go through them carefully and remove any that are bruised or squishy.  As a note, if you chop the cranberries they will stain your loaf more of a pink color.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp orange zest 
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups fresh cranberries
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch

Orange Glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 Tbsps freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 tsp orange zest

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray a standard size bread loaf pan with non-stick spray with flour. (I use Bakers Joy.)
2. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a larger mixing bowl, add the sugar and orange zest. Use a small spatula to stir and smoosh the zest in to the sugar for about 1 minute. Your sugar will start to turn a light orange, but you will still see flecks of zest.
4. Whisk the canola oil, half and half, and orange juice in to the sugar mixture. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix by hand until just combined. (Don’t overmix.)
6. In a small bowl, mix the cranberries with the Tbsp of cornstarch then stir them in to the batter by hand.
7. Pour the batter in to your prepared bread pan, then bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick in the middle comes out clean.
8. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan on a cooling rack for at least 15 minutes then run a knife around the edge and remove from the pan to let it finish cooling.
9. For the glaze: In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, 1 Tbsp of orange juice and orange zest. You want it drizzle consistency, so add up to another Tbsp of orange juice if you need more!
10. After the bread is COMPLETELY cool, drizzle with glaze and serve!