Savory meets sweet in this soft, aromatic bread machine loaf, bursting with bright orange zest and chewy dried cranberries.
Nothing says the holidays have arrived quite like the scent of orange and cranberry filling the kitchen. This Orange Cranberry Yeast Bread has that perfect balance of citrusy brightness and fruity sweetness — but don’t mistake it for your typical quick bread. This one’s made in the bread machine, where yeast does the work, creating a tender crumb and warm, bakery-style aroma that’s impossible to resist.
It’s cozy enough for Christmas morning yet simple enough for an ordinary Sunday. Slice it thick, toast it lightly, and spread it with cinnamon butter, pear butter, or pumpkin jam. Every bite tastes like the comfort of the holidays.
Once you start baking bread at home, it has a way of becoming a little family ritual. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve pulled a loaf from the bread maker only to have everyone wander into the kitchen, drawn by the smell. These are the kinds of recipes that keep them coming back for “just one more slice.” Try my Rosemary No-Knead Peasant Bread for those cozy soup nights, the soft and classic Vegan White Bread that’s perfect for sandwiches, or my gently sweet Cinnamon Swirl Bread, a breakfast favorite that never lasts long once it hits the table.
But for the holidays, this orange cranberry loaf still wins every time!
Why You’ll Love This Orange Cranberry Yeast Bread
This isn’t a dense, sugary quick bread — it’s a soft, flavorful yeast loaf that still feels special enough for a celebration.
You’ll love it because it’s:
Festive but simple: Ideal for holidays, brunch, or gifting with a jar of homemade jam.
Hands-off: The bread machine does the kneading and rising for you.
Perfectly balanced: Sweet cranberries, citrusy orange zest, and a hint of cinnamon.
Soft and fragrant: The texture is light, fluffy, and slightly chewy — everything a yeast bread should be.
Ingredients needed to make cranberry orange bread with dried cranberries
- water
- orange juice and orange zest – You will be zesting and juicing a fresh orange for this recipe. Depending on the size of your oranges, you will need one very large orange or two smaller oranges to get the required two tablespoons of orange zest. You will be using one-half cup of orange juice.
- vegan butter (or margarine)
- bread flour – Bread flour just works better for this recipe than does all-purpose flour
- brown sugar
- rapid yeast – This is also called bread machine yeast or quick yeast
- salt
- ground cinnamon
- dried sweetened cranberries – Don’t try to use fresh cranberries in this recipe. It’s been developed for dried and using fresh cranberries might throw off the moisture content of your yeast bread.
How to make this cranberry orange bread machine recipe
The exact ingredients with measurements can be found in the recipe card below along with more concise abbreviated instructions. Read on for more details, tips, and tricks so that you will feel confident making this recipe.
Step one: zest and juice the orange
Zest your orange first, then juice it. You’ll need about 2 tablespoons of zest and ½ cup juice — one large orange is usually enough, but grab an extra just in case. Set the zest aside; it will go in later with the cranberries.
Measure your flour properly
It’s really important when you measure the bread flour to not pack it in the measuring cup. If you do then you will end up using too much flour and your orange bread will be too hard and dense. You could do it the civilized way and WEIGH your bread flour! According to Google, three cups of bread flour weigh 408 grams.
Accurately measure the flour
For precision in baking, weighing flour is the gold standard as it ensures consistent results. The weight of flour can vary significantly based on factors like humidity and measuring techniques.
However, if you don’t have a scale, the “spoon and swipe” method—lightly spooning flour into a measuring cup and then leveling it off with a flat edge—can offer a more accurate measurement than scooping directly. While weighing remains ideal, the spoon and swipe method is a reliable alternative for achieving better accuracy in your baked goods.
- First “lighten” the flour by stirring it about with a spoon to get some air into it.
- Next, take a spoon or smaller measuring cup and scoop out the lightened flour.
- Then shake the lightened flour into the measuring cup. You’ll be shaking the flour in the measuring cup until the level of the lightened flour is a little bit above the level of the measuring cup.
- Next, take a knife or other flat implement and cut the top of the flour all the way across the measuring cup.
- Finally, with one swift movement, use the same knife to swipe away the excess.
3. Load the Bread Machine
Add the ingredients except the cranberries and orange zest to your bread maker in this order: liquids and fats first (water, orange juice, melted vegan butter), then sugar, salt, cinnamon – Finally flour and yeast on top.
4. Select the Bread Setting
Program your bread machine for the sweet bread cycle, medium-sized loaf, and light crust. Press start and let the machine take care of the rest.
5. Add Cranberries and Zest
When your machine signals for add-ins (usually before the final knead), toss in the cranberries and orange zest. If your model doesn’t beep for mix-ins, add them manually after the first rise and before the final knead.
6. Cool and Serve
When the baking cycle is complete, carefully remove the pan and let the loaf cool for at least 15–20 minutes before slicing.
