Vegan Citrus Cranberry Quick Bread

I’m going to be honest with you; I didn’t bake this vegan citrus cranberry quick bread this week. I made it a month ago when bags of fresh cranberries were piled high in nearly every produce department across the country.

So, why am I starting the new year with an old recipe?

Simple. Even though the holidays are over and fresh cranberries might not be as abundant, I made this bread for my brother and father, and they loved it.

That’s a big deal.

Like most of us, I didn’t grow up vegan. I came to veganism through vegetarianism twelve years ago, back when there were limited vegan options and well before vegan cheese could melt.

I’m an adventurous eater and would frequently try to impress my family with my newfound love of vegan cooking. Like any beginner, I had some successes and tons and tons of barely edible failures. Let’s say that it wasn’t surprising that my family would hesitate before tasting something I prepared.

Thankfully, vegan food (and my cooking) has come a long way since then.

I’m still testing things out on my family. After all, they’re not vegan, so they’re good people for testing the tastiness of vegan food, which leads me to this bread.

I’ve been taking all kinds of food over to my dad’s house since my mom passed away. This vegan citrus cranberry quick bread, inspired by Orange Cranberry Muffins from Isa Chandra Moskowitz, was one of the first things I took over to him and my brother, who was visiting from out of state.

They’re tough vegan critics, but they loved it. My brother wanted more cranberries and my father a few extra minutes in the oven, but they both enjoyed the bright citrus flavor mixed with a not-as-sweet bread with the perfect crumb.

They ate it all.

This vegan citrus cranberry quick bread puts cranberries front and center. Here in the US, cranberries begin to make an appearance in grocery stores in November, just in time for Thanksgiving and will disappear shortly after the Christmas Holiday in December.

It’s the perfect time to grab a few extra bags of cranberries and freeze them for use throughout the year. I have several bags of them washed and ready in mine right now.

If you can’t find fresh cranberries at your local market, frozen cranberries will work just as well. Stay away from dried cranberries, though; they won’t work in this recipe at all.

Before I get to the recipe for the vegan citrus cranberry quick bread, there are a few things you should know.

First, I used whole wheat flour because that is what I had on hand. I’m pretty sure flours like all-purpose or pastry flour would work well in this recipe- I don’t know about gluten-free flours though, I’ve never worked with them.

You can also replace the sugar in the recipe with a sweetener of your choice- I used organic white sugar for the same reason I used whole wheat flour- that’s what I had on hand.

Now, on to the baking!

Article Sources

1. USDA. “Food Composition Database.”
2. National Center for Biotechnology (NCBI) PubMed.org. “Antioxidant & Antiproliferative Activities of Common Fruits.”
3. Advances in Nutrition. “Cranberries & Their Bioactive Constituents in Human Health.”
4. Nutrition Facts. “Cranberries vs. Cancer.”
5. National Center for Biotechnology (NCBI) PubMed.org. “Cranberry & Blueberry: Evidence for Protective Effects Against Cancer & Vascular Diseases.”
6. American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR). “Cranberries.”
7. Pennington Nutrition Studies. “Anthocyanins.”
8. National Center for Biotechnology (NCBI) PubMed.org. “Higher Dietary Anthocyanin & Flavonol Intakes Associated with Anti-Inflamatory Effects in Population of US Adults.”
9. Nutrition Facts. “Anticancer Nutrient Synergy in Cranberries.”