Vegan Cranberry Orange Bread – Connoisseurus Veg

This vegan cranberry bread is bursting with berries and spices and topped with a sweet orange glaze. The perfect treat for holiday baking!

Is it time for holiday baking yet? It’s okay if it’s too early! I mean, personally could bake holiday goodies all year long, but I get that it’s not for everyone.

This vegan cranberry bread is a great recipe to start your holiday baking with. That’s because it doesn’t have to be for the holidays. Its really a fall recipe if you think about it!

With seasonal cranberries, warming spices, and a hint of orange, it’s festive enough for holiday gifting, but also just for enjoying yourself with a big cup of tea during the first few chilly days of the year. I you happen to be buying a bag of cranberries for Thanksgiving, perhaps to cook up a batch of my spiced wine cranberry sauce, just grab a second bag to make this bread. They’re usually discounted if you buy two anyway!

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Flour. We’re using plain old all-purpose wheat flour (otherwise known as white flour). Whole wheat pastry flour or spelt flour should also work just fine.
• Sugar. Use organic sugar to keep the recipe vegan.
• Brown sugar. This also needs to be organic.
• Baking soda.
• Cinnamon.
• Cloves.
• Salt.
• Non-dairy milk. Just about any variety that’s unflavored and unsweetened will work fine. Try almond milk, cashew milk, or oat milk. If you use a higher protein variety like soy milk it might separate a bit when you mix it with the orange juice, but this won’t affect the outcome of the recipe.
• Vegetable oil. Feel free to use your favorite baking oil, such as canola oil or melted coconut oil.
• Orange juice. Be careful, as some brands or orange juice contain animal derived ingredients. I know, right?! Get some guidance on what to look out for in this article, or just buy an orange or two and squeeze your own (you’ll need it for the zest anyway).
• Vanilla extract.
• Orange zest. See, I told you you’d need this!
• Fresh cranberries. These are available in most supermarkets during the fall months.
• Pecans. You can leave these out or substitute another type of nut, such as walnuts, if you’d like.
• Powdered sugar. Again, buy organic to keep the recipe vegan.

How It’s Made

The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you’d like to skip right to the recipe!

• Whisk your dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl: flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.

• Stir your wet ingredients together in a separate container, milk, oil, orange juice, vanilla, and orange zest. A large liquid measuring cup works great for this.

• Pour the wet mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir everything up just until combined. Avoid overmixing the batter, even if there are some lumps. This will ensure your loaf has the best possible texture.
• Fold in fresh cranberries and chopped pecans.

• Pour the batter into a loaf pan and smooth out the top with a spoon or spatula.
• Pop the pan into a preheated oven and bake your vegan cranberry bread until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean of batter.

Tip: Placing a strip of parchment paper along the center or your loaf pan like I’ve done in the photo below will help you to remove the loaf after baking.

• Place the loaf pan on a cooling rack and allow the bread to cool before removing it from the pan.
• Meanwhile, stir some powdered sugar together with a couple tablespoons of orange juice to make the glaze.
• Slice your loaf and drizzle it with glaze when it’s cool.

Shelf-Life & Storage

Vegan cranberry bread will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for about 3 days, in the refrigerator for about a week, or in the freezer for about 3 months.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Vegan Quick Bread Recipes

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Vegan Cranberry Orange Bread

This vegan cranberry bread is bursting with berries and spices and topped with a sweet orange glaze. The perfect treat for holiday baking!

Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 2
  cups
  all-purpose flour
• ½
  cup
  organic granulated sugar
• ¼
  cup
  organic brown sugar
• 1
  teaspoon
  baking soda
• 1
  teaspoon
  ground cinnamon
• ¼
  teaspoon
  ground cloves
• ½
  teaspoon
  salt
• ¾
  cup
  unsweetened non-dairy milk
• ⅓
  cup
  vegetable oil
• ¼
  cup
  orange juice
• 1
  teaspoon
  orange zest
• 1
  cup
  fresh cranberries
  (Note 1)
• ½
  cup
  chopped pecans

For the Glaze

• 1
  cup
  organic powdered sugar,
  plus more as needed
• 2
  tablespoons
  orange juice,
  plus more as needed

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly oil the bottom and sides of a 9-inch loaf pan. (Note 2)

2. In a large mixing bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt.

3. In a separate container, stir together the milk, oil, orange juice, and zest.

4. Pour the milk mixture into the bowl with the flour mixture. Stir just until the ingredients are fully combined.

5. Fold in the cranberries and pecans.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth out the top with a spoon or spatula.

7. Bake the loaf until the top is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes.

8. Place the loaf on a cooling rack and allow it to cool completely before removing it from the pan.

9. While the loaf cools, stir the glaze ingredients together in a small bowl, adding more powdered sugar if the mixture seems to runny, more orange juice if it seems too thick.

10. Remove the loaf from the pan once it has cooled, the drizzle it with the glaze.

Recipe Notes

1. Frozen cranberries can be substituted when fresh aren’t in season.
2. Optionally arrange a strip of parchment paper width-wise along the center of the pan, with a bit hanging over the edges. This can be used to release the loaf from the pan after baking.

Nutrition Facts

Vegan Cranberry Orange Bread

Amount Per Serving (1 slice (1/10 of loaf))

Calories 298
Calories from Fat 100

% Daily Value*

Fat 11.1g17%

Saturated Fat 1.8g9%

Sodium 256mg11%

Potassium 92mg3%

Carbohydrates 47.5g16%

Fiber 1.8g7%

Sugar 26.7g30%

Protein 3.2g6%

Calcium 48mg5%

Iron 2mg11%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.