Paleo Cranberry Orange Walnut Bread is aromatic with orange and warm spices, and subtly sweet thanks to coconut sugar with a lovely contrasting sweet/tart flavor thanks to fresh cranberries. It’s perfect for breakfast or snack time!
Once the chill of January sets in after the holidays, things can seem a little anticlimactic. Unless you have a tropical vacation planned, there’s not much else to do except hunker down for the winter and make the best of it. I don’t mind too much though; cold evenings are perfect for snuggling up with cozy blankets and mugs of steaming hot chocolate, and cold days are perfect for baking.
I buy cranberries as long as I can find them at the grocery store, mostly to make cranberry sauce for topping yogurt, oatmeal (or my noatmeal), and toast, but also because I like to add fresh cranberries to baked goods to bump up the nutrition and for some seasonal flair.
This recipe was adapted from my recipe for Best Paleo Sandwich Bread over on my other blog, An Edible Mosaic, because it’s by far my favorite paleo bread. (It has great flavor and texture, and also keeps well in the fridge!) Here I jazzed up that basic bread recipe with fresh cranberries, orange zest, walnuts, vanilla, and warm spices with a bit of coconut sugar to add a touch of sweetness.
This bread ended up being perfect for breakfast or a snack along with a cup of coffee, and I like it even better toasted and topped with a pat of