Cranberry Bread With Cream Cheese Swirl

Best Cranberry Bread Recipe

We love baking around the holidays, whether it be bread, Christmas desserts, or Christmas cookies. Try any of our baked Christmas treats with a rich cup of hot cocoa 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 Bread with Cream Cheese Swirl. 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 in Cream Cheese Cranberry Bread

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)

Make it Cranberry Orange Bread

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.