Cranberry Cream Cheese Bread Recipe
Make Cranberry Cream Cheese Bread Recipe in just 1h 50m. Get the full recipe with step-by-step instructions at pekinthechef.com.
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Ingredients
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Batter
Cream Cheese Swirl
Topping (optional)
Method
Batter
Preheat and prepare pan
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Lightly grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan and line it with parchment paper leaving an overhang on two sides for easy removal.
Mix dry ingredients
In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt until evenly combined.
Combine wet ingredients
In a separate medium bowl, whisk the egg, milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract until smooth. Stir in the grated orange zest if using.
Fold wet into dry
Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and stir gently with a spatula until just combined. Do not overmix; a few small lumps are fine.
Add cranberries
Fold the chopped cranberries into the batter until evenly distributed. If using frozen cranberries, fold them in straight from frozen to limit bleeding.
Cream Cheese Swirl
Make cream cheese filling
In a medium bowl, beat the softened cream cheese with a whisk or electric hand mixer until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and beat until fully smooth and slightly fluffy, scraping down the sides as needed.
Layer batter and swirl
Spoon about half of the cranberry batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth into an even layer. Dollop the cream cheese mixture over the batter in three or four even spoonfuls. Spoon the remaining batter over the cream cheese, spreading gently to cover. Using a butter knife or skewer, run a swirl through the length of the loaf to create a marbled pattern—avoid mixing completely.
Topping & Bake
Bake
Place the loaf pan in the preheated oven and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 50–65 minutes. Start checking at 50 minutes: the top should be golden and a toothpick inserted into the center (avoiding cream cheese swirl) should come out with a few moist crumbs but not wet batter. If the top browns too quickly, loosely tent with foil for the remaining bake time.
Cool
Remove the pan from the oven and place on a wire rack. Let the loaf cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then use the parchment overhang to lift the loaf out and transfer it to the rack. Cool completely (at least 1 hour) before slicing to get clean slices and allow the cream cheese swirl to set.