The recipe for how to make Sugar Free Cranberry Bread Recipe (2024)

I like kicking off the holiday season with this (low) Sugar Free Cranberry Bread Recipe.
The only sugar that is added to this comes from the cranberries themselves.

(low) Sugar Free Cranberry Bread Recipe

This really is the only time of the year that we seem to eat cranberry bread. I am sure this has something to do with the fact that cranberries are harvested just in time for the holidays. Also, cranberries are that beautiful red color that we love to see during the holidays as well.

Cranberries are kind of an odd fruit.
Most of the fruits that we enjoy seem to grow during the summer on a tree. We harvest, or pick, those fruits at the end of summer by simply picking them off that tree. Not cranberries though. If you know something about them, Cranberries take a bit more time to grown and they are grown on low-lying vines lying in a specific kind of a bed called a 'bog'. When you are ready to harvest cranberries we flood that bog with water the night before they are harvested. You have probably seen that commercial on TV of the fellas standing in a flooded bog harvesting their cranberries. Thus, growing cranberries is a bit of a task.

Ironically, cranberries do not contain a whole lot of natural sugar.
One cup of cranberries has about 4 grams of sugar. This recipe calls for one and a half cups total- making it about six grams total of sugar.

The ingredients in this recipe.

As you may already know, cranberry bread is commonly made with orange juice. You could use orange juice in this recipe however, keep in mind that the orange juice will add sugar. If you are wanting to keep this as low sugar as possible you can either look for orange juice that is as low in sugar (pulp free is usually better at this) as possible (read the label as there could be sugar added to your orange juice) or use a substitute. There are orange juice substitutes online that you can try in this recipe. You may risk some of the true taste of cranberry bread however, you will also lower the amount of sugar that you consume which could make it worth it to you. Orange flavored Vitamin Zero water is one substitute that I like to use.

We will also be using sugar alternative.
Cranberry bread has a bit of sugar in it by nature. This helps off-set the taste of the cranberries. You can use the sugar alternative of your choice as long as it is used in an amount that is equivalent to what is mentioned in the recipe. Also,a granular sugar alternative that can be used in baking works best. Hence, you can choose the sugar alternative that works best for you when you bake.

The recipe for (low) Sugar Free Cranberry Bread Recipe

What you will need to make this recipe.

• Flour- 2 cups.
• Sugar alternative- 1 cup equivalent to sugar.
• Baking soda- ½ teaspoon.
• Baking powder- 1 ½ teaspoons.
• Salt- 1 teaspoon.
• Orange Juice or alternative- ¾ cup (see post for alternative ideas).
• Butter- 3 tablspoons softened.
• Egg- 1.
• Chopped Cranberries- 1 ½ cups
• Optional items:Grated orange peel (1 tablespoon) or zest (1 teaspoon), raisins or similar fruit (1 cup), and/or chopped nuts (¾ cup).

How to make (low) Sugar Free Cranberry Bread

• Preheat your oven to 350 and prep your loaf pan for nonstick.
• In a mixing bowl, mix together your flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
• Add your orange juice (or alternative), butter and egg to the mixing bowl and continue to mix. If you are using zest or peel, add it in this step and mix.
• Now fold in your cranberries and any additional fruit or nuts that you are adding to your batter.
• Bake the bread for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the bread to cool on a wire rack before your serve it.

Because you liked this recipe for Sugar Free Cranberry Bread Recipe, you may want to check these recipes out as well.

Make this chocolate chip banana muffin recipe if you like to eat chocolate chips and bananas in your muffins. Read this sugar free cornbread recipe as well. I also have a sugar free cocoa muffin recipe that you can read here.