Cranberry Toasted Almond Bread (Printable)

A moist loaf studded with tart cranberries and crunchy toasted almonds, perfect for any time snack.

# What You’ll Need:

→ Dry Ingredients

01 - 2 cups all-purpose flour
02 - 1 cup granulated sugar
03 - 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
04 - ½ teaspoon baking soda
05 - ½ teaspoon fine sea salt

→ Wet Ingredients

06 - ⅔ cup whole milk
07 - ⅓ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
08 - 2 large eggs
09 - 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

→ Add-Ins

10 - 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries (if frozen, do not thaw)
11 - ½ cup toasted sliced almonds
12 - 1 tablespoon orange zest (about 1 orange)

# How-To Steps:

01 - Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9x5-inch loaf pan or line it with parchment paper.
02 - In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well blended.
03 - In a separate bowl, whisk milk, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla extract until fully combined.
04 - Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and gently mix just until incorporated, avoiding overmixing.
05 - Carefully fold in cranberries, toasted almonds, and orange zest to distribute evenly.
06 - Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan, smoothing the surface evenly.
07 - Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
08 - Allow bread to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • The contrast between tart cranberries and sweet almond crunch keeps you reaching for another slice, and it's genuinely hard to stop at one.
  • It comes together in under 20 minutes of actual work, then the oven does all the thinking while you do something else.
  • One loaf fills your kitchen with an aroma that makes people wonder if you've been baking all day when you've actually barely lifted a finger.
02 -
  • Frozen cranberries are your friend—don't thaw them or they'll bleed color and flavor into the batter. The ice crystals actually keep them intact during baking.
  • If your milk is cold from the fridge, it's fine, but make sure your butter is genuinely cooled down or it will scramble the eggs and create tiny cooked bits that feel gritty when you bite into the finished loaf.
  • A toothpick test matters more than time—every oven is different, and the difference between underbaked and perfect is sometimes just 3 minutes of patience.
03 -
  • Room temperature ingredients mix more smoothly and create a more cohesive batter, so take your eggs and milk out 30 minutes before you start if you think of it, though cold milk works fine in a pinch.
  • Invest in a microplane zester for citrus—it makes the zest so fine and fluffy that the orange flavor distributes perfectly instead of creating little bitter pockets like a box grater does.

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