This mouthwatering Cream Cheese Cranberry Bread Loaf has Orange flavor throughout. It’s sweet, tart and luscious. A great holiday treat!

Why Make This Cream Cheese Orange Cranberry Loaf

The best holiday bread to bring to gatherings or for a sweet treat in the morning. Its tart, sweet and all round luscious. The loaf is bright and moist, perfect with a slap of butter or on it’s own.

You can make this bread a bit sweeter with icing, or keep it mildly sweet with a dusting of powdered sugar. Either way, if you are a fan of seasonal cranberries give this cream cheese infused bread try! If you aren’t a huge fan of cranberries or want to try something new, go for my Blueberry Banana Bread.

Ingredients Needed

All Purpose Flour. This is the base of the bread.

Fresh Cranberries. You can use frozen cranberries as well. They can be seasonally stocked in stores but they tend to always be in the product section around October-January.

Oranges. Fresh large navel oranges work best.

Cream Cheese. This is a large flavor component to the bread and it keeps it nice and moist. Also try my Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies.

All other ingredients and measurements can be found in the recipe card below. 

Recipe Variations

All purpose Flour. I have only tried this recipe with all purpose flour and all purpose gluten free flour so I suggest you stick to one of those.

Butter. Plant based butter will also work if you need to make this dairy free.

Cream Cheese. Plant based cream cheese will also work to make this dairy free.

Oranges. You can make this recipe without the oranges and orange zest however it will be just a bit more tart.

Steps To Make This Recipe

Step One. preheat oven to 350º F and lightly grease a 13×5 inch loaf pan or a 9×5-inch loaf pan (please note if using a 9×5 cooking time will be longer, you can also make two loaves if using a 9×5 to quicken the cooking time) with butter or non-stick spray. Cream together room temperature butter, cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl or mixer, beat in eggs, orange juice and vanilla.

Step Two. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt until combined. Gradually mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients, stirring until just incorporated. Next fold in cranberries and walnuts (if using walnuts).

Step Three. Place in oven and bake for 25 minutes, after 25 minutes place a very loose piece of tin foil over the loaf (just to cover the top of the bread to keep it from browning too much!) bake for an additional 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center. Please note all ovens vary a bit in temperature and so does dish-ware so keep an eye and pack some patience for it to cook through.

Step Four. Remove from oven and let cool at least 20 minutes before adding powdered sugar or icing. Gently slice and enjoy!

Recipe FAQs

Recipe Tips

Don’t over mix the batter. This will result in a flat bread. Just mix it enough to get everything combined, the oven will do the rest of the work.

If you are using a 9×5 loaf pan and not an extra large loaf pan, no Problem! Just be patient with the cook time, it will take a bit longer since there is less room in the pan. Additionally, you can speed things up and use two 9×5 loaf pans, fill them both half way and keep an eye on them for 30-40 minutes baking time.

If you prefer a sweeter bread, make the 2-ingredient icing. This really sweetens things up and makes the bread more of a treat. Whisk 1/2 cup of powdered sugar with 1 tsp milk or water to make icing.

Other Sweet Breads To Enjoy

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