Vegan Citrus Cranberry Quick Bread
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This bright, not-so-sweet Vegan Citrus Cranberry Quick Bread puts cranberries front and center. Perfect for snacking anytime.
What's in this post
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.
Learning to Cook Vegan
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.
How to Have Fresh Cranberries All Year Long
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 You Start Baking
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!
Citrus Cranberry Quick Bread
A bright, not-so-sweet quick bread that puts cranberries front and center.
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup ground flax meal
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/3 cup organic white sugar (or other sweeteners of your choice)
- 1 cup soymilk
- 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries, roughly chopped
- 1/8 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/8 cup fresh lime juice
- Zest from one lemon and one lime
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and lightly grease a 8.5" x 4.5" loaf pan.
- In a glass liquid measuring cup, mix the soy milk and vinegar together and set aside for a few minutes to curdle.
- In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients together.
- Once the soy milk is curdled, add the lemon juice, lime juice, and almond extract to the glass liquid measuring cup. Mix well. Add the zest and mix again.
- Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until fully combined, taking care not to over mix.
- Stir in cranberries and pour batter into the prepared loaf pan.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, then reduce temperature to 350 degrees and continue cooking for an additional 15 minutes or a toothpick inserted into the bread comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for an additional 15 minutes.
- Serve warm or let cool completely and then top with a glaze, if desired.
Notes
Adapted from Orange Cranberry Muffins by Isa Chandra Moskowitz
Article Sources
- USDA. “Food Composition Database.”
- National Center for Biotechnology (NCBI) PubMed.org. “Antioxidant & Antiproliferative Activities of Common Fruits.”
- Advances in Nutrition. “Cranberries & Their Bioactive Constituents in Human Health.”
- Nutrition Facts. “Cranberries vs. Cancer.”
- National Center for Biotechnology (NCBI) PubMed.org. “Cranberry & Blueberry: Evidence for Protective Effects Against Cancer & Vascular Diseases.”
- American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR). “Cranberries.”
- Pennington Nutrition Studies. “Anthocyanins.”
- National Center for Biotechnology (NCBI) PubMed.org. “Higher Dietary Anthocyanin & Flavonol Intakes Associated with Anti-Inflamatory Effects in Population of US Adults.”
- Nutrition Facts. “Anticancer Nutrient Synergy in Cranberries.”
I keep adding vinegar to get the soymilk to curdle. So far am up to 1 and 1/2 teaspoons. Not sure if that will make a difference. And, nothing on cranberries in the actual list of ingredients, how much? Chopped?
Hi Alan, Sorry about that- I moved the recipe over to the new format and left off the cranberries, yikes! Thanks for the heads up, I added it back in. You’ll need 1 1/2 cups, roughly chopped.
In regards to the curdling, it takes a few minutes after the vinegar is added. Here’s a video to give you an idea of what to look for -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcf6DJFGNxM
Let me know if you have any other questions!
Hi, I have just found this recipe and I am fascinated! I haven’t been vegan very long so I’m still trying things out.
Could you tell me if the ground flaxseed essential to the batter? Wondering if I could just omit it, because I haven’t got any.
Also, do you know if it has to be soy milk? I don’t seem to like any apart from oat milk.
I think I will be doing some experiments of my own based on your wonderful recipe:) I don’t have any cranberries either lol but I have tons of frozen summer berries, blueberries and Black Forest berries to start on.
Thanks for the recipe and I look forward to the results hehe
Hi! Yes, the flax is pretty important in this recipe and I don’t know how it would turn out without it. But, yes, you could use any non-dairy milk in the recipe that you wish. And I think other berries would be fantastic to try so I say experiment away :) Let me know how things turn out!