A Light Cranberry Orange Bread Is Perfect on or After Thanksgiving

Have a few spare fresh or frozen cranberries from your Thanksgiving meal? This light bread is the perfect way to put them to use, plus it won’t weigh you down after a rich holiday meal—the entire recipe has just two tablespoons of butter.

Serve it as a light dessert (as I usually do—not for Thanksgiving, but for any fall event) or for brunch the following day.

Cranberry Orange Bread

Adapted from The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1 large egg
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup whole cranberries, chopped
Raw or sparkling sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, and salt in a large bowl.

In a medium bowl, stir together the orange juice and zest, egg, and melted butter. Pour over the flour mixture and mix well. Add the cranberries and stir to combine.

Pour the batter into the loaf pan and sprinkle the raw sugar over top. Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.