Our Cranberry Cream Cheese Bread is an easy quick bread recipe full of tangy cranberries and sweet cream cheese. This soft and tender loaf makes a great snack, breakfast or holiday baked good for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
We've created this cranberry loaf to be a tangy yet sweet bread perfect for afternoon snacking, breakfast with a big glass of orange juice or coffee, or a fall dessert. It's great as a Christmas morning breakfast, like our pumpkin pecan bread and apple raisin bread.
While pumpkin cookies, chocolate pumpkin cookies, and sweet pumpkin muffins make up a lot of our fall baking, cranberry cream cheese bread recently came into the mix when looking for a new way to use up a big bag of fresh cranberries. This loaf has just the right amount of sweet cream cheese to compliment the tart cranberries and is super tender and moist.
Table Of Contents
Is Cranberry Bread Tart?
Cranberry bread is a combination of sweetness and tartness. The bread will become less tart after it cools and after a day or two, the cranberries will taste more sweet than tangy. If you're concerned about the tartness, use sweetened dried cranberies instead of fresh cranberries.
How Many Servings Does This Recipe Make?
You'll get 2 loaves from this recipe, each baked in a standard 9x5 loaf pan.
What Causes Cranberry Bread To Crumble?
Cranberry bread might be crumbly if there is too little fat or eggs in the recipe, or if the loaf was over baked.
Ingredients
To make this delicious cranberry loaf you need:
- Fresh whole cranberries: you can substitute with dried cranberries or craisins to also make a delicious loaf.
- Cream cheese: it should be softened for the best results when mixing.
- Sugar: you can use all white sugar or a combination of white sugar, brown sugar and/or unrefined coconut sugar.
- Flour: I prefer using all-purpose flour to make sweet quick breads so they are light, fluffy and tender.
- Eggs: at room temperature.
- Butter: unsalted butter is preferred but it's okay to use salted butter if that's what you have. Like the cream cheese, the butter should be softened for best results when mixing.
- Milk: milk adds tenderness and softness to the loaf.
- Vanilla extract: substitute with another extract, such as almond extract, cinnamon extract and orange extract, or use a combination of extracts for a unique flavor.
- Baking powder
- Salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour two 9x5-inch loaf pans.
- In a large bowl or an electric stand mixer, beat the softened cream cheese, softened butter, sugar and vanilla extract until light and fluffy. Add the milk and eggs to the cream cheese mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt (the dry ingredients).
- Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients. Use a whisk to mix until just combined. Gently fold in the cranberries with a spatula.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the top. Bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the top of the loaf is golden brown.
- Allow the bread to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.
Once cooled, slice and enjoy this lovely sweet treat!
Kristina's Tips
Make cranberry cream cheese bread ahead of time during the holiday season. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and put in a freezer safe storage bag, then place in the freezer until ready to use. Defrost in the fridge overnight or on the counter for a few hours. For easy serving and quicker defrosting, slice into pieces prior to freezing.
Variations
- Bake in mini loaf pans for individual size portions or for smaller occasions. Decrease the cooking time by about half.
- Add dried fruits, such as orange peel or candied lemon.
- Add nuts, such as walnuts, pecans or almonds.
- For a more subtle flavor, use dried cranberries instead of fresh.
How To Store
To keep your cream cheese cranberry bread fresh and maintain its flavor and texture, let the loaf completely cool and then store at room temperature wrapped tightly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil or in an airtight container. The loaf will keep for 4-5 days. You can store it in the refrigerator as well, for 7-10 days. To freeze, slice in individual portions, then wrap in plastic or aluminum foil and store in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Recipe
Cream Cheese Cranberry Bread Recipe
Equipment
- 2 9x5 inch loaf pans 9x5 inches
- electric hand mixer or stand mixer
Ingredients
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- ½ cup butter softened
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- ½ cup milk room temperature
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups fresh cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour two 9x5-inch loaf pans.
- In a large mixing bowl or an electric stand mixer, beat the softened cream cheese, softened butter, sugar and vanilla extract until light and fluffy. Add the milk and eggs to the cream cheese mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the bowl with the cream cheese mixture. Use a whisk to mix until just combined. Gently fold in the cranberries with a spatula.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the top. Bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the top of the loaf is golden brown
- Allow the bread to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
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