When everything on my website started with “Spiced Pumpkin” a few weeks ago, my sister gently reminded me that it was time for cranberry season and asked that I could create something for the leftover cranberries she had in her fridge. The tart crimson berries hadn't even crossed my mind as of late because they were non-existent in the Kona grocery stores I was frequenting. I did see them at Costco but it was enough to feed a small village, so I waited until we got home. I took my first trip to Trader Joes, and there they were! And organic no less. I then came up with this very easy bread recipe, Cranberry Lemon Loaf!
Living in Hawaii was such an incredible experience and we made so many dear friends that I miss terribly, but I do have to admit it was nice to get home and see Christmastime in full swing. It's a bit difficult to get in the spirit with the warm weather and lack of decorations there! While cranberries usually make their first appearance on the Thanksgiving table, they are synonymous with the December holiday season to me. I'm fond of a good quick bread, which pretty much all grain-free breads are, so I set out to create a holiday loaf and put my new berry bounty to use. Cardamom, the spice often used in Chai tea, is used to bring out the tart flavors of the lemon and cranberry. And keeping with all things Christmas, I just had to incorporate the twinkly little white lights in the background!
Jen | my BIG FAT grain free life
WOW – love cranberries. Love lemon. I’ve got to try this for the holidays. Thank you for sharing. Thanks to your sister for the “reminder”…
Jen
Amanda Rodriguez
Beautiful! I can’t wait to try out the recipe. I’m highly allergic to almonds, though, so I’m planning to sub out cashew flour. Think that’ll work ok?
Hannah @ Hannah's Healthy Heaven
I have some cranberries in the fridge that I’ve been wondering what to do with, and this looks perfect! Thanks for the recipe. I LOVE your blog!
Donna
Bookmarked for a holiday brunch!!…Question…Just what is the “whiteness” surrounding the cranberries in the photos of your cut bread?…Is this glaze resulting from poking holes in the top of the bread…trickling down?…Did I miss something?…Gorgeous offering at any rate…Thank you for the inspiration during these hectic holiday times!
Against All Grain
It happens when the moisture from the cranberries is released during baking. Almond flour browns as it bakes and the extra moisture keeps it from doing so in those little spots. I think I can keep the whole load more white by placing a dish of water at the bottom of the oven while it bakes but I haven’t tried it yet
Donna
I find it (this white “halo-ing” ) quite lovely at any rate!!….Thank you for explanation!
Kristen Macke
I’m making this tomorrow… I’ll try the water pan in the oven and let you know!
melody
I just made this loaf and it turned out delicious. The flavor is more cardamom less lemon. Next time I think i might add some lemon rind. I loved the cardamom cranberry combination. I did not get any white spots but I kept my cranberries whole.
Karina
Looks great! What can I replace the eggs with and how much ? Thanks
Larry
Looks and sounds like a wonderful treat for the season! At the risk of dampening that wonderfulness, do you happen to know or have the nutritional data for it? Although a lot of work, I was thinking that it would be good to have the data in a side bar. Happy season!
Carol Lovett
MmmmMMmm your loaf & icing look divine. I’d take the Hawaii weather any day over cranberries 🙂
Kerry
That looks divine! Can’t wait to give it a try. Question: I like to bookmark pages that have recipes (like yours) on my computer, for easy reference. Yours is the only blog that I’m not able to do that on. Do you have some kind of setting enabled that prohibits me from doing this?
Rachel
I’m thinking this would be great as muffins, amiright?
Heather
I made this tonight. YUM! The kids liked it too. I had a hard time getting the glaze creamy (I even doubled and used a small food processor), but it was still good. I’m wondering if soaking the cashews over night would help… Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Nancy
This recipe sounds wonderful!
I do have a question if the last 4-5 ingredients are for the glaze. Thank you!
Marla
I’m just curious – I’m unable to copy this recipe and print it…usually I can. I know there is a print button but it prints out 4 pages. Usually I select and copy the recipe and the picture and take it over to Word and format it to just print 1 page. Are you doing something different now with how you are posting it….or is it something I’m doing wrong…which is probably the case 🙂
Marcus A Lucas
What would be a good substitute for honey in your recipe since I cannot have any sugar or honey?
Lee
i used agave as a 1:1 substitute and it came out delicious!
Against All Grain
Thanks Lee! Agave is highly processed so it unfortunately is not used in my recipes, but its good to know its easily subbed in!
