Christmas is already this weekend, Sidney will be two in a couple of weeks, and Viggo will be one in a few short months! Tony and I have been busy getting our new house ready for move-in and I’ve been trying to work ahead on all content for the New Year. SO MANY EXCITING THINGS.
By now you all probably know how much I love anything and everything orange, and I especially loved it during my pregnancies. It’s like the one thing I still can’t stop eating and lucky for me, oranges are in season, making them perfect for putting in everything and anything.
Over the past couple of years, I’ve made Italian orange cookies, an orange-infused overnight french toast bake, orange creamsicle baked oatmeal, and even this fabulous orange gingerbread swirl loaf. YUM.
Today, I’m bringing back this stunning healthy cranberry orange bread that’s fresh, moist, flavorful, full of citrus notes, naturally sweetened and SO dang beautiful I could cry. It’s easy to make in one bowl and the perfect baking project for the holidays!
What makes this cranberry orange bread amazing?
If you can’t tell, I’m a little bit obsessed with how delicious this paleo cranberry orange bread is. It’s not your average cranberry loaf for a few distinct reasons:
- It’s gluten and grain free thanks to almond flour. and coconut flour. These flours also add a boost of healthy fats!
- It’s naturally sweetened with a touch of honey and fresh orange juice.
- It’s super easy to make, fluffy, incredibly moist and bursting with fresh cranberries. A little sweet and tart in every bite.
- To top it all off, it has a sweet and simple orange glaze that you’ll want to put over EVERYTHING.
Everything you’ll need to make paleo cranberry orange bread
This healthy cranberry orange bread is naturally sweetened and made with a mix of simple and nourishing gluten free and grain free friendly ingredients. Here’s what you need:
- Flours: we’re using a mix of almond flour and coconut flour to keep this bread gluten and grain free.
- Eggs: you’ll need three eggs to help this gluten free cranberry orange bread bake up properly.
- Sweetener: this bread is naturally sweetened with a bit of honey!
- Baking staples: you’ll of course need some baking soda and salt to bake this bread.
- Oil: you’ll also need some melted coconut oil to give this bread the perfect moisture.
- Delicious flavors: we’re adding freshly squeezed orange juice, orange zest, cinnamon and almond extract to give this bread a wonderful, cozy orange infusion.
- Mix-ins: I love adding fresh or dried cranberries and some chopped walnuts to give the bread texture and even more flavor.
- Icing: that gorgeous icing is made with powdered sugar, a little fresh orange juice and orange zest.
Optional ingredient swaps
If you’re missing a few ingredients or want to make swaps, here’s what I’d recommend for this healthy cranberry orange bread:
- For the coconut oil: feel free to use melted butter.
- For the cranberries: if you don’t have fresh cranberries, you can thaw out frozen cranberries and then chop them and toss with 1 teaspoon of coconut flour. If you’re using dried cranberries, I suggest using 1/2 cup instead of 3/4 cup as they’re rather sweet.
- For the icing: feel free to try my paleo powdered sugar for the icing to keep the bread paleo!
Can I use all purpose flour?
I would not recommend using any different flours in this recipe as the texture will greatly change. Try one of these recipes if you’re looking to use all purpose flour!
- Pistachio Poppyseed Orange Yogurt Bread
- Healthy Pumpkin Bread with Maple Glaze
- Brown Butter Orange Pumpkin Muffins with Orange Glaze
- Orange Gingerbread Swirl Loaf
Check out all of our delicious bread recipes here!
How to make the best gluten free cranberry orange bread
- Prep your oven & pan. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and line a loaf pan with parchment paper. Spray it with nonstick cooking spray, too, as gluten free baked goods can tend to stick.
- Mix the dry. Whisk together all of your dry ingredients in a bowl.
- Mix the wet. In a separate large bowl, mix together all of your wet ingredients.
- Make your batter & bake. Slowly add the dry ingredients to your wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in the walnuts and cranberries, add your batter to the pan, and bake!
- Glaze party. While the bread is cooling, mix together the ingredients for the icing until they’re smooth. Pour or drizzle the icing on your cooled loaf and enjoy!
Storing & freezing tips
- To store: this gluten free cranberry orange bread should be kept well-covered in foil or plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 3 days, then I recommend transferring to the fridge or freezer.
