You’ll love this recipe if you like holiday baking recipes like Honey Butter Skillet Cornbread and Cheesy Garlic Pull Apart Bread.
Pumpkin cranberry bread is popular during fall and winter because that’s when cranberries and pumpkins are easy to find fresh. They both peak around the holidays, so it makes sense to bake them together in recipes like this bread. The pumpkin gives sweetness and moisture, and the cranberries add bright, tart flavor, which makes the combo taste great.
Quick breads are especially good in colder months since you can snack on them throughout the day. Grab a slice with your morning coffee, eat it as an afternoon snack, or serve it after dinner for dessert.
Quick breads also keep well, so you can bake one loaf and enjoy it over several days.
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💛 Why you’ll love this recipe
- Perfect seasonal recipe for fall baking, holiday gifting, or bringing along to Thanksgiving or Christmas get-togethers.
- Works with fresh or frozen cranberries.
- Easy way to use leftover pumpkin from other recipes.
- Uses common pantry ingredients — no special grocery trips.
- Easy steps, clear instructions, and no complicated techniques — great if you haven’t baked much before.
- Stays moist for days and freezes well.
➡️ Ingredients you’ll need
⏲ How to make this pumpkin cranberry bread
👉 Easy ingredient swaps
- Flour: You can swap out up to ½ cup of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour, but the bread will turn out denser.
- Oil: Any neutral-flavored oil works great.
- Pumpkin: Only use canned pumpkin (AKA pumpkin puree), not pumpkin pie filling.
- Orange Juice: If you don’t have orange juice, use milk or water instead. The flavor will be slightly milder.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, use 1 teaspoon cinnamon plus ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ground ginger, and a tiny pinch of cloves.
- Cranberries: You can use fresh or frozen cranberries. There is no need to thaw frozen berries, but if you do use frozen, you’ll want to add about 10 to 15 minutes to the baking time.
- Sugar: You can substitute up to ¼ cup of white sugar with brown sugar for a deeper flavor.
✨ Variations
- Orange Glaze: Whisk powdered sugar with a little orange juice and drizzle on the cooled loaf.
- Nuts: Fold in ½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts with the cranberries.
- Mini Loaves/Muffins: You can bake this recipe as mini loaves or muffins instead of one big loaf. Divide the batter evenly into mini loaf pans or a muffin tin, filling about ¾ full. Bake at the same temperature, but muffins will bake faster — start checking them around 18-22 minutes.
- Chocolate Chips: Add ½ cup mini chocolate chips for a dessert-leaning loaf.
〰️ How to serve
- Spreads — Butter, cream cheese, honey butter, or a simple orange glaze.
- Breakfast — Scrambled eggs, yogurt with granola, or fresh fruit salad.
- Drinks — Hot coffee, tea, or apple cider.
💬 FAQs
Can I use dried cranberries?
You can, but the loaf will be sweeter and less tart. Use 1 cup dried cranberries and reduce the sugar to 1¼ cups.
My pan is smaller than 9×5-inch. What should I do?
If your pan is smaller, fill it up so the batter is about 1 inch from the top. If there’s leftover batter, use it to make a few muffins instead of overfilling the pan.
Can I double the recipe?
Yes. If you double all the ingredients, you’ll use up a full 15-ounce can of pumpkin, and you’ll get two full loaves. Bake them side-by-side in the oven at the same temperature. Baking time stays about the same, but you may need to add a few extra minutes.
The top browned, but the center isn’t done. Now what?
Loosely tent the loaf with foil and keep baking until a toothpick comes out clean.
How do I keep the bread from crumbling?
Let the bread cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then move it to a cooling rack to cool completely. For clean slices, use a serrated knife.
How do I store it?
Store the bread in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. If you want to store it longer, keep it in the fridge for up to 5 days. To freeze, wrap the fully cooled loaf (or individual slices) tightly and freeze for up to 2 months. To thaw safely, move it from the freezer to the fridge overnight or thaw at room temperature for just a couple of hours before serving.
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Pumpkin Cranberry Bread
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ¾ cup fresh or frozen cranberries, divided
- 1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 7 ½ oz canned pumpkin (1 ¼ cups + 2 Tablespoons, or half a 15-ounce can)
- 1 ⅓ cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup avocado oil, canola oil, or vegetable oil
- ⅓ cup orange juice
Instructions
- Preheat and Prepare Pan: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line the bottom of a 9×5-inch loaf pan with parchment. Spray the loaf pan with baking spray or grease and flour the sides.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a medium mixing bowl, stir together flour, 1 ½ cups cranberries, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt until combined.
- Mix Wet Ingredients: In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together pumpkin, sugar, eggs, oil, and orange juice until well combined.
- Combine Mixtures: Add dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not over mix.
- Bake: Pour batter into the prepared pan and top with the remaining cranberries. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 70–80 minutes if using fresh cranberries or 80–95 minutes if using frozen cranberries.
- Cool and Transfer to Rack: Take bread out of the oven and let cool in the pan for about 15 minutes. Run a knife along the edges to loosen, then carefully tip bread onto a wire cooling rack. Let cool for about 30-45 minutes, or longer if you prefer neater, less-crumbly slices.
- Slice and Serve: Cut into slices and enjoy.
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