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!
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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
Below 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
I haven't tried making a gluten-free version, but I think it would work with an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend such as those made by Bob's Red Mill or King Arthur Flour.
Yes you can!
I'm sure it can (most quick breads can), but haven't tested it myself. The bake time will almost certainly be shorter. I'd begin testing your muffins for doneness at about 18 minutes. Gently press on the top of one — if it springs back, they're done. Or, if you're up for trying a healthier variation, make my cranberry orange quinoa muffins.
More Vegan Quick Bread Recipes
Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!
📖 Recipe
Vegan Cranberry Orange Bread
Equipment
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
- â…“ 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
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly oil the bottom and sides of a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. (Note 2)
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt.
- In a separate container, stir together the milk, oil, orange juice, and zest.
- Pour the milk mixture into the bowl with the flour mixture. Stir just until the ingredients are fully combined.
- Fold in the cranberries and pecans.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth out the top with a spoon or spatula.
- Bake the loaf until the top is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes.
- Place the loaf on a cooling rack and allow it to cool completely before removing it from the pan.
- 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.
- Remove the loaf from the pan once it has cooled, the drizzle it with the glaze.
- Slice and serve.
Notes
- Frozen cranberries can be substituted when fresh aren't in season.
- 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.
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Can I use Vegan butter instead of oil?
I wouldn't recommend it. Oil helps keep the bread moist, while vegan butter tends to make quick breads a little denser and less soft.
Can I use baking powder instead of baking soda in this recipe?
I wouldn't recommend it. The loaf may not rise completely and may have a bitter taste. Always stick with what's listed on the recipe when it comes to baking powder and soda. :)
Simple and delicious! It wasn't overly sweet and not too much oil. Perfect way to warm the house up the winter. I used frozen cranberries I had leftover and it worked perfectly. The spices were nice and not overpowering. I didn't ice it, but I'm sure it's delicious that way. This is a keeper!
I've already made this recipe twice, it is delicious! I skipped the nuts because I didn't have them and it came out great! The only request I had after the first loaf was more icing!
Yes! This is SO GOOD and I am so excited that you vegan-ized this classic! I used walnuts, not pecans, and didn't do the glaze (yet). My loaf came out a deep brown interior color -- no idea why and that didn't bother me at all -- reminded me of old fashioned date-walnut bread. I'm so grateful for this recipe. And I love that one bag of cranberries is enough for at least two loaves! I am going to make another tomorrow for freezing. Thank you, thank you =)
My family enjoyed this. Thanks for simple, easy, delicious recipe! The combination of warm spices, sunny citrus, crunchy pecans and tart cranberries works so nicely and yet stands out!
I made this gluten free with Bob's 1:1. I had to bake it longer (as GF is always finicky) and it still was a little gooey, but that's not the fault of the recipe. The flavors are really awesome. Really enjoyed this! Thank you!
Hot tip-
Dust the fresh cranberries with flour and they won’t sink to the bottom of the loaf while they’re cooking:)