- To freeze: this healthy cranberry orange bread freezes well! I recommend freezing it without the glaze. Simply wrap in plastic, then tightly in foil and finally place in a reusable bag or freezer-friendly bag for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature once you are ready to eat. You can also feel free to freeze individual slices for a quick on-the-go treat!
What to serve with cranberry orange bread
I love serving this bread with a bunch of other yummy, savory goodies for holiday brunch. Here are a few suggestions to try:
- Butternut Squash Bacon Spinach Quiche
- Sweet Potato, Egg & Green Chile Breakfast Quesadillas
- Maple Blueberry Turkey Sausage Breakfast Patties
- Perfectly Crispy Breakfast Potatoes
- Bacon Egg Cups
- Healthy Sweet Potato, Black Bean & Avocado Breakfast Burritos
Get all of our amazing breakfast & brunch recipes here!
I hope you love this simple one bowl healthy cranberry orange bread! Please let me know if you make it by leaving a comment below and rating the recipe — I appreciate it! xo.
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Paleo Cranberry Orange Bread
Ingredients
- Dry ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups packed fine blanched almond flour
- ⅓ cup coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Wet ingredients:
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup honey
- 3 tablespoons melted and cooled coconut oil
- ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- Zest of 1 large orange
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- Mix-ins:
- 3/4 cup diced fresh cranberries (or sub dried cranberries)
- 1/3 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
- For the orange icing:
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½-1 tablespoon fresh orange juice, plus a little more if necessary to thin the glaze
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 1/2 x 4 ½ loaf pan with parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together wet ingredients: eggs, honey, melted coconut oil, orange juice, orange zest and almond extract. IMPORTANT: make sure your coconut oil is melted and cooled otherwise it will become clumpy. This goes with your eggs too -- it’s best to run them under very warm water for 1 minute to bring them to room temperature before baking.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well with a wooden spoon to combine. Fold in diced cranberries and walnuts. Add batter into prepared loaf pan and spread out evenly, smoothing the top. Bake for 40-50 minutes until a tester comes out clean. Allow loaf to cool completely in the pan before removing.
- For the glaze: Mix together powdered sugar, orange juice and orange zest until smooth. You may need to add in more orange juice to thin out the glaze, but remember we want it to be a thicker glaze. Pour or drizzle over the top of the loaf and spread towards the sides. Cut into 10 slices.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
This post was originally published on December 23rd, 2020, and republished on December 21st, 2021.
78 comments
I am very interested in trying this for Christmas for my family, but we have a nut allergy in the family. I have limited experience cooking with all coconut flour (I know it’s drier and more absorbent). Any thoughts on how this would turn out with all coconut flour? Would it be maybe 2/3 less by volume? Love your recipes!
HI! Because almond flour and coconut flour are two very different flours, I can’t give you an exact substitution amount as I’m not sure the recipe would successfully turn out without testing it first. I would not recommend subbing coconut flour in for almond flour though. Sorry! 😞
Could you make this as muffins?
Sure! I’m not sure on exact baking time though! I suggest 18-25 minutes to start.
This is the most incredible, fresh tasting, moist bread. I made it for my daughter that is gluten free and dairy free using a cup for cup gluten free flour. I could not yank it out of my husband and son’s hands and they do not subscribe to gluten or dairy free. It is truly delicious and I put it in my keeper dessert section. Thank you so much, Monique!
Love that! I’m so glad everyone enjoyed 🙂
Made this for Christmas morning & it was a hit. Delicious recipe!
Perfect! I’m so glad!
I loved this recipe!
I’m so glad!
I’ve made this twice in 2 weeks I enjoyed it so much! I didn’t have any oranges so I used orange juice I had on hand, used dried cherries instead of craisins because it’s what I had and added slivered almonds. I didn’t even make the glaze and I still loved it.
Perfect! So happy to hear that, Ashley!
I made this with my kids yesterday and it turned out amazing!! They were hesitant about the cranberries and walnuts so we left those out and it’s still so good…although next time I want to include them. Easy recipe to follow and my husband was shocked that it was gluten free. Definitely making again!
This one’s great for customizing with your fav mix-ins 🙂 glad everyone loved it (and you’ll have to try out the cranberries next time!)
What would be a good replacement for almond flour for nut allergy sufferers?
