Here is an easy recipe for cranberry bread with dried cranberries. Dried cranberries tend to be sweeter than fresh or frozen cranberries so this recipe helps to create a delicious & sweet cranberry bread. Be aware that this cranberry bread is NOT a sandwich bread. Rather, our cranberry bread is a sweet “quick bread” (similar to banana bread) and has a muffin-like consistency and taste. Homemade cranberry bread is super easy to make and is perfect as a snack or dessert. Your family will love it!
Delicious Cranberry Bread – Stuffed with Dried Cranberries!
This cranberry bread (with dried cranberries) recipe should take you roughly 10 minutes to prepare and clean up. Please be aware that this is an oven-baked recipe. It is not made with a bread machine. You will also find a printable and “pin-able” recipe at the bottom of this page. If you liked this recipe, we hope you will leave a comment below and give us a 5 star rating.
Ingredients – Cranberry Bread with Dried Cranberries
- 1 Cup – Cranberry Juice (or you can use milk if you do not have any cranberry juice) – 230 milliliters
- 8 Tablespoons – Unsalted Butter (melted) – 115 grams
- 2 – Large Eggs (lightly beaten) – Not extra large or jumbo eggs.
- 1 Teaspoon – Vanilla Extract – 5 milliliters
- 1 1/4 Cups – Light Brown Sugar (packed cup) – 270 grams
- 2 Cups – All Purpose Flour – 240 grams
- 1 Teaspoon – Baking Soda – 5 grams
- 1 Teaspoon – Baking Powder – 4 grams
- 1/2 Teaspoon – Salt – 3 grams
- 1 Cup – Dried Cranberries – 114 grams
Servings – Roughly 12 slices
Equipment Needed – Measuring cup & spoons, mixing bowl, long wooden spoon, 9 by 5 bread pan, oven mitts, silicon spatula, cooling rack and an oven.
Mix Batter First then Add Dried Cranberries
Instructions – Cranberry Bread with Dried Cranberries
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Soften butter in a microwave. FYI – I like to semi-melt the butter for better “mixability”.
- Lightly beat eggs.
- Mix the cranberry juice (or milk), butter, eggs, vanilla extract & sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Stir until fully mixed.
- Then add the remaining ingredients (except the cranberries). Stir with a large spoon or whisk until the batter is fully mixed. Do not overmix.
- Add the dried cranberries after the batter has been completely mixed. Stir them into the batter with a wooden spoon. Make sure the cranberries are evenly spread throughout the batter.
- Grease the bread pan with butter, line the bread pan with baking parchment paper or use a good nonstick bread pan in order to prevent the cranberry bread from sticking to the bread pan during the baking process.
- Pour the finished batter into the bread pan. Smooth out the top of the batter within the bread pan.
- Bake in the oven at 325 F for 65-70 minutes.
- Take out of the oven and let the cranberry bread cool down in the bread pan for 10 minutes. Do not remove the cranberry bread from the bread pan during this 10 minute cool down period. Use oven mitts as the bread pan will be very hot coming out of the oven.
- After 10 minutes, remove the cranberry bread from the bread pan. Use oven mitts. Place the cranberry bread on a cooling rack in order to completely cool. This cool down may take 1-2 hours. Gently slide a silicon spatula between the cranberry bread and the bread pan walls if the cranberry bread is stuck in the pan.
- Please read the tips section below for extra information on how to make this recipe successfully.
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Tips – Cranberry Bread with Dried Cranberries
- The tips below are designed to help cranberry quick bread “novices” and/or people with limited baking experience.
- Click on our “print recipe” link if you want to print out this recipe. It includes all of the recipe’s ingredients and instructions. However, the recipe print function does not include our tips section. Please read the tips section in order to avoid common recipe problems.
- If you are looking for a cranberry quick bread made with fresh cranberries, you should try our Cranberry Bread with Fresh Cranberries recipe. FYI – Our “fresh cranberry” bread version tends to be a little tarter & juicier (due to the juice inside the fresh cranberries). In contrast, our “dried cranberry” bread version generally tends to be a little sweeter (due to the sugar that is often added to dried cranberries during the manufacturing process).
- According to Wikipedia, “Dried cranberries are made by partially dehydrating fresh cranberries, a process similar to making grapes into raisins. They are popular in trail mix, salads, breads, with cereals, or eaten on their own… The most commercially produced dried cranberries contain added sugar, and they may also be coated in very small quantities of vegetable oil to keep them from sticking together.”
- If you look in the supermarket, you can usually find sweetened and unsweetened dried cranberries. For this recipe, we used sweetened dried cranberries in order to create a sweeter/less tart flavor. However, please feel to use unsweetened cranberries if you want less sugar in your cranberry bread or would like a slightly tarter taste to your cranberry bread. FYI – If you want to determine if your dried cranberries are sweetened or unsweetened, you should read the ingredient label on the dried cranberries package and see if the manufacturer has added sugar.
