This Pumpkin Cranberry Bread is a soft, lightly spiced quick bread made with canned pumpkin, orange juice, and fresh or frozen cranberries. The pumpkin keeps the loaf moist and a little sweet, and the cranberries add a tart bite to every slice. You stir most of the cranberries into the flour and spices, whisk the pumpkin, sugar, eggs, oil, and orange juice in a second bowl, and bake it all in a 9×5-inch loaf pan with the rest of the cranberries on top. It bakes for 70 to 80 minutes with fresh cranberries or 80 to 95 with frozen, and makes 10 slices that keep for days.
Pumpkin and cranberries are both easy to find in fall and winter, and they peak around the holidays, so I like to bake them together.
A loaf of quick bread is handy to have around in the colder months. Have a slice with your morning coffee, as an afternoon snack, or after dinner for dessert.
It also keeps well: up to 3 days on the counter, 5 days in the fridge, or 2 months in the freezer.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
💛 Why you’ll love this recipe
- A seasonal loaf 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.
- Made with pantry staples like flour, sugar, eggs, and canned pumpkin, plus a bag of cranberries.
- Two bowls and a loaf pan, no mixer and no tricky steps, so it’s a good first quick bread if you haven’t baked much.
- 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, like avocado, canola, or vegetable oil.
- 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 bake faster, so start checking them at 18 to 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.
📚 More recipes
🍴 Make This Next
- Sweet Potato Bread with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting – Brown butter frosting over a fall loaf.
- Applesauce Coffee Cake – Warm crumble topping, good with coffee.
- Easy Apple Crisp – Bubbling apples under a buttery crumble.
🍽 Recipe
Email Recipe
Enter your email below and we’ll send you this recipe!
Pumpkin Cranberry Bread
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ¾ cups fresh or frozen cranberries, divided
- 1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 7 ½ oz canned pumpkin (about ⅞ cup, 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
- baking spray, or butter and flour, for the pan
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. Use frozen cranberries straight from the freezer, without thawing.
- 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.
Leave a Reply