I just made this bread and it turned out perfect! I followed the recipe exactly except I didn’t use fresh cranberries as they were unavailable at my grocery store so I used dried cranberries instead (and used 3/4 cup since I didn’t read the modification until the bread was already in the oven). The amount of glaze is just right. Can’t wait to share this with my family and friends! Thank you for a great recipe! 🙂
Amazing! So glad you enjoyed 🙂
This was really nice. It did end up a bit crumbly for me even though I followed the recipe. Still a nice flavor.
Glad you enjoyed! I’d suggest making sure it cools completely – that should help 🙂
Is it okay to omit the orange zest?
Yes, but it won’t pack as much of an orange punch.
Made this for Turkey-day breakfast and people were mind blown! The ingredients are 10/10 and I loved providing such a wholesome sweet treat to my loved ones. It was requested that I make more this weekend…thinking about doing this in muffin form! Also AK recipes were basically my whole Thanksgiving!
Amazing! So glad they loved this and that you found great Thanksgiving recipes 🙂
Making right now but it isn’t clear where the almond extract comes in? Icing or loaf?
Thanks for the catch! It goes in with the wet ingredients for the loaf.
I made this recipe to use up leftover cranberries from Thanksgiving and my goodness what a treat. The recipe is easy, the bread is most and the glaze is a perfect compliment to the bread. Cannot wait to make it again!
Perfect! Glad you enjoyed!
This recipe was delicious!! Great texture, not too sweet, and loved the tangy bursts of the cranberries. We didn’t have walnuts, so we subbed in slivered almonds, and it worked perfectly.
Perfect! Glad you loved it!
This bread is very good! I made it yesterday exactly as the recipe states and wouldn’t do anything different. I think it develops more flavor the next day and stays really moist. Would make again!
Perfect! Glad you liked it!
Can I substitute coconut flour for something else? I have almond flour. However, I also have a paleo flour from Bob red mills. Do you think that could work? Thank you. Has any one else mentioned they use all purpose and be fine?
I wouldn’t recommend it – sorry! The texture will be much different with another flour. Try this bread instead with all purpose flour!
This bread is delicious! When my family started eating Paleo, I never thought we’d be eating cranberry orange bread again (a family favorite). This is even better!
I’m so glad you found this one! One of our favs, too 🙂
I made this last night and loved it! The flavors are so fresh and citrusy and it all comes together pretty effortlessly. It looked gorgeous coming out of the oven too. I am curious what guidance you have to getting that gorgeous yellow Orange glaze- I tried it and it came out translucent over my bread but still tasted great. Otherwise, I loved it!
So happy to hear that! It just depends on how much orange juice + powdered sugar you end up using 🙂
The most wonderful recipe. Bread so easy to make, so healthy, so moist and absolutely delish and guilt free. Its a keeper for me.
Thank you so much.
So happy you loved it!
Delicious! I added extra walnuts since I love nuts in bread. I also didn’t read the note about only adding 1/2 cup if using dried cranberries and still used 3/4 cup. Turned out great! Can’t wait to make again
I’m glad it worked out well!!
Didnt enjoy this. Has a weird consistency from the coconut flour and it is too sweet. Kind of oily tasting. Threw it out
Sorry to hear that! I wish I could help troubleshoot as many people have loved this bread. Did you follow the recipe exactly?
So moist and delicious!!!
That being said I didn’t have a lot of the ingredients so I subbed coconut flour and coconut oil for equal amounts of whole wheat flour and avocado oil, used almonds instead walnuts and subbed almond extract with vanilla. It was seriously amazing!!!
I’m glad that still worked!
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe. I am utterly amazed at how flavourful and good this loaf is. Ive never baked anything without wheat flour and am greatly impressed with this loaf. Its appearance, taste and texture is excellent. Im diabetic and am trying to cater to my sweet tooth in a more healthy way! I detest artificial sweeteners and used 3 tablespoons maple syrup as my sweetener instead of honey. I will definitely be making this loaf again. Thanks again.
Amazing! So glad you enjoyed!
Soooo good. Not overly sweet but full of flavor!
I was scared making this..and it turned out “sandy/gritty”..I have a lot of faith in the coconut/almond flour combo for cookies…but cake like stuff..I tried your other cake recipes I think the fat content reassured me it would turn out great and they did.