Cassidy @ Cooking Gluten (& Dairy) Free
What a beautiful loaf of cranberry bread! I made a cranberry nut bread a few weeks ago with some orange zest but I love how you paired the cranberries with lemon… and your glaze looks amazing!!!
Well Done!!!
Debbie
Can you use dried cranberries?
Karen
Looks delicious. Can I use coconut oil instead of the palm shortening?
Eileen
I made this today with just a couple of changes. I added some lemon zest to the batter to up the lemony goodness, and I skipped the glaze, finding the cake to be sweet enough without it. Thanks for a great recipe. It’s going in my “keeper” file.
Crystal
OMG! I just finished these and glazed them and popped 4 mini muffin (I wasn’t patient enough for the loaf pan) in my mouth, AMAZING! I followed the recipe 100% and they are the BOMB!
Thanks!
Sarah | Shine Food
What a marvelous looking quick bread! I had cranberries on the brain last night as I used a bag to string a long garland with them. It felt very old fashioned and cozy. 🙂
We’re celebrating holiday recipes this month on the Shine Supper Club and this would be a wonderful contribution. I hope you’ll consider joining us!
Melisse
Could you sub coconut flour for this instead of almond flour? How would that affect the temp and baking time (or anything else)? Thanks!!
Against All Grain
No you cannot do a 1:1 sub
Julia
I made this last night and it is absolutely delicious!! Super moist and flavorful. What a treat. I used clarified butter instead of the coconut oil in the glaze, but otherwise I followed the recipe and it worked perfectly. I did have to double the glaze recipe (not a bad thing since it’s soooo tasty), and it took a long time to get the cashews to be creamy, but it worked! For the commenter who had problems with that, if you try again, be patient and it will pay off! THANK YOU for your blog. I love it.
Karina
I really want to try this but cannot have eggs! What can I use? Thanks
what katie's baking
mmm what an interesting mix of flavors! this look awesome!!
Stacy
This is so yummy! I had FOUR slices 🙂 Definitely a keeper at this house!!
Katherine
We made this for my daughter’s second birthday party brunch and everyone loved it! Not only was it super easy to make, but the adults and also the kids loved it. Thank you again for your beautiful recipes!
Kristen
I made this over the weekend and it turned out perfectly! My two-year old loved the “special treat” and it tastes just like the wheat-filled dessert bread my mom used to make for our neighbors at Christmas-time! I had to cook mine a bit longer – closer to 75 minutes and I used whole cranberries vs. chopped. I took the advice of Danielle and threw a pan of water in the oven while baking and got a whiter loaf of bread with no “halos” around the cranberries. I also doubled the icing recipe for my large blender and still couldn’t get it creamy enough, but we were okay with the slightly-nutty texture alongside the cranberries. LOVE this recipe. Thank you!
Jen Feaver
This looks wonderful. Especially your note about Kona. Couldn’t be more true. I just found your blog and live part time in Mauna Lani. Where in Kona would you find items? The health food store mainly I’m sure – but what other locations? Feel like when I’m here I don’t make many items due to lack of products. Thanks. Jen
Greenmama
I made this today, and I usually have such great success with your recipes, but this really didn’t work for me. I followed the recipe exactly, and it took much longer than 45 min to bake and ended up with a kind of strange texture. The glaze also turned out lumpy even though I blended it for over 5 min in my blender (which is small). The flavor was great…any suggestions for if I try the recipe again? I’m wondering if I should try mini muffins like PP did?
Against All Grain
Hmm what kind of almond flour did you use?
Shannon
Made this over the holidays. Turned out beautifully, very delicious.
Michelle
I must be sooo tired…forgot the eggs and didn’t notice until after adding cranberries! Should’ve seen me picking the cranberries out so I could add the eggs. ; ) Then, forgot to turn the temp down so the outside of my bread was getting pretty dark while the inside was still not done…covered it in foil and lowered heat. All this to say, the bread was still AWESOME! We all tore into it while it was still hot! We will definitely be making this again…per your instructions. I can only imagine how good it will be when its made properly!! ; ) Thanks for sharing all your hard work! You truly bless our family.
Against All Grain
Haha so happy it still turned out with all of the mishaps! That sounds like my kitchen a lot of times. You must have had kids running in and out asking for things 🙂
Lori Carroll
This is fantastic! Being originally from New England, I grew up with the cranberry the way folks in Florida grow up with citrus! I eat cranberries year-round! This sounds like a great snack!