- I like to use cranberry juice when making this cranberry quick bread recipe because it adds some extra cranberry flavor. However, if you do not have cranberry juice, you can use milk and still create a delicious cranberry bread.
- Be aware that dried cranberries tend to be a little more expensive than fresh cranberries due to the processing involved (i.e. dehydrating the cranberries).
- You should not soak the dried cranberries. They should be added in their “natural” dried state to the batter.
- Do not overmix the batter or it will turn out gummy. Do not use an electric mixer because it is easier to overmix the batter.
- This recipe uses light brown sugar because it adds a slightly richer taste and a little more moisture (versus using granulated white sugar). It also helps to activate the baking soda.
- For better “sliceability”, you should allow the cranberry quick bread to completely cool. Warm cranberry bread is more likely to crumble/break when sliced. In addition, for easier slicing, it is better to use a sharp serrated knife when cutting cranberry bread.
- Optional – If you have run out of dried cranberries, you can try dried fruit alternatives such as golden raisins, dried blueberries, dried cherries, etc.
- Optional – Or if you are feeling really creative, you can experiment and create a fruity blend by combining dried cranberries with raisins, dried blueberries, etc.
- Optional – You can create a delicious cranberry nut bread by adding 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts. You will need to reduce the dried cranberries to 1/2 cup. The total amount of chopped walnuts & dried cranberries should equal 1 cup (1/2 cup of nuts & 1/2 cup of cranberries).
- FYI – This recipe is for a cranberry bread without orange juice or orange zest. I prefer cranberry bread without orange because the orange taste can interfere with the flavor of the cranberries. However, if you want to create an orange cranberry bread variation, you should replace the cranberry juice (called for in this recipe) with a similar amount of orange juice.
- Optional – If you want to create a chocolate cranberry bread, you can use some chocolate covered cranberries or use a 50/50 split of dried cranberries & semi-sweet chocolate chips.
- FYI – It is usually a lot cheaper to use the chocolate chip/dried cranberry method (versus using chocolate covered cranberries) in order to make a chocolate cranberry bread.
- Optional – If you want a sweeter cranberry bread, you can sprinkle 1 tablespoon of turbinado sugar (a brown sugar with large sugar crystals) on top of the batter before you place the bread pan in the oven. You can find turbinado sugar in most large supermarkets (in the baking supplies section next to the “regular” sugar products).
- Make sure to grease the bread pan, line the bread pan with baking parchment paper or use a good nonstick bread pan. The cranberries can become very sticky after the baking process (especially on the bottom of the bread pan). Baking parchment paper might be the safest way to manage a potential sticky “bottom”.
- However, don’t grease the bread pan near the top of the pan. There will be nothing for batter to cling to as it rises. This could cause the bread top to collapse as it rises.
- Cranberry bread is great for any special occasion throughout the year. However, it is a perfect as a traditional fall dessert. I especially love cranberry bread as a quick thanksgiving snack or dessert.
- If your family loves cranberries, you should also try out our Cranberry Banana Bread, Pumpkin Cranberry Bread and Cranberry Banana Muffins recipes.
- This doesn’t happen often but if the top of the cranberry bread looks too moist or under cooked, you should try the “toothpick test”. Gently push a toothpick (or wooden skewer) into the top of the bread and see if any batter sticks to the toothpick. If batter is sticking to the toothpick then it hasn’t completely cooked. Place the bread pan back into the still hot oven for another 3 to 5 minutes. Make sure to wear oven gloves because the bread pan will be very hot. Remove the bread pan and test the cranberry bread again with a tooth pick.
- If your oven does not have a built-in thermometer, you can buy an inexpensive oven thermometer that you can place inside your oven (in order to correctly gauge the temperature). Some oven gauges can be 25-50 degrees different than the actual temperature inside the oven.
- Make sure that your oven has been completely preheated. If the oven has not been properly preheated, this quick bread could come out undercooked. Use a portable oven thermometer to check the interior oven temperature.
- If you have a problem with small white flour “lumps” appearing in moist cranberry breads & quick breads, you should consider using a whisk to mix your batter. Just don’t over mix the batter.
- Since this recipe uses baking soda, this cranberry bread should be placed in the oven as soon as the batter has been mixed & poured into the bread pan. Baking soda activates quickly and if the batter sits around for a while before the bread pan is put in the oven, the quick bread might have problems rising properly (as some or most of the gas will have been released before the baking has commenced).
- If you are looking for a nice sandwich bread that contains dried cranberries, you might like to try our Cranberry Walnut Bread Recipe.
- Use a whisk if you have a problem with small flour “clumps” appearing in the batter.
