Christmas is already this weekend, Sidney will be two in a couple of weeks, and Viggo will be one in a few short months! Tony and I have been busy getting our new house ready for move-in and I’ve been trying to work ahead on all content for the New Year. SO MANY EXCITING THINGS.
By now you all probably know how much I love anything and everything orange, and I especially loved it during my pregnancies. It’s like the one thing I still can’t stop eating and lucky for me, oranges are in season, making them perfect for putting in everything and anything.
Over the past couple of years, I’ve made Italian orange cookies, an orange-infused overnight french toast bake, orange creamsicle baked oatmeal, and even this fabulous orange gingerbread swirl loaf. YUM.
Today, I’m bringing back this stunning healthy cranberry orange bread that’s fresh, moist, flavorful, full of citrus notes, naturally sweetened and SO dang beautiful I could cry. It’s easy to make in one bowl and the perfect baking project for the holidays!
What makes this cranberry orange bread amazing?
If you can’t tell, I’m a little bit obsessed with how delicious this paleo cranberry orange bread is. It’s not your average cranberry loaf for a few distinct reasons:
- It’s gluten and grain free thanks to almond flour. and coconut flour. These flours also add a boost of healthy fats!
- It’s naturally sweetened with a touch of honey and fresh orange juice.
- It’s super easy to make, fluffy, incredibly moist and bursting with fresh cranberries. A little sweet and tart in every bite.
- To top it all off, it has a sweet and simple orange glaze that you’ll want to put over EVERYTHING.
Everything you’ll need to make paleo cranberry orange bread
This healthy cranberry orange bread is naturally sweetened and made with a mix of simple and nourishing gluten free and grain free friendly ingredients. Here’s what you need:
- Flours: we’re using a mix of almond flour and coconut flour to keep this bread gluten and grain free.
- Eggs: you’ll need three eggs to help this gluten free cranberry orange bread bake up properly.
- Sweetener: this bread is naturally sweetened with a bit of honey!
- Baking staples: you’ll of course need some baking soda and salt to bake this bread.
- Oil: you’ll also need some melted coconut oil to give this bread the perfect moisture.
- Delicious flavors: we’re adding freshly squeezed orange juice, orange zest, cinnamon and almond extract to give this bread a wonderful, cozy orange infusion.
- Mix-ins: I love adding fresh or dried cranberries and some chopped walnuts to give the bread texture and even more flavor.
- Icing: that gorgeous icing is made with powdered sugar, a little fresh orange juice and orange zest.
Optional ingredient swaps
If you’re missing a few ingredients or want to make swaps, here’s what I’d recommend for this healthy cranberry orange bread:
- For the coconut oil: feel free to use melted butter.
- For the cranberries: if you don’t have fresh cranberries, you can thaw out frozen cranberries and then chop them and toss with 1 teaspoon of coconut flour. If you’re using dried cranberries, I suggest using 1/2 cup instead of 3/4 cup as they’re rather sweet.
- For the icing: feel free to try my paleo powdered sugar for the icing to keep the bread paleo!
Can I use all purpose flour?
I would not recommend using any different flours in this recipe as the texture will greatly change. Try one of these recipes if you’re looking to use all purpose flour!
- Pistachio Poppyseed Orange Yogurt Bread
- Healthy Pumpkin Bread with Maple Glaze
- Brown Butter Orange Pumpkin Muffins with Orange Glaze
- Orange Gingerbread Swirl Loaf
Check out all of our delicious bread recipes here!
How to make the best gluten free cranberry orange bread
- Prep your oven & pan. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and line a loaf pan with parchment paper. Spray it with nonstick cooking spray, too, as gluten free baked goods can tend to stick.
- Mix the dry. Whisk together all of your dry ingredients in a bowl.
- Mix the wet. In a separate large bowl, mix together all of your wet ingredients.
- Make your batter & bake. Slowly add the dry ingredients to your wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in the walnuts and cranberries, add your batter to the pan, and bake!
- Glaze party. While the bread is cooling, mix together the ingredients for the icing until they’re smooth. Pour or drizzle the icing on your cooled loaf and enjoy!
Storing & freezing tips
- To store: this gluten free cranberry orange bread should be kept well-covered in foil or plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 3 days, then I recommend transferring to the fridge or freezer.
- To freeze: this healthy cranberry orange bread freezes well! I recommend freezing it without the glaze. Simply wrap in plastic, then tightly in foil and finally place in a reusable bag or freezer-friendly bag for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature once you are ready to eat. You can also feel free to freeze individual slices for a quick on-the-go treat!
What to serve with cranberry orange bread
I love serving this bread with a bunch of other yummy, savory goodies for holiday brunch. Here are a few suggestions to try:
- Butternut Squash Bacon Spinach Quiche
- Sweet Potato, Egg & Green Chile Breakfast Quesadillas
- Maple Blueberry Turkey Sausage Breakfast Patties
- Perfectly Crispy Breakfast Potatoes
- Bacon Egg Cups
- Healthy Sweet Potato, Black Bean & Avocado Breakfast Burritos
Get all of our amazing breakfast & brunch recipes here!
