This Cranberry Apple Bread is a delicious autumn-inspired quick bread bursting with juicy cranberries, tart apples, and crunchy pecans. It’s an easy fall treat that is always a crowd-pleaser!
This bread is perfect for breakfast, brunch, as a snack, or as a sweet treat after dinner. It pairs wonderfully with a hot cup of coffee or tea. The best part is that it’s incredibly easy to prepare using simple ingredients!
Why You’ll Love This Bread
- Easy to prepare: This recipe is very straightforward and doesn’t require any complicated techniques.
- Perfect for sharing: This bread is a great choice for a thoughtful homemade gift, holiday gatherings, or potlucks.
- Freezer-friendly: This bread freezes beautifully – enjoy a slice when a craving hits!
Ingredients Needed
- All-purpose flour
- Sugar
- Spices – I use apple pie spice, but a blend of ground cinnamon and nutmeg will also work.
- Salt
- Baking soda
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- Butter (unsalted)
- Applesauce
- Apples – I use Granny Smith.
- Cranberries – Fresh or frozen will work.
- Nuts – I use chopped pecans, but walnuts or almonds would also be delicious!
How to Make Cranberry Apple Bread
For the detailed instructions, please see the recipe card.
- Preheat and prep: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 5 loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Dry ingredients: Whisk together the flour, sugar, apple pie spice, salt, and baking soda in a large mixing bowl.
- Wet ingredients: Add egg, vanilla, melted butter, and applesauce. Stir until just combined.
- Fruit and nuts: Fold in the chopped apples, cranberries, and pecans.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan.
- Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center is removed clean.
Helpful Tips
- Chop evenly: Chop your apples as uniformly as possible. This helps to ensure that they cook evenly.
- Don’t overmix: When combining the wet and dry ingredients, stir until just combined. Overmixing can result in tough, dense bread.
Common Questions
Can I use frozen cranberries instead of fresh?
Yes, and there is no need to thaw the cranberries.
Can I use a different type of apple?
Granny Smith apples are great because they are tart and hold their shape well, but you can use other types of baking apples such as Honeycrisp, Braeburn, Fuji, Pink Lady, Northern Spy, and Cortland.
The top of my bread is browning too quickly. What do I do?
Loosely cover the top of the bread with aluminum foil and continue to bake.
Storage
- Refrigerator: Once cooled, store in a well-sealed resealable plastic bag or airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Freezer: Allow the bread to cool completely before tightly wrapping in plastic wrap or aluminum foil, then place in a resealable plastic freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 months.
More Quick Breads You’ll Love
Cranberry Apple Bread
A delicious quick bread bursting with juicy cranberries, tart apples, and crunchy pecans.
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Servings: 10
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon apple pie spice
- â…› teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- â…“ cup unsalted butter melted
- ½ cup applesauce
- ½ cup cored, peeled and chopped Granny Smith apples
- 1 ½ cups cranberries fresh or frozen
- ½ cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 5 loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray or grease pan.
- Whisk together flour, sugar, apple pie spice, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl.
- Add egg, vanilla extract, melted butter, and applesauce to dry mixture and stir just until combined (do not over-mix).
- Fold in chopped apples, cranberries, and pecans.
- Transfer batter to prepared loaf pan. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center is removed clean. Cool on a wire rack.
Notes
Storage:
- Refrigerator: Once cooled, store in a well-sealed resealable plastic bag or airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Freezer: Allow the bread to cool completely before tightly wrapping in plastic wrap or aluminum foil, then place in a resealable plastic freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Calories: 242kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 35mg | Sodium: 148mg | Potassium: 80mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 235IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 14mg | Iron: 1mg
If provided, nutritional info is a courtesy, is not guaranteed and should only be considered as a guideline.
Tried this recipe?Mention @TheBlondCook or tag #theblondcook!
Great recipe my family and coworkers loved it. Thank you Amy for sharing all your fantastic recipes
Thank you for a scrumptious recipe! This bread was amazing and has gotten rave reviews from everyone I’ve given it to this holiday season. I did find that I liked the appearance and texture most when the cranberries were hand-cut into halves. I substituted walnuts for the pecans, and though I didn’t have any granny smith apples, I got the same tartness using a honey crip apple drizzled with lemon juice. This also kept the apple pieces from browning. I also found that using newly-purchased ground cinnamon (instead of a jar that had been in the cupboard since last year) made a big impact as well. I will definitely be making this one again next year!
Thank you for sharing, Kat – I’m so glad to hear you and everyone have enjoyed the bread! I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas and New Year! đŸ™‚
Can you use dried cranberries?
Hi Grace, I haven’t tried it but would not recommend using dried cranberries in this recipe – I think the bread to be too dry without the moisture from the fresh (or frozen) cranberries. I hope you enjoy it!
WOW! so moist and flavorful! I loved that it was so easy to make and that it had so much fruit. Mine took only 45 minutes to bake. I doubled the recipe and gave one loaf to a friend. She doesn’t eat nuts so I omitted the pecans But next time I’ll definitely add them. This is a good change from the standard cranberry orange walnut bread. MAKE this recipe – you will love it!
Thanks, Abbie – So happy you enjoyed it! đŸ™‚
This bread was moist and tasty. I only wish I had chopped the cranberries so they wold have been dispersed more. I added a teaspoon of baking powder to get a higher rise; and then I topped the bread with a powdered sugar glaze to counter the tartness of the cranberries.