Ocean Spray invited me to create a fun recipe for the holiday season by gifting me with their Craisins® dried cranberries, and my first thought was to combine them with orange, because, what better combo is that? I have been wanting to make more breads/loafs/whatever you want to call them, so this collab was my perfect opportunity. Rather than make a lemon loaf, try something different with this cranberry orange loaf topped with royal icing!
One of the first steps of this recipe is to zest an entire orange into your sugar and mix it together with your fingers, creating a gorgeous beautifully scented sugar! This ensures all of the zest is evenly mixed throughout the loaf. The scent is unreal.
I love when citrus loafs are topped with a zingy royal icing— so I did the same for this recipe! You only need a single naval orange for this entire recipe and we use both the juice and zest to give this bread a nice orangey fragrance and subtle flavor. I like to chop off the ends of the loaf and let the icing drip down— then you can see all the goodies studded (aka the Ocean Spray® Craisins® Dried Cranberries) inside!
One of my favorite parts of this recipe is the addition of almond extract— it adds a totally different, almost floral, delicate flavor to this loaf that is a welcome and needed addition to the vanilla. Between the soft textured bread, the tartness & added texture from the Craisins® Dried Cranberries, paired with the sweet icing, this loaf really gives you the best of everything. You need to try this recipe out this holiday season— it would pair beautifully with a cup of tea!
Cranberry Orange Bread
For Cranberry Orange Bread
- 1 1/2 cups flour (all purpose)
- 3/4 cup sugar (granulated)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup fresh orange juice ((about 3/4 naval orange))
- 2 eggs (large)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- zest of one orange
- 3/4 cup Craisins® Dried Cranberries
For Icing
- 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 3 tbsp fresh orange juice
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
For Cranberry Orange Bread
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and line your loaf pan (8.5×4.5 inch)
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In a large bowl, zest one orange and mix with sugar by rubbing with your fingers until fully combined. Add flour, baking powder and salt and whisk. Add 1tsp of flour mixture to your Craisins in a separate bowl & coat to prevent them from sinking while baking. Add in oil, ⅓ cup orange juice, extracts, and eggs and whisk until smooth. Fold in flour-coated Craisins with a rubber spatula.
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Spread batter into pan evenly. Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes then remove and allow to cool completely.
For Icing
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Whisk powdered sugar, orange juice and vanilla in a bowl and mix until combined. I like my icing glaze on the thick side so it dries to a nice crust.
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Spread icing evenly over cooled loaf, using an offset spatula to create nice “drips.” Garnish with more Craisins, orange zest, or even sprinkles if you like!
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