- Always use relatively FRESH baking soda & powder for the best results. For example, using baking soda from an open container (that has been deodorizing your refrigerator for months) may lead to subpar results. Old & hard baking soda/powder may lead to rising problems and/or leave small bitter clumps in your cranberry bread with dried cranberries.
- If you do not have aluminum free baking powder, “regular” baking powder should work fine (as long as it is relatively fresh). However, I prefer to use aluminum free food ingredients when making food for my family.
- In case, you didn’t see this in the “equipment used to make this recipe” section, this recipe is based on using a standard 9 by 5 bread pan. This means that the interior of the bread pan (not exterior) measures 9 inches in length, 5 inches in width and 2 1/2 inches in depth/height. Of course, Bread Dads are crazy about exact measurements… thus the use of measuring tapes! Ha!
- Please use the suggested 9 x 5 bread pan to make this recipe. If you start using different sized pans, there is a greater potential for bread top collapses (less bread pan “wall” support for the quick bread as it rises), different interior batter to exterior bread ratios (thus the need for different baking lengths), etc.
- If you have a problem with a cranberry bread recipe, please make sure that you are following the recipe exactly (i.e. using the correct oven temperature), using the correct amounts of ingredients (i.e. don’t eyeball the measurements versus using a measuring cup or accidentally add a tablespoon when a teaspoon is called for), using the correct ingredients (i.e. baking soda/powder versus yeast or all purpose flour versus bread flour), etc. Please don’t “wing” things with recipes.
- My recipes are based on US ingredient measurements (i.e. US cups & tablespoons). However, as a courtesy to our European visitors, I have also included some very ROUGH European equivalents (i.e. grams & milliliters). Since I rarely use European measurements when baking, please let me know in the comment section below if any of the European ingredient measurements need to be changed (i.e. for XYZ ingredient, milliliters are more commonly used versus the grams information listed in the recipe).
- Always wear oven mitts/gloves when dealing with bread pans & a hot oven.
- For other delicious quick bread ideas (i.e. banana bread, pumpkin bread or cornbread), please visit Bread Dad’s main section for Sweet Quick Bread Recipes.
If you liked this recipe, please leave a comment below & give us a 5 star rating. It is ALWAYS great to hear from someone who has enjoyed our recipes! Jump to comment section
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Reference Sources
- Wikipedia, Cranberry
- Wikipedia, Dried Cranberry
- Wikipedia, Quick Bread
Cranberry Bread with Dried Cranberries
Here is an easy recipe for cranberry bread with dried cranberries. Dried cranberries tend to be sweeter than fresh or frozen cranberries so this recipe helps to create a delicious sugary cranberry bread.
Servings: 12 Slices
Calories: 290kcal
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Cranberry Juice (or you can use milk if you do not have any cranberry juice)
- 8 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter (softened)
- 2 Large Eggs (lightly beaten)
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 1/4 Cups Light Brown Sugar (packed cup)
- 2 Cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Cup Dried Cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Soften butter in a microwave.
- Lightly beat eggs.
- Mix the cranberry juice (or milk), butter, eggs, vanilla extract & sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Stir until fully mixed.
- Then add the remaining ingredients (except the cranberries). Stir with a large spoon or whisk until the batter is fully mixed. Do not overmix.
- Add the dried cranberries after the batter has been completely mixed. Stir them into the batter with a wooden spoon. Make sure the cranberries are evenly spread throughout the batter.
- Grease the bread pan with butter, line the bread pan with baking parchment paper or use a good nonstick bread pan in order to prevent the cranberry bread from sticking to the bread pan during the baking process.
- Pour finished batter into the bread pan. Smooth out the top of the batter within the bread pan.
- Bake in the oven at 325 F for 65-70 minutes.
- Take out of oven and let the cranberry bread cool down in the bread pan for 10 minutes. Do not remove the cranberry bread from the bread pan during this 10 minute cool down period. Use oven mitts as the bread pan will be very hot coming out of the oven.
- After 10 minutes, remove the cranberry bread from the bread pan. Use oven mitts. Place the cranberry bread on a cooling rack in order to completely cool. This cool down may take 1-2 hours. Gently slide a silicon spatula between the cranberry bread and the bread pan walls if the cranberry bread is stuck in the pan.
Notes
This is a Bread Dad recipe and may not be copied or reproduced. This recipe is copyright protected under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Legal Disclaimer
The nutritional information is provided using recipe tools such as WP Recipe Maker. These figures should only be considered as an estimate. They should not be construed as a guarantee of accuracy given visitors may use different serving sizes, ingredients, etc. See our legal disclaimer for additional nutrition disclosures.
Nutrition
Serving: 1Slice | Calories: 290kcal | Carbohydrates: 52g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 47mg | Sodium: 243mg | Potassium: 87mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 33g | Vitamin A: 282IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 51mg | Iron: 1mg
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