Raise your hand if you grew up making cranberry orange bread around the holidays!
Ok, now, raise your hand if you grew up making it…from a box!
? ? ?
Hey hey, no shame if you did too. It was the 90s — box mixes and canned soups and scrunchy socks and pagers and Saved By The Bell were all the rage! And you’d better believe that — when it came to helping my mom with dinner — my little sister and I could whip up a mean loaf of cranberry orange box mix bread like pros. We excelled at following the directions on the box and making all kinds of quick breads and muffins, actually. But without a doubt, our favorite treat around the holidays was always, always cranberry orange bread.
We loved our cranberry orange bread. (<– Holding the nuts, please!)
And hey, let’s be real, I still love a good slice of cranberry orange bread. Although nowadays, I’d rather hold all of the processed ingredients, please. So for a throwback Thursday recipe today, I thought it would be fun to make a batch from scratch! Oh, and I added bananas, since I had a bunch of ripe ones sitting on my counter that needed to be used up. (<– This ended up being a very good idea.)
Seriously, this recipe only takes about 10 minutes to prep, and within an hour, your home is going to smell absolutely amazing and a delicious loaf of bread will be yours to enjoy.
Let’s do this!
So, in addition to some basic baking ingredients, the main three things that you’re going to need include:
- a bunch of ripe bananas (the browner, the better!)
- lots of dried cranberries (or you can also use halved fresh cranberries)
- some good orange juice (I used Florida’s Natural® Brand Orange Juice, which is not-from-concentrate and made from one ingredient — Florida oranges — and totally my fave. I love it because it has no water, sugar, or preservatives added, which helps me control the flavor and ingredients that make up this delicious, moist bread.)
Whip up your batter, and then carefully fold in all of those berries.
Then bake it up to moist, sweet, delicious perfection in the oven. (<– If the top starts to get too brown, just gently lay a sheet of aluminum foil on the top of the loaf to prevent more browning.)
Then once your loaf has baked and cooled off a bit, I highly recommend finishing it off with a simple orange glaze.
Then…dig in!
I actually loved this so much that I made three batches over the weekend — two to test out, and another that I baked in tiny bread tins to give away as holiday gifts. Because I’m convinced all over again, now, that the more cranberry orange (banana!) bread in this world, the better. ;)
Enjoy, everyone!
Cranberry Orange Banana Bread
Ingredients
Cranberry Orange Banana Bread Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup avocado oil (or any mild-flavored cooking oil)
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup Florida’s Natural ® Brand Orange Juice
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (or white whole-wheat flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
- optional: zest of one orange
Orange Glaze Ingredients:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons Florida’s Natural Orange Juice
- optional: zest of half an orange
Instructions
To Make The Bread:
- Preheat oven to 325°F (165°C). Grease a 9 x 5-inch bread pan with cooking spray, or line it with parchment paper, and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together oil, maple syrup, orange juice, eggs and vanilla extract until combined and smooth. Whisk in the mashed bananas, and whisked until mostly smooth. (There will be some small lumps due to the bananas – it’s ok!)
- In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon until combined. Pour the dry ingredient mixture into the banana mixture, and stir until evenly combined, being careful not to over-mix the batter. Gently fold in the cranberries (and orange zest, if using) until they are evenly mixed into the batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish, and spread the top with a spoon so that it is flat and smooth. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the bread comes out clean. (*If the bread starts to get too dark and brown on top while baking, place a sheet of aluminum foil lightly on top of the bread until it finishes baking.)
- Remove from the oven, and let the bread cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes before slicing.
To Make The Glaze:
- Whisk powdered sugar and orange juice (and orange zest, if using) together in a small bowl until completely combined. If you would like a thinner glaze, whisk in a little more orange juice. If you would like a thicker glaze, whisk in some more powdered sugar.
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!This post has been sponsored by Florida’s Natural ® Brand Orange Juice, which I love because it’s 100% juice that’s straight from the orange groves of Florida. Thank you so much for continuing to support the brands who help make this site possible!
Hi, I wonder if you have the nutrition facts of these recipe?
Thank you
How can I adapt recipe without the maple syrup? Thank you
My New Banana Bread Go To Recipe! I used pecans instead of cranberries and included the Orange zest and juice from tangerines. This recipe is the most moist banana bread I’ve ever baked. I used a smaller pan (8″ x 4″) and had to bake it for 65 minutes. I used 3 medium bananas, did not need the glaze. Love how it’s not overly sweet and will try it with Cranberries next time.
I turned these into muffins, baked at 325 for about 25 minutes. I subbed coconut oil for avocado oil, added walnuts, and realized, too late, that I was out of baking soda (replaced with 3x the specified amount in baking powder). Turned out great. I will definitely make these again! Thanks!
No cranberries in my loaf, because my preschool son doesn’t like them. Even missing them, this was the best banana bread I have ever made! The orange is a perfect addition.
We were to Cranberry fest in Eagle River, Wi.
Bought fresh And Craisins. Just made your recipe
W/craisins. I also made one with cranberries. I am looking forward to breakfast tomorrow.
This sounds delicious, I am a big fan of your enchilada sauce and skinny alfredo sauce and now search your recipes when I want to make a specific something, which is how I stumbled on this recipe! Maybe a silly question, but I’m assuming you use sweetened dried cranberries? It seems impossible to buy unsweetened and every homemade recipe warns of extreme tartness if I dry cranberries without any sweetener. Hopefully will be making this recipe in a few days! (Big boxed bread maker growing up and finally getting into homemade quick breads).
I’ve made this bread now twice—love it! I used the juice from the orange I zested, all of the zest from that orange, 1/2 teaspoon of orange oil and 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts and it was yummy. The second time I omitted the orange oil and didn’t like it nearly as much. The orange oil really gives it a citrus-y punch. I love that the banana gives it moisture without much flavor so the cranberry and orange really come through. This one’s a keeper for sure.
So delicious & moist! I added walnuts on top . Thank you.
I saved this recipe from a couple of years ago and finally tried it for a Christmas Tea. It was a big hit. I added 1/4 teaspoon orange oil to up the orange flavor a little and was nervous to see the batter so liquid-y. I baked it yesterday, cooled it thoroughly, then wrapped it in foil and popped it in the freezer over night, since I think banana bread is better after it’s frozen. I’ ll be making this one again. Thanks for a great recipe!