A Beautiful Recipe for Gluten Free Cranberry Bread – with Cranberry Glaze
Come Thanksgiving, there are some things that are non-negotiable; for example, cranberry bread for breakfast. Typically, I dutifully whip up a classic recipe loaded with chopped cranberries, orange zest and walnuts. But after 22 years of essentially making the same recipe (now a gluten-free version), I decided to get wild. This recipe for gluten-free cranberry bread is redolent with orange and rosemary and topped with a sweet tart cranberry glaze.
Recipe card, description and images updated 11/3/21.
Jump to RecipeYou’ll love this delicious recipe for gluten-free cranberry bread!
It could be argued that this cranberry-studded confection isn’t actually a bread. The fact that it’s drizzled in a luscious, rosemary and orange spiked pink glaze and topped with sugared cranberries might lead one to believe that this falls into the cake category and is, therefore, a dessert.
I beg to differ. Since this I bake this gluten-free quick-bread in a loaf pan, it is decidedly a bread. And breads are breakfast foods. Surely the amount of orange zest and cranberries must have some redeeming qualities. Vitamin C, perhaps?
Each year my Mother-in-Law ships us the most beautiful, fresh cranberries from Annies Crannies on Cape Cod. I use them in sauce and relish, and bake them into apple pies, cranberry frangipane tarts (another non-negotiable Thanksgiving must-have), and yes, cranberry bread.
In this year’s cranberry bread, I nixed the walnuts (don’t tell my MIL) and added fresh minced rosemary. The whole thing gets topped with a sweet tart cranberry glaze, redolent of orange and rosemary, and garnished with sugared cranberries (which are, incidentally, fabulous on a holiday cheese board).
Sure, this gluten-free cranberry bread would look amazing on your Thanksgiving dessert table. But it would also be a perfect morning-of breakfast with a cup of hot coffee. Consider it a little something to fortify you for the day of marathon cooking that awaits.
Here are some more delicious cranberry recipes to try!
- Gluten Free Boozy Mini Cranberry Cheesecake Tarts
- Cranberry Gin Slush Cocktail
- Gluten Free Cranberry Frangipane Tart
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Recipe for Gluten Free Cranberry Bread with Cranberry Orange Glaze
Equipment
- 9×5 inch loaf pan
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons salted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2½ cups all purpose gluten-free flour blend I love Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 these days
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum omit if your flour blend contains it – Bob’s does
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup whole milk or non-dairy milk of your choice
- ½ cup buttermilk sour cream or non-dairy milk soured with 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
- zest from one orange
- 2 tablespoons orange juice from about half of the orange
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup fresh rinsed cranberries roughly chopped (a food processor is great for this)
For the Cranberry Glaze
- 1 cup fresh cranberries
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
Make the Cranberry Bread
- Preheat your oven 350°F. Grease a standard (9×5 inch) loaf pan and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter until fluffy. Add the sugar and beat until fully incorporated. Add the eggs, one at a time to the butter sugar mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl and continue to beat until the mixture is smooth and glossy.
- Add the flour, xanthan gum (if using), baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt. Spin the blade a few turns to mix.
- Add the milk, buttermilk, rosemary, orange zest and juice, and vanilla extract and beat until the mixture is smooth. Fold in the chopped cranberries.
- Pour batter into your prepared baking dish and bake for approximately one hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Slide a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen bread, then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Once cool, drizzle with cranberry glaze and top with sugared cranberries and rosemary sprigs for garnish, if desired.
Make the Glaze
- Add 1 cup of fresh cranberries, 1 cup of sugar and one cup of water to a sauce pan with two sprigs of fresh rosemary and 2 strips of orange rind.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes or until the cranberries pop and the syrup is thick and glossy.
- Strain syrup though a sieve into a bowl, discarding solids. Add ¼ of this syrup to 2 cups of powdered sugar and whisk until smooth. Reserve the rest of the syrup for a gin rosemary spritz.
This was so good! I made the sugared cranberries too, Definitely a keeper … next time I will try the glaze.
So glad you loved it!
Excellent recipe! The glaze is delicious and the sugared cranberries enhance the flavor.