I hope you love this simple one bowl healthy cranberry orange bread! Please let me know if you make it by leaving a comment below and rating the recipe — I appreciate it! xo.
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Paleo Cranberry Orange Bread
Ingredients
- Dry ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups packed fine blanched almond flour
- ⅓ cup coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Wet ingredients:
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup honey
- 3 tablespoons melted and cooled coconut oil
- ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- Zest of 1 large orange
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- Mix-ins:
- 3/4 cup diced fresh cranberries (or sub dried cranberries)
- 1/3 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
- For the orange icing:
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½-1 tablespoon fresh orange juice, plus a little more if necessary to thin the glaze
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 1/2 x 4 ½ loaf pan with parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together wet ingredients: eggs, honey, melted coconut oil, orange juice, orange zest and almond extract. IMPORTANT: make sure your coconut oil is melted and cooled otherwise it will become clumpy. This goes with your eggs too -- it’s best to run them under very warm water for 1 minute to bring them to room temperature before baking.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well with a wooden spoon to combine. Fold in diced cranberries and walnuts. Add batter into prepared loaf pan and spread out evenly, smoothing the top. Bake for 40-50 minutes until a tester comes out clean. Allow loaf to cool completely in the pan before removing.
- For the glaze: Mix together powdered sugar, orange juice and orange zest until smooth. You may need to add in more orange juice to thin out the glaze, but remember we want it to be a thicker glaze. Pour or drizzle over the top of the loaf and spread towards the sides. Cut into 10 slices.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
This post was originally published on December 23rd, 2020, and republished on December 21st, 2021.
Made this for the first time today. I made muffins to give as a Christmas gift to my GF friend. I made 12 muffins using a 1/4 cup measure and cooked them for 25 minutes. My oven cooks pretty hot so I probably should have taken them out at 20 minutes. If you like a sweet muffin you might want to make some adjustments but the glaze does help sweeten them a bit more.
The glaze definitely adds a nice sweetness! I hope people enjoyed!
Could this recipe be doubled to be made in a 10 inch round cake pan?
Hmm I’m not 100% sure if there will be enough batter, but let me know if you give it a try!
Another delicious recipe, thank you! I used flax eggs instead of regular eggs and it still turned out really well, just a little more delicate. The glaze holds it together well. I would love more healthy vegan bread recipes like these if you have any up your sleeve!
I macerate the orange zest and double the zest amount. I used avocado oil instead of coconut oil or butter. I used vanilla instead of almond extract since I didn’t have any almond and I left the cranberries whole! My husband loves this. Loves the pop of the berries and the flash of tartness. It’s moist and lightly sweet. Great recipe.
Perfect! Glad this one’s a hit!
Can I make this in a 9×5 pan?
The bread may come out a bit too thin!
Hi! Wondering if the icing will harden?
If stored correctly, it shouldn’t.
Is it possible to switch out honey for pure maple syrup? I can’t have honey right now but I really want to make this!
That should be fine. Let me know how it turns out for you!
Am I missing it, or did you forget to include the amount of pumpkin to add to the pumpkin cranberry bread? 🙂
This recipe is for the cranberry orange bread 🙂
Amazing. Second time I have made this and it’s a GEM. Followed recipe exactly and would not change a thing. Perfect for the holidays❤️
This is DELICIOUS!!! Thank you thank you! I’ll make it often! The texture is perfect!!
Awesome gluten free loaf!
This was my first time working with almond flour and coconut flour and I found that the instructions were super helpful!
Will definitely make again.
I also love how it isn’t too sweet but more tart!
So glad that it was easy to follow and that you enjoyed it!
Made this for Christmas morning brunch and am making it a second time. It’s the 28th. It was that good! I added some white chocolate chips to it, used the walnuts, and a few more cranberries than the recipe called for. Took it out at 42 minutes. Let it cool awhile before slicing. Absolutely delicious.
Awesome!! Love the addition of white chocolate chips–that sounds FABULOUS.
Amazing recipe. I followed the instructions but did some ingredients swaps. I used 3 tbsp of butter instead of the coconut oil and left out the walnuts because I’m not a big walnut fan. I left the amount of fresh cranberries the same, though. I made these into 12 muffins, using muffin liners. I cooked them for about 20 minutes or so, until a toothpick came clean. Really amazing flavor and my husband loved them! Thanks for another excellently executed recipe!
Ooh love the idea of turning this into muffins! I’m so happy they came out perfectly 🙂
Delicious and moist. Tastes like a special treat soI have put a few slices away for Christmas morning!
No adjustments needed. As always a perfect recipe from Ambitious Kitchen.
Thank you so much for the kind review, Pam! I’m so glad to hear you love it 🙂
Can you use only almond flour or almond with regular flour? If so, what would the measurements be ?
I haven’t tried omitting the coconut flour so I’m not sure how it would change the texture, sorry!
Hi – haven’t tried it yet but wondering if it could be made without honey. Trying to keep net carbs around 5g per slice (keto friendly). Don’t want to add sweetners.
I haven’t tried omitting the sweetener and am not sure how the texture would turn out without it, sorry!