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Cranberry Cream Cheese Bread has all the flavors of the holidays in one sweet, rich, easy to make bread. It is made with fresh, tart cranberries, an almond flavoring and sweet cream cheese filling. A glorious addition to Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.
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Best Cranberry Bread Recipe
We love baking around the holidays, whether it be bread, Christmas desserts, or the Best Christmas cookies. Try any of our baked Christmas treats with a rich cup of homemade hot chocolate or this citrusy holiday wassail.
There are many cranberry bread recipes out there, but this one really is the best! I love everything about this cranberry cream cheese bread. Every bite tastes like Christmas, and I’m not talking about fruitcake! I am not a big bread fan (I know, I know… what food blogger isn’t in love with bread?) so telling you that I am in love with this bread is saying something. I took a bite of this bread, and then another and I pretty much was half way through the loaf before I had to call people to come over and take the rest from me before I ate it all. Believe me, I really could have eaten every. last. bite.
This kind of bread doesn’t require any kneading, no yeast, no waiting for it to rise, none of that. This sweet cranberry bread recipe is super easy to put together. It’s a recipe adapted from a Pillsbury recipe I saw years ago and loved. Cranberry bread has a soft texture, similar to muffins, or a sweet cake. Just mix the ingredients together and bake! That’s it. The beautiful color and texture make this an easy and quick bread recipe to bake up when you have company coming, or as a gift.
Cranberry Cream Cheese Bread As A Gift
This bread is so pretty and makes for the perfect gift around Christmastime. Make a whole loaf, or bake it in mini loaf pans and take to neighbors and friends for Christmas. Just wrap it tightly with plastic wrap or in an airtight container, add a bow and you have a gorgeous gift that everyone will love!
Ingredients
- cream cheese (softened)
- large eggs
- all-purpose flour
- sugar
- baking powder
- baking soda
- salt
- apple juice
- melted unsalted butter
- vanilla extract
- almond extract
- coarsely chopped fresh cranberries
- sliced almonds (optional, to taste)
Add a Little Citrus
By adding and substituting a few simple ingredients you can give this bread some orange flavor.
- orange juice (in place of the apple juice)
- orange zest
- orange glaze
Tips for Perfect Cranberry Bread
- This recipe is easy but you need to take a bit of time when assembling the ingredients so it doesn’t look like a mixed up mess. Be sure to start with the dry ingredients and then Part of the deliciousness of this bread is its presentation.
- Once the batter is mixed, gently fold in the cranberries and almonds. Don’t over mix!
- Work in layers. Spread half of the cranberry bread batter in the bottom of a loaf pan, then spread the cream cheese mixture, then top with another layer of the bread batter.
- Use a knife to get perfect cream cheese swirls in the bread.
- Before pulling the bread from the oven, use the toothpick test to make sure the bread is completely baked.
- Once it bakes, you can’t really see the cream cheese swirl but trust me, it’s there! The swirl melts into the batter and helps keep a moist, light texture that tastes so yummy!
- Place the bread on a wire rack to cool. I usually place it on it’s side and then rotate it a few times while it’s cooling.
- Store this bread in the refrigerator, tightly wrapped. It’ll stay good for up to a week.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, once cooled, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. Then, wrap it again in foil or place it in a resealable freezer bag.
Yes! Thaw the cranberries and then cut them as directed in the recipe instructions.
Yes, but I don’t recommend it. The fresh cranberries are what makes this bread so delicious. The texture and flavor of using fresh cranberries is totally worth the extra effort.
Yes, because of the cream cheese filling, we recommend keeping it in the fridge. This also makes it easier to slice.
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Cranberry Bread with Cream Cheese Swirl
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 egg
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup apple juice
- 1/4 cup butter melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 egg beaten
- 2 cups coarsely chopped fresh cranberries
- sliced almonds optional, to taste
Instructions
- Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease bottom only of 9×5-inch loaf pan with shortening; lightly flour. In small bowl, beat cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add 1 egg; blend well. Set aside.
- In large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in apple juice, butter, vanilla extract, almond extract and beaten egg until well blended. Fold in cranberries and nuts. Spoon half of batter into pan. Spoon cream cheese mixture evenly over batter. Top with remaining batter and swirl batter with a knife a few times (to swirl the cream cheese through the batter). Sprinkle almonds over the top (optional).
- Bake 65 to 75 minutes or until top springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan. Cool completely, about 1 hour. Wrap tightly and store in refrigerator.
I carefully put this whole recipe together, leaving out almond extract and almonds and subbing in walnuts and extra vanilla, which I measure from my heart and frozen cranberries.
Put it in the oven, waited, and nothing.
My oven literally died, yesterday.
Long story, short….
So, today, I was able to finish it off, in my newly delivered and installed oven and this bread is AMAZING!!
You CAN prepare it a day ahead of time, we know that now. This is very good to know!
Definitely making this one again, and I am excited to try it with almonds. Great recipe!!
I’m so glad it worked out for you, even after your oven dying! Very glad to hear you can make it ahead of time. I will have to add you tip to the post. Thanks for letting me know! Also, glad you were able to get a new oven!
Thankful to have this delicious recipe.
Just made this as a “trial run”
Wow! Soo delish & pretty easy. I did “tweak” it some, only used 1 cup cranberry & low fat cream cheese.All i had on hand, & i didn’t have almonds..still turned out great! I will be making again with ALL the items. I also used mini loaf pans, don’t overfill like i did,oops!
Hi there! Can I use dried cranberries for this recipe? TIA!
Fresh cranberries introduce liquid into the batter, so switching them for dried might make your bread dry. Maybe add a few tablespoons of milk or water to the batter to counteract that? Let me know how it goes if you try it!
This recipe is excellent! I have a question about the cream cheese filling. The recipe states sweet cream cheese swirl.
The filling does not call for any sweetener. Was an ingredient left out?
The sugar from the cake batter sweetens the cream cheese!
Thank you for the response. I really appreciate it.
This recipe is way too good! Once I start eating it I can’t stop.
I made several for my friends and
now I’m constantly asked when I will be making more.
Thank you for your kindness in posting this amazing recipe 😊.
Awesome! Thanks for this recipe. Since I had a big jar of already opened applesauce in the fridge, I elected to use that instead of opening a huge jug of apple juice. I am thinking it made the bread even more moist! It really is quite flavorful and we love it.
This is SO good…very moist and a perfect blend of sweet and tart. I make mini loaves and share so that I don’t eat it all. My current favorite!!!
Make this today and it was an instant family hit. I doubled the recipes and used my homemade cranberry sauce (leftover from thanksgiving) instead of the chopped cranberries. I cooked it in my Bundt pan. Finished it with a powdered sugar glaze with a hint of almond extract. It turned out perfect, moist and delicious!
5 stars!