Pumpkin Cranberry Bread Recipe (Moist)

This pumpkin cranberry bread recipe creates a delicious & orange colored dessert. The tart cranberries combine perfectly with the pumpkin to make a wonderfully sweet “quick bread” (similar to banana bread). This recipe is also great for Thanksgiving or any other “harvest” related special occasion. Quick breads are fast & super easy to make. Your family & friends will love the flavor of this easy pumpkin cranberry bread.

Delicious & Moist Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread – Fresh from the Oven

My recipe takes me roughly 10-15 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.

Ingredients – Pumpkin Cranberry Bread Recipe

• 1 1/4 Cups – Pumpkin Puree (not pumpkin pie mix) – 281 grams
• 2 – Large Eggs
• 1/2 Cup – Vegetable Oil – 115 grams – Use a neutral tasting vegetable oil such as corn or canola.
• 1 1/4 Cups – White Granulated Sugar – 250 grams
• 2 Cups – All Purpose Flour – 240 grams
• 1 Teaspoon – Vanilla Extract – 5 milliliters
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Soda – 5 grams
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Powder – 4 grams
• 1/2 Teaspoon – Salt – 3 grams
• 1 1/2 Teaspoons – Pumpkin Pie Spice – 3 grams – Optional Ingredient – Exclude if you prefer plain pumpkin cranberry breads (those without a pumpkin pie flavor).
• 1 Cup – Cranberries (fresh or frozen) – 100 grams

Servings – Roughly 12 slices

Equipment – Measuring cup & spoons, mixing bowl, long wooden spoon, 9 by 5 bread pan, oven mitts, silicon spatula, cooling rack and an oven.

Key ingredients – Pumpkin Puree & Cranberries

Instructions – Pumpkin Cranberry Bread Recipe

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Grease bread pan (if necessary).
• Lightly beat eggs.
• Stir pumpkin puree, eggs, oil & sugar together.
• Mix in remaining ingredients (except the cranberries). Stir until the batter is fully mixed.
• Add the cranberries after the batter has been completely mixed. Make sure the cranberries are evenly spread throughout the batter.
• Pour finished batter into a nonstick bread pan. Smooth out the top of the batter within the bread pan.
• Bake in the oven for 65-70 minutes.
• Take out of oven and let the pumpkin bread cool down in the bread pan for 10 minutes. Do not remove the pumpkin 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 pumpkin cranberry bread from the bread pan. Place the pumpkin 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 pumpkin bread and the bread pan walls if the pumpkin bread is stuck in the pan.
• Please read the tips section below for extra information on how to make this recipe successfully & to avoid common pumpkin bread problems.

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Pumpkin Cranberry Bread – Batter before Mixing in Cranberries

Batter in Bread Pan – Right before the Oven Baking

Other Bread Dad Sections

• Bread Machines – My favorites
• Bread Machine Cookbooks
• Bread Mixes – Ingredient kits
• Bread Tools – Baguette pans, etc.
• Ingredients – Pumpkin puree, etc.

Tips – Pumpkin Cranberry Bread Recipe

• The tips below are designed to help sweet 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.
• This recipe is part of Bread Dad’s series on easy Quick Bread Recipes.

• 1 1/4 cups of pumpkin puree is roughly 10 ounces (versus the normal 15 oz in many pumpkin puree cans). So you do not use an entire 15 ounce pumpkin puree can to make this recipe.
• You can freeze any “leftover” pumpkin puree. It should be stored in your freezer and will last for at least several months. Place the puree in a resealable container before you put it in the freezer. You can then thaw out the frozen puree later in order to use it in pumpkin pies, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin pies, etc.
• Make sure that you are using pumpkin puree (and not a pumpkin pie mix). Pumpkin pie mix contains extra ingredients such as water, sugar & spices and this can throw off the taste & consistency of this pumpkin bread recipe if used. I prefer to use powdered “pumpkin pie spice” (versus canned pumpkin pie mix) because you have better control over the flavor (i.e. add less spice to tune down the flavor or add more spice for an extra punch of flavor). It is much harder to adjust the flavor when using a canned mix.

• Use fresh cranberries for the most consistent results. Unfortunately, frozen cranberries can have the occasional problem of adding extra moisture (via exterior ice crystals). This extra moisture can throw off the recipe (and leave it undercooked).
• However, with a little extra care, frozen cranberries are fine too! You just need to make sure that there is no extra moisture being added to the batter. Many packages of frozen cranberries have tons of ice crystals (and if you add the ice crystals, you will be adding too much moisture). To get around this problem, you should wash off the ice crystals, strain the cranberries in a colander and then dry the cranberries with a paper towel. Just make sure the cranberries are completely dried off before adding them to the batter.
• Optional – You can press some extra cranberries into the top of the batter (before you place the bread pan in the oven) if you want a more “cranberry-icious” (is that even a word?? ha!) appearance. However, do not press in too many as some cranberries will burst or leak during the baking process.
• Visitors – Do you like pumpkin cranberry bread that tastes like pumpkin pie? And what do you add to your pumpkin breads to make them extra special (i.e. spices, chopped walnuts, etc.)? Please leave your pumpkin bread tips & suggestions in the comment section below.

