Gluten Free Cranberry Bread

This gluten free cranberry bread is super moist, lightly sweet and pleasantly tart. It's the perfect quick bread for your holiday table, and one my family has come to ask for by name over the years I've been making it. Grab your fresh cranberries as soon as they hit the grocery store shelves!

This classic holiday quick bread should be on every table this season. I love it when cranberries start to appear in the grocery store, but they can be so tart that you really need to add something sweet or they'll really make you pucker.

This bread is perfectly browned on the outside, then soft and lightly sweet on the inside. It takes about an hour to bake, since there's a full cup of buttermilk in the batter and the berries release their moisture as they bake. The reward is a super moist and tender bread, and one that doesn't burn during baking even if you end up baking it a little too long.

You can also make this into a cranberry orange bread by juicing a navel orange and using that juice in place of an equal amount of the buttermilk in the batter. Add the zest of that orange as well for more orange flavor.

Recipe ingredients

• Gluten free flour blend: I used Nicole's Best and added 2 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum. Be sure you're using one of my recommended rice flour-based, well balanced gluten free flour blends, and only add xanthan gum if your blend doesn't already contain it.
• Baking powder: Helps the bread to rise in the oven.
• Baking soda: Aids rise, neutralizes acid, and helps the loaf brown in the oven.
• Salt: Balances and brightens the other ingredients.
• Granulated sugar: Makes the bread tender, and adds enough sweetness to balance the tartness of the cranberries. There's an additional tablespoon of sugar that we sprinkle on top of the raw loaf because cranberries are so tart, but you can either skip that or add it right to the bread if you prefer.
• Buttermilk: Adds moisture, flavor, and tenderness. If you're out of buttermilk, it's easy to replace 1 cup of it with 1/2 cup sour cream and 1/2 cup milk, or even 1 cup plain whole milk yogurt.
• Butter: Adds moisture and flavor. Beating the butter with the sugar and then the eggs also lightens the bread by whipping air into it.
• Eggs: Give the bread structure and help it rise.
• Cranberries: The star of the show, fresh tart cranberries provide lots of flavor and texture. Most bags of cranberries have 12 ounces of berries, but this recipe only calls for 10. This allows you to select only the best berries. Be sure to cut them in half before adding them to the batter.

How to make gluten free cranberry bread

Prepare dry ingredients; combine wet and dry

• Whisk together the dry ingredients (gluten free flour blend, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, salt) in a small bowl
• Toss the halved cranberries with a bit of the dry ingredients
• Using a handheld or stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and 1 cup of sugar
• Beat in the eggs until smooth
• Add the dry ingredients in 2 parts, alternating with the buttermilk in between, and beating just to combine after each addition
• The batter will be smooth and pretty thick

Add the cranberries, transfer to the pan and bake

• Add the halved cranberries tossed with dry ingredients to the prepared raw batter
• Mix until the cranberries are evenly distributed throughout
• Transfer the batter to a greased and lined loaf pan, and spread it into an even layer; it will mostly or completely fill the loaf pan
• Score the batter down the center about 1/4-inch deep with a knife or offset spatula
• Sprinkle the final tablespoon of granulated sugar evenly over the top
• Bake at 350°F for about 1 hour; let cool, then slice and serve

Recipe tips and tricks

Slice the cranberries in half

Just be sure to use a sharp knife to slice each of the cranberries in half before folding them into the batter. It helps to keep them from clumping during baking.

Toss the cranberries in some of the dry ingredients

Toss about 1 tablespoon of the whisked dry ingredients with the halved cranberries. This will help keep them from clumping in the batter and will help avoid wet pockets of quick bread.

Use only the firmest cranberries

Cranberries usually come in 12 ounce bags, and this recipe calls for 10 ounces. In every bag of fresh cranberries, some are not very fresh. The fresh cranberries aren't wrinkled or bruised, and they're very firm. Discard the bruised and less fresh berries.

Don't defrost frozen cranberries fully

As soon as cranberries become available, I usually buy 6 or 8 bags of them because I bake with them all season and make tons of cranberry sauce for the holidays. I store 2 bags in the refrigerator, and put the rest in the freezer. If your cranberries are frozen first, you'll need to let them defrost partially so you can slice them in half, but don't let them defrost all the way.

If they've been frozen and fully defrosted, they tend to get too soft and don't hold their shape long enough during baking. They're also more likely to bleed color in the raw loaf batter.

Flavor variations

To make it into a cranberry-orange quick bread, add the zest of one small orange to the batter. You wouldn't have to change anything else.

For even more orange flavor, squeeze the juice out of that orange, too, and use it to replace an equal amount of the buttermilk in the recipe. One navel orange usually has about 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup juice. Reduce the volume of buttermilk by the same amount as the juice. The batter may look a bit curdled, but it will bake beautifully.

For a bright lemon flavor, replace 1 tablespoon of buttermilk with 1 tablespoon of freshly-squeezed lemon juice. You can also add up to 1 tablespoon of lemon zest.

Try adding up to 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts or pecans to the bread for some texture. Don't reduce the amount of cranberries.

Storage instructions

Although the batter for this cranberry bread is thick, the bread is really moist and tender. It doesn't dry out quickly at all. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and it will stay fresh on the counter at room temperature for up to 2 days. It will stay fresher if it's not sliced, but slices can be wrapped individually and stored that way, too.

Freezing

For longer storage, either as a whole loaf or individual slices, wrap tightly in freezer-safe wrap and freeze for up to 2 months. Defrost at room temperature. Individual slices can also be microwaved for 20 seconds at reduced power to speed up the process.

Popular ingredient substitution suggestions

Dairy free

To make this recipe without dairy, you'll need to replace the butter and the buttermilk. For the butter, try vegan butter in block form, like Melt or Miyoko's Creamy brand. Remember that you need something that can be beaten until creamy with the sugar, so don't use anything that comes in a tub, which is mostly oil and won't whip. For buttermilk, try half nondairy plain yogurt and half unsweetened almond milk both by volume.

Egg free

There are two eggs in this recipe. If you need to make the recipe without eggs, try replacing each of them with one “flax egg” or one “chia egg.” I've made a chia egg by mixing 1 tablespoon ground white chia seeds with 1 tablespoon lukewarm water and allowing it to gel.

Cranberries

If you'd like to replace the cranberries in this bread, you can try blueberries, but they're less firm and it may not work. You're probably better off trying our recipe for gluten free blueberry bread instead, which is similar but not exactly the same.

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