For other cozy holiday treats:
If you’re baking this Orange Cranberry Yeast Bread to share, you might want to set out a few other cozy, festive favorites. A mug of Instant Pot Apple Cider or rich Peppermint Hot Chocolate makes the perfect pairing while the bread is still warm from the pan. For gifting or snacking, Buttery Savory Spiced Pecans add a sweet-salty crunch that balances this citrus-bright loaf beautifully. Together, they make the kind of spread that fills your kitchen with warmth — the way the holidays should feel.
Pro Tips
- Don’t skip the zest. It’s where all the fragrant orange oils live.
- Add-ins late, not early. Adding cranberries too soon can shred them into the dough.
- Cool completely before slicing for a clean cut. Warm bread may seem tempting, but it’ll compress under the knife.
✨ The Bottom Line
This Orange Cranberry Yeast Bread combines the simplicity of the bread maker with the warmth of homemade holiday baking. Each slice captures the flavor of the season — citrus-bright, tender, and lightly sweet — just waiting for a swipe of butter or jam.
The printable recipe card yeast cranberry orange bread
Did you love this recipe?
Want to share the love? It would be great if you could leave five ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ stars and even a comment. Did you know that this will help Google to find this recipe when others are looking for something similar? Thanks, Cindy
Equipment
- bread machine
Ingredients
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup orange juice
- 3 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3 cups bread flour
- 2 Tablespoons Vegan Butter or margarine
- 2½ teaspoon rapid yeast
- 1 cup dried sweetened cranberries
- 2 Tablespoons orange zest
Instructions
- Zest the orange and juice it. Set aside the zest separately from the juice as you will be adding them at different times.
- Add the ingredients EXCEPT for the dried sweetened cranberries and the orange zest to a bread machine in the order given.
- Program your bread machine to "sweet bread", light loaf, and medium-sized loaf. Start.
- When the bread machine beeps at you to add ingredients then add the cranberries and orange zest. Continue with the program till complete.
- Cool and remove from pan according to directions.
Don’t normally leave reviews, but this is really good. I substituted real butter for the oil and added a tablespoon of brown sugar — and I threw the cranberries and orange zest in at the beginning. Great result!
Thank you so much for letting me know! And thank you for the modifications. I’m so glad it worked out for you:)
Hi! Can this be made using gluten free flour? I see so many conflicting views… some people say you can only use gluten free recipes with gluten free flour, other people say you can substitute gluten free flour in any recipe. So, I’m always a little unsure.
Hello, so gluten-free recipes are not my wheelhouse. I did consult with my sister who bakes gluten-free and she told me to look for flour that specifically says 1:1 substitution. Even then, bread making can be a little tricky. I’d love to hear if you tried it and how it turned out.
Used the sweet bread setting in my bread machine and it came out raw in the middle. 🙁
First of all…I’m so sorry that happened to you. There is nothing worse than going to the trouble of making a recipe you are excited about – only to have a less than successful outcome. (And I do call “raw in the middle” less than successful.) I made this recipe several times this last weekend to make sure there was nothing inherently wrong with the recipe – perhaps a typo or something. It did come out pretty perfect for me every time. I am going to recommend changing the crust setting to medium instead of light – just because I like how the crust came out better on that setting in my experimentations. Can I ask which bread maker you are using? Also, is this a bread maker you’ve had previous success with? And on the sweet bread setting? (Just trying to problem solve.) I would also suggest that if that ever happens again with any bread machine recipe, wrap it in foil and pop it in a 350° oven for 20-30 minutes. That should do the trick. Again, I’m so sorry that happened to you. It must have been very disappointing.
This is I know a bit old of a comment, but the oven advice works great! I thankfully didn’t have any trouble with this recipe (though I think I’ll need to adjust for a 2lb bread machine maybe? It just came out small and oddly shaped, but absolutely delicious still!), but I had made a zucchini lava cake accidentally the other day and this advice saved my second attempt. So, thank you!
Thanks for letting me know:)
I’m skeptical of this recipe because it doesn’t contain eggs, however, I made it tonight I will see the results tomorrow. Wish me luck!
I hope it turned out for you!
This Orange Cranberry bread is delish!! It’s already half gone! It’s super yummy and easy. Highly recommend this.
Oh my, I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for letting me know:) Cindy
Happy Thanksgiving and happy holidays ahead! I will make this for Christmas also. Yum!
Stacy 💗
Oh awesome! I hope you enjoy! Cindy
Can I use fresh cranberries?
Hello, this is a great question and one that I’ve been wondering about as well. I happened to have a bag of leftover fresh cranberries and so thought I would test it out for myself. I was a little wary though because the water content of fresh cranberries is very different than that of dried cranberries and I was worried that it would throw off the ratios. I used one and one-third cups fresh cranberries (because when you substitute fresh for dried in other recipes you need to use a little more of the fresh). Everything else I measured the same. Unfortunately the results were as I feared. The loaf rose and then fell before completion. I might have accepted that but when I cut it open, I found that it was still doughy on the inside. In fact, if you look down a couple of comments you’ll see that somebody had a doughy experience which I now suspect might be from using fresh cranberries rather that dried. But the WORSE part of the experiment was that the flavor wasn’t the same. This recipe calls for dried sweetened cranberries which lend a sweeter taste than tart fresh cranberries. SOooooo, bottom lime is that no, fresh cranberries will not work in this recipe. You’ll need to find another use for those yummy fresh cranberries:/ For this recipe, it’s best to stick with the way it’s written and use dried sweetened cranberries. Thanks again for the great question. Cindy
Do you have measurements for a small loaf?
Hello, no, I have not calculated that. I’d hate to give you my best guess without having made it that way myself. Bread can be tricky and don’t want to mess with ratios. I’m sorry I couldn’t be more helpful at this time. This actually makes a pretty small loaf anyway.
Can real butter be used in place of margarine ?
So this is a very legit question because the water/flour ratio has to be just so in bread recipes for them to work and this recipe was developed with vegan butter (or margarine) which is a little higher in water content than is butter. I *think* it would be okay with the small amount used but can’t promise it. When fresh cranberries were used in place of dried cranberries it totally threw off the ratios and resulted in an uncooked center. But in this case it just might work to replace the margarine with butter. We do not use butter in our household so I couldn’t tell you for 100% though. If you do decide to go ahead with the butter, please let me know what the results were. And I’m sorry I couldn’t be 100% helpful on this one.
OMG! This bread is fabulous. I’m so glad I tried it. I hope I can restrain myself from hiding it from my family and eating it all. 😊
Oh wonderful! Thanks so much for the great review and I’m sooo glad you enjoyed this yummy bread! Cindy
Can I substitute Butter Milk for the Water?
Hello and that’s a great question! I was not sure of the answer to this question because I am vegan and don’t use buttermilk. I turned to a non-vegan blogging friend of mine, Brook from The Buttered Home, and this is what she said: “If it is the same recommended temperature as the water if will work fine. Temperature would be what would be the concern for me.” So, I hope this helped and do let me know how it turned out for you. Cindy
Looks so good!
Perfect results for my first time ever using a bread maker and to think I was so close to giving up before I even tried. It was easy and tasty! Thank you
Yay! I’m so glad you enjoyed this yummy bread. One of our favorites! Cindy
can i substitute milk for orange juice? not a fan of orange sorry!
Hello and thank you for your question. This recipe was developed using orange juice and in fact the orange flavor is the star of the show here. I honestly don’t know how it would turn out if anything else was used. If you decide to give it a try then please let me know. Cindy
We loved this bread enough to make it again ! Perfect bread … light and delicious… and the tip about measuring the flour by weight was great. I did use real butter, though, not being vegans in this house at all.
I made this recipe twice now! I love it!!
I just purchased my first bread maker and after 3 horribly failed loafs (different recipes) I was about to pack it up and send it back, in utter defeat of my bread machine ability but I decided to try one more recipe, yours and wow! What a fantastic bread this turned out to be! I do need to work on when to add the cranberries & zest, as I waited for it to beep but I think I added it in too slowly because all the cranberries ended up packed together on one side of the loaf and all over the outside of the loaf with very little to none inside the loaf.
Also, I set the loaf to “light” but the crust was very, very over cooked. Very dark and hard. Not sure what to do about that since it was on the lowest crust setting on my bread marker.
Maybe take it out slightly sooner before the finish beeping? I’m not sure but regardless this was a very tasty bread! I also added a bit of chopped fresh rosemary and wow! Delicious. Thank you so much for restoring my faith in using my bread maker.
Oh my goodness I’m blown away by your review and success story! And I hope you have many more:)
I have Panasonic SD-ZB2512 that don’t have a Sweet bread program
Can you advise me which program I need to use instead ?
Thanks
Not knowing your machine I could only venture a guess…but I’d just to the regular white bread and medium crust if you have that setting.
I love this recipe and made it many times. Can I make this in the oven? I no longer have room for a bread machine.
Hello, I’m glad you enjoy this recipe! It’s one of my favorites too. There is no reason you shouldn’t be able to do it using the traditional methods. You’ll need to google how to knead, rise, punch down, rise again if you are not already familiar. Good luck to you and let me know how it works out for you!
Very good! Will make again many times!
My bread did not turn out like yours. It is very dense and the cranberries all stayed at the bottom. Bread has nice flavor, but very few cranberries made it into the loaf. It lookeed like it had a disease on the bottom snd sides, since that is where the cranberries are.
I’m so sorry it did’t work out for you. Did you use dried cranberries? Did you add them at the correct time? Every bread machine has a certain time at which the add-in need to be added.
I think I will reduce the salt to 1 tsp.
I used unsalted butter.
My bread was quite dense. This is the first time I have used the sweet setting. When I bake regular white bread it rises to the top of the machine. This time it was half the size. Is this normal?
I just got a bread machine and I am making my second Orange Cranberry loaf today. This bread is the best ever! So flavourful. I expect to be making this a lot in the future.
This bread is awesome!! I am new to my bread machine. I have made this bread four times since I found the recipe two weeks ago. I can’t stop eating it. Thank you so much for such a great recipe.
My machine only has a 1 1/2 and a 2 pound setting. Which size does your medium size setting on your machine make? Just trying to figure out the loaf size
Thank you!
I’d do the 1 1/2 pound
Do you have to heat up the liquids at all
They shouldn’t be cold.