This one it was a little sandy if that makes sense..I did not put any cranberries is that it? my oven is also a little too intense maybe?..any ideas what might’ve went wrong. I want a good orange cake/loaf recipes my family love those but want to avoid wheat flour.
I mean it was eaten none the less just wish it was less..obvious this is loaf made with other flours.
Any ideas what could’ve went wrong or what to use more of to make it foolproof if that’s a thing. Put too much coconut flour maybe?
Anyways Thanks so much for gluten/diary free recipes!
Hi, Ahmed. Sorry for the delay! Make sure you use blanched almond flour — it will be more fine! I love Bob’s Red Mill.
I made this today for thanksgiving dinner and it tasted delicious! The recipe is easy to follow. Even my non-gluten free friend enjoyed it and said it’s really moist.
Wow made this last night and was so impressed! Moist, tasty, and the perfect use for fresh cranberries. The sweetness from the honey is the perfect amount. Will definitely be making again!
Yay!! I’m so glad you tried and loved it, Taylor! Really appreciate the review 🙂
I just made this bread for Thanksgiving dinner and it was DELICIOUS! I was looking for a clean ingredient bread and was nervous to try a new recipe for the first time, but am so thankful I did! Everyone raved about this bread and I LOVE how clean all of the ingredients are. Would 100% recommend this bread to anyone and am excited to make it again this week 🙂
Oh I’m so glad to hear that!! Can’t wait for you to make it again 🙂
I made this with the only sub being 1/2 cup Allulose for the 1/3 cup Honey. Definitely NOT sweet enough without the Glaze. I refrigerated overnight before slicing, but it still crumbled under the knife. The crumbles were very moist and tender with good flavor! I ended up using them to make a English Trifle…
Hi, there. It sounds like the allulose really altered the texture and flavor of the bread, which is why I generally don’t recommend subbing sweeteners.
Hi – haven’t tried it yet but wondering if it could be made without honey. Trying to keep net carbs around 5g per slice (keto friendly). Don’t want to add sweetners.
I haven’t tried omitting the sweetener and am not sure how the texture would turn out without it, sorry!
Can you use only almond flour or almond with regular flour? If so, what would the measurements be ?
I haven’t tried omitting the coconut flour so I’m not sure how it would change the texture, sorry!
Delicious and moist. Tastes like a special treat soI have put a few slices away for Christmas morning!
No adjustments needed. As always a perfect recipe from Ambitious Kitchen.
Thank you so much for the kind review, Pam! I’m so glad to hear you love it 🙂
Amazing recipe. I followed the instructions but did some ingredients swaps. I used 3 tbsp of butter instead of the coconut oil and left out the walnuts because I’m not a big walnut fan. I left the amount of fresh cranberries the same, though. I made these into 12 muffins, using muffin liners. I cooked them for about 20 minutes or so, until a toothpick came clean. Really amazing flavor and my husband loved them! Thanks for another excellently executed recipe!
Ooh love the idea of turning this into muffins! I’m so happy they came out perfectly 🙂
Made this for Christmas morning brunch and am making it a second time. It’s the 28th. It was that good! I added some white chocolate chips to it, used the walnuts, and a few more cranberries than the recipe called for. Took it out at 42 minutes. Let it cool awhile before slicing. Absolutely delicious.
Awesome!! Love the addition of white chocolate chips–that sounds FABULOUS.
This was my first time working with almond flour and coconut flour and I found that the instructions were super helpful!
Will definitely make again.
I also love how it isn’t too sweet but more tart!
So glad that it was easy to follow and that you enjoyed it!
Awesome gluten free loaf!
This is DELICIOUS!!! Thank you thank you! I’ll make it often! The texture is perfect!!
Amazing. Second time I have made this and it’s a GEM. Followed recipe exactly and would not change a thing. Perfect for the holidays❤️
Am I missing it, or did you forget to include the amount of pumpkin to add to the pumpkin cranberry bread? 🙂
This recipe is for the cranberry orange bread 🙂
Is it possible to switch out honey for pure maple syrup? I can’t have honey right now but I really want to make this!
That should be fine. Let me know how it turns out for you!
Hi! Wondering if the icing will harden?
If stored correctly, it shouldn’t.