• Optional – For a slightly richer taste, you can use brown sugar instead of white granulated sugar. However, be aware that the brown sugar will change the orange color of the pumpkin cranberry bread and make it darker. I prefer the brighter orange color of the white sugar version.
• Optional – If you do not have fresh/frozen cranberries, you can use dried cranberries. However, I prefer the tart taste of fresh cranberries (versus the sweeter taste of dried cranberries) when making cranberry pumpkin bread. The tartness of the cranberries is a nice contrast to the sweet pumpkin bread. Of course, fresh cranberries are also much juicier than dried cranberries!
• Optional – You can add 1 1/2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice if you want this pumpkin cranberry bread to taste more like pumpkin pie. Some of our visitors like the taste of pumpkin pie and some don’t (as they prefer “plain” pumpkin cranberry bread). The decision to add or not add the pumpkin pie spice should be based on your family’s personal taste preferences.
• Optional – If you do not like the taste of pumpkin pie mix, you can use 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon instead.

• This recipe is for pumpkin bread with oil and not butter. I find that pumpkin breads with oil tend to stay a little moister than pumpkin breads made with butter. Vegetable oil is a liquid at room temperature whereas butter is a solid at room temperature.
• You should use a NEUTRAL flavored vegetable oil (i.e. corn or canola oil) in order to make this pumpkin bread recipe. Stronger flavored oils (i.e. peanut oil or olive oil) may negatively impact the pumpkin bread taste.
• Economic Benefit – Many vegetable oils (i.e. canola and corn oil) are less expensive than butter (on an ounce-to-ounce basis). This helps to lower the cost of homemade baked goods. A nice positive in these times of economic uncertainty.
• However, if you would prefer a slightly buttery taste to your pumpkin bread, you can use 1/2 cup of butter (8 tablespoons) instead of vegetable oil.
• Do NOT use an electric mixer to mix your ingredients. Stick to an old fashioned wooden spoon. An electric mixer can overmix the ingredients and the pumpkin bread will turn out rubbery & gummy.

• Make sure that your oven has been completely preheated. If the oven has not been properly preheated, this quick bread could come out undercooked.
• 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).
• Make sure to “grease” the bottom of the bread pan as cranberries can be sticky after baking. Or you can use baking parchment paper to line your bread pan in order to help prevent the pumpkin bread from sticking to the bottom of the bread pan.
• Baking parchment paper is probably the safest method to remove pumpkin bread from a bread pan (when you are using “sticky” ingredients such as cranberries or chocolate chips).
• This cranberry pumpkin bread is a type of sweet “quick bread”. Quick breads use baking soda and/or baking powder as a leavening agent (and generally do not use slower rising bread yeast). This results in a muffin-like dessert that is quick & easy to make. Classic quick bread examples are banana bread, strawberry bread, blueberry bread, etc.
• If your family loves cranberries, you can try our recipes for Cranberry Banana Bread, Cranberry Banana Muffins, Applesauce Cranberry Bread and Cranberry Bread with Fresh Cranberries.
• Or if they love pumpkin-based desserts, you should try our recipes for Pumpkin Pie Bread, Pumpkin Nut Bread, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Banana Bread and Bread Machine Pumpkin Bread.

• This doesn’t happen often but if the top of the pumpkin bread looks too moist or under cooked, you should try the “toothpick test”. Gently push a long wooden skewer into the top of the bread and see if any batter sticks to the skewer. If batter is sticking to the skewer then it hasn’t completely cooked. Place the bread pan back into the still hot oven for another 2 or 3 minutes. Make sure to wear oven gloves because the bread pan will be very hot. After the 2 or 3 minutes, remove the bread pan and test the pumpkin bread again with a long wooden skewer.
• If you have a problem with a pumpkin 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.
• In addition, you should always try to 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 pumpkin cranberry bread.

• 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.
• 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 recipes (i.e. banana bread, strawberry bread, blueberry bread or cornbread), please visit Bread Dad’s main section for sweet Quick Bread Recipes.
• Did you make this recipe? Did it come out amazing? We would love to see a picture of your baking masterpiece! Please post a photo of it on Instagram and tag it with @BreadDadRecipes

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More Bread Dad Recipes

• Bread Machine Recipes
• Bread Recipes
• Banana Bread Recipe
• Quick Bread Recipes – Pumpkin bread, cranberry bread, etc.
• Cookie Recipes

Question – Easy Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

What is the pumpkin puree used in pumpkin cranberry bread?

Pumpkin puree is mashed & processed pumpkin and usually does not contain added sugar or spices. It is often sold in 15 oz cans in America. Look for products that contain 100% pumpkin puree because a few pumpkin puree products also contain some pureed squash in addition to the pumpkin. Don’t confuse pumpkin puree with pumpkin pie mix. Canned pumpkin pie mix generally consists of pumpkin, water, sugar, salt, spices and/or other ingredients. It is harder to make your own unique tasting baked goods if you are using the preset flavor from a manufacturer’s canned pumpkin pie mix.

Reference Sources

• Wikipedia, Cranberry
• Wikipedia, Pumpkin
• Wikipedia, Pumpkin Pie
• Wikipedia, Quick Bread

If you liked this recipe, please leave a comment below & give us a 5 star rating. Your comments help us to improve & clarify our recipe instructions. Moreover, it is ALWAYS great to hear from someone who has enjoyed our recipes!!!

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• Cranberry Banana Bread
• Cranberry Bread with Dried Cranberries
• Cranberry Bread with Fresh Cranberries
• Pumpkin Banana Bread
• Pumpkin Pie Bread – Extra moist
• Bread Machine Pumpkin Bread

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