Orange Cranberry Yeast Bread – Made in the Bread Maker

Orange cranberry yeast bread is a delicious savory bread with sweet undertones that is tasty when served with cinnamon sugar butter, for breakfast or a snack. Make this yummy bread machine orange bread with dried cranberries in just a few hours and have a nice warm slice of savory sweet bread this holiday season – or any time!

Nothing says the holiday season has arrived like the combined flavors of orange and cranberry! This orange and cranberry bread is a little different than the typical sweet quick bread recipes you might be used to.

This tasty seasonal bread is made in the bread machine with yeast and goes through the entire rising and kneading process. Orange yeast bread is best served with butter and jam, or my yummy (vegan) whipped maple cinnamon butter, pear butter, or peach butter with pineapple and amaretto!

If you have a bread machine and are looking for something a little out of the ordinary, you should give this yummy cranberry orange bread with dried cranberries a try! You might also try olive oil and herb bread, cinnamon raisin bread, basic vegan white bread, or tasty molasses wheat bread – all made in my Cuisinart Bread Maker.

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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

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 only one-half cup of orange juice.

Zest the orange and juice it. Set aside the zest separately from the juice because you will be adding them at different times. I use this handy orange zester but you can also use a fine grater to zest the orange.

Step two: Measuring and adding (most) ingredients to the bread machine

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.

BUT, if you are like me and measure your flour, do as my granny taught me. First, stir the flour around to “lighten” it. Then carefully SPOON or scoop it into the dry measuring cup. Finally, level off the top by cutting and scraping off the excess flour with a knife.

Add all of the ingredients EXCEPT for the dried sweetened cranberries and the orange zest to a bread machine in the order given. So, first the liquids and fat, then the bread flour, and finally the sugar, spices, and rapid yeast.

Step three: Program the bread maker

I use the Cuisinart 2lb bread maker. This has multiple settings including a sweet bread setting. On my bread machine, I program “sweet bread”, light loaf, and medium-sized loaf. Then press start. You need to understand the directions that came with your machine and select the settings that work best for your machine.

Add the cranberries and zest

My bread machine has a handy feature that beeps right before the final mix and rise so that I can add in any other add-in ingredients. If your machine does not have this feature then read your owner’s manual to understand the timing.

When the bread machine beeps at you to add ingredients (right before that final mix/knead and rise), then add the cranberries and orange zest. Continue with the program till complete.

Cool and enjoy!

Allow cooling according to the manufacturer’s directions. Remove the loaf pan from your bread machine and carefully remove the loaf. Do you know what is super yummy with this orange and cranberry bread? My whipped maple cinnamon butter! So yum!!

The printable recipe card yeast cranberry orange bread