I make this cranberry, walnut, pumpkin bread every holiday season and often make different sized loaves as gifts. It just wouldn’t be the holidays if this didn’t hit the table. This is a “quick” bread meaning their is no yeast involved and comes together quickly. No yeast means this is a no knead cranberry walnut bread.
Quick bread is a type of bread that uses chemical leavening agents (like baking soda or baking powder) instead of yeast to rise. It gets its name because it can be made quickly, without the long proofing and rising time required for yeast breads. I’ve often heard chefs refer to them as “cake” and because they often have a sweet component, you can understand why.
Key characteristics of quick breads include:
- Fast preparation time – they can typically be mixed and baked within an hour
- Simple “mix and bake” method – usually involving mixing wet and dry ingredients separately, then combining them
- No kneading required
- Dense, moist texture compared to yeast breads
Common examples of quick breads include:
- Banana bread
- Pumpkin bread
- Zucchini bread
- Cornbread (see my cornbread and corn muffins recipe)
- Muffins (try my Blueberry Streusel Muffins (no added sugar)
- Biscuits
- Scones
- Irish soda bread
Quick breads often follow a basic ratio of ingredients:
- Flour as the base
- Eggs and milk/liquid for moisture and structure
- Fat (oil or butter) for tenderness (or if you are using my lighter version, apple sauce or Greek yogurt)
- Sugar for sweetness (in sweet versions)
- Leavening agents (baking soda/powder) for rise
- Salt for flavor enhancement
Because they’re so simple to make and forgiving in terms of technique, quick breads are often recommended for beginning bakers or when you need to make something delicious in a short amount of time. Need I say more? That’s why this is such a favorite around here.
The debate, of course, is whether this bread or cake? Once you try it, I’ll let you decide. While I’ll slice it and add it to the bread basket, this is also served with coffee and tea for breakfast, after dinner as dessert, and definitely as a treat whenever the mood strikes! I also really like the cranberry-walnut combo and play with that combination in many recipes. So if you like it to, check out my Clementine Glazed Cranberry & Walnut Muffins too!
Let’s start with the obvious suspects (LOL):
. Pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
. Fresh cranberries (You can use frozen. Just thaw them and make sure they are drained well before adding to the batter. )
. Walnuts (toasted and chopped)
. Granulated Sugar
. All-purpose Flour
. Eggs
. Pumpkin pie spice
. Pure Vanilla extract or paste
. Baking Soda
. Kosher salt
. Canola oil
These ingredients make up the original recipe. This is the one I make most often and the one I use when gifting loaves of this bread. BUT, I also make a much lighter, sugar-free version that is more Weight Watcher friendly and one that I can gift to my WW friends and those looking to watch their waist line. It tastes just as great but has a fraction of the calories, sugar and saturated fats.
Ingredient substitutions for a lighter, sugar-free version of this bread
To lighten up the recipe, I use the following substitutions. The texture definitely changes (in this version of the bread, cranberry walnut is still the focus but the texture becomes more spongy and less dense) but all the flavors are there and I find it very satisfying as a treat.
. Lakanto Monk Fruit sugar substitute OR Swerve sugar substitute (substitute 1 for 1 for the sugar in the recipe so you’ll use the same 3 cups)
. Unsweetened apple sauce (substitute 1/2 cup of the apple sauce for the canola oil)
These two simple swaps save you a ton of calories and if you are a weight watcher, reduce the points dramatically. (Use your WW app to calculate points)
If you wanted to remove additional calories and/or points, you could remove the nuts BUT I think they make this bread fabulous PLUS they are healthy, good for you nuts, so I’d leave them in. Feel free to substitute a different nut. Pecans and macadamia nuts would work great in this bread.
I recently used this exact same recipe, (using Lakanto sugar substitute and apple sauce instead of oil) BUT changed the nuts to pecans, and since I couldn’t find cranberries, I used frozen cherries. Let me tell you, I just loved this version too. Have fun with this!
How to make cranberry, walnut, pumpkin bread
This is a pretty simple recipe and one you’ll make over an over again. To get started, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray your loaf pans with cooking spray and put to the side. (see my notes below on loaf pan sizes)
Whisk the flour, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt in one bowl. Mix the eggs with the pumpkin puree and oil. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until they are all combined. Fold in the fruit and walnuts. And there you have it, a cranberry walnut bread recipe that is easy to make and one that can easily be made lighter with a couple of swaps noted above.
Once it is completely the bread batter is completely combined, spoon into two 9.5 in x 5 in loaf pans. (Spray with Cooking Spray first). See other options for loaf size pans below.
Bake at 350 degrees F. for 70-80 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for about 15 minutes before removing from the pan. Move to a cooling rack and let cool completely (about one hour). It is then ready to serve or wrap as a gift.
Using different sized pans to make this bread
While I usually make the two loaves, if I’m gifting these or sharing with neighbors, I might use smaller pans. Here are some of the pan sizes I’ve used, along with approximate cooking times.
If I use mini loaf pans, approximately 6 inch by 3 inch pans, I can get 6 mini loaves and they bake for about 45-50 minutes.
8 inch by 4 inch pans yields three loaves and bake for 55-60 minutes.
This year, I found what I call micro-mini bread trays that are approximately 3.5 inches by 2 inches and I got 14 of these tiny loaves of bread – perfect for gifting! Each baking tray has 8 cavities for mini loaves making this great for baking up batches of these mini breads. The bake time was about 30 minutes. With that in mind, you could easily make these into cranberry walnut muffins. I’d start with the approximate bake time of 25 minutes and do the toothpick test. If the toothpick is wet or has crumbs when inserted into the middle of the muffin, let them bake another five minutes and test again.
Using tin foil pans and tying them up in cellophane with a big ribbon, really looks great and makes a great gift for neighbors, friends and coworkers. (See my Wrapping Candy, Nuts & Baked Goods posts for ideas.)
I’ve also found adorable ceramic mini loaf dishes that make a great additional gift when filled with this bread. TIP: I often find these at Michael’s Craft Store on sale after the holidays, so I stock up and use them year round.
I have many friends and neighbors that look forward to getting these mini loaves and often request those little baking pans…they wind up having there own collection after knowing me a few years…lol. They keep and use the mini loaf pans all year. It has become part of my gift to them.
If you like this recipe, please leave a rating and comment below. Did you make the original version of my lightened up version? Did you try a different nut or fruit? I’d love to hear back. If you enjoyed this bread, be sure to try some of my other quick bread recipes.
Cranberry, Walnut, Pumpkin Bread
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 3 3/4 Cups All-purpose flour
- 3 Cups Sugar
- 4 Tsps. Pumpkin pie spice
- 2 Tsps. Baking soda
- 1 Tsp. Kosher Salt
- 4 Eggs
- 1 Can (15 oz) Solid packed pumpkin puree
- 1/2 Cup Vegetable oil
- 2 Cups Fresh cranberries
- 1 Cup Toasted walnuts, chopped
Instructions
- Combine the flour, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt in one bowl. Beat the eggs and mix with pumpkin and oil. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until they are all combined. Fold in the fruit and walnuts.
- Spoon into two 9 in x 5 in loaf pans. (spray with Cooking Spray first). Bake at 350 degrees for 70-80 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for about 15 minutes before removing from the pan. Move to a cooling rack and let cool completely (about one hour).
