Quick Cranberry Pecan Bread

Name: Quick Cranberry Pecan Bread
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 60 min
Ingredients: 2 eggs; 1 cup sugar; ¼ cup melted butter; 1 cup whole milk; 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveld, not scooped); 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1 teaspoon baking powder; 1¼ cups cranberries (coarsely chopped); ¾ cup pecans (or walnuts, coarsely chopped )

By Inger Nov 16, 2024 Breads & Muffins, Cooking & Recipes 19 Comments

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An easy bread that is loaded with flavor, Quick Cranberry Pecan Bread is made with fresh cranberries and perfect for fall snacking.

Of all the wonderful associations with fall, my favorite is the harvest—probably not surprising for a natural food blogger! And when the cranberries start to arrive, I am get even more excited.

Should I make a crisp? Cranberry sauce for my Swedish pancakes? So many recipes, so little time!

For this cranberry season, I went back to an old favorite cookbook, Beard on Bread, by James Beard. When I first started baking in the 80s, it was one of my bread bibles. I make it with just a couple of small changes then we indulged!

‘Cause who can resist a nice cranberry pecan bread!

What is a Quick Bread

Per Wikipedia, “Quick bread is any bread leavened with a chemical leavening agent rather than a biological one like yeast or sourdough starter. An advantage of quick breads is their ability to be prepared quickly and reliably, without requiring the time-consuming skilled labor and the climate control needed for traditional yeast breads.”

A quick bread is especially nice for novice bakers since there is no yeast to be reckoned with. And also great for busy cooks (isn’t that all of us!) since it comes together faster!

Why You’ll Love This!

Tasty. The combination of tart from the cranberries, sweet from the sugar and rich from the nuts makes this a warm and comforting fall bread!

Festive. The burst of cranberry flavor makes this bread is festive for the holidays!

Easy. Quick breads are perfect for new bakers and/or busy days!

What You’ll Need

Ingredient Notes (Details in Recipe)

Eggs. Eggs help the bread hold together and rise plus they add richness.
Sugar. This adds sweetness and counters the tart and slightly bitter notes of the cranberries.
Butter. This adds richness and delays staling. You can use a neutral flavored oil if you prefer.
Milk. This adds moisture (and richness if you use whole milk) to the bread. You can use skim, 2% or whole.
All-purpose flour. This forms the bulk of the bread. I usually use about a cup of whole wheat flour instead of all white flour.
Baking soda, baking powder. These help the bread rise.
Fresh Cranberries. These add the tart cranberry flavor. They’ll need to be chopped coarsely since they’re too intense otherwise. You can also use frozen—partially thaw so that you can chop them. And while it would reduce the lovely tart quality of the bread, you should be able to use dried cranberries if needed (reducing the quantity a bit).
Pecans. These add texture and richness. Walnuts will work well too.

Special Tools

No special tools required!

Step by Step Overview

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 5 pan with non-stick spray.

In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until well blended. Stir in the melted butter and the milk.

Combine the flour with the soda, baking powder, and salt.

Mix the dry and liquid ingredients until just moistened, and then fold in the cranberries and nuts. Do not overwork the dough.

Spread the dough into the prepared loaf pan.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, testing for doneness with a toothpick. The top will be golden and cracked.

Cool for a few minutes before removing from the pan, then let cool on wire rack.

Variations and Special Diets

Orange flavor is a delicious compliment to cranberry (see my Cranberry Orange Shortbread cookies for an example). So if you’d like to make a Cranberry Orange Quick Bread, add the zest from one orange when you mix the sugar and eggs.

Looking for a glaze? Well, just a quick heads up, glazing this load will increase the calories substantially. But if you’re feeding the swim team or picky kids, I can recommend the glaze on my Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake that will work well here too.

If you’d like you can use walnuts instead of pecans to make Cranberry Walnut bread! Also delicious!

Tips & FAQs

This can be stored at room temperature for about 5 days. Since it’s a moist loaf, it will have some tendency to mold. It can also be frozen, sealed air tight, for at least 3 months. See King Arthur for more info on freezing and thawing bread.

This makes a large loaf which is why it calls for a 9 x 5 pan. If you need to make it in an 8 x 4 pan, use just part of the mix in there and make a couple muffins with the remainder.

Delicious Cranberry Desserts

Brown Sugar Bundt Cake with Cranberries from Hezzi-D’s Recipe Box
Cranberry Crumble Bars from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
Cranberry Fluff Salad from Jen Around the World
Orange Craisin Waffle Bread Pudding from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
Cranberry Pecan Muffins from That Recipe
Quick Cranberry Pecan Bread from Art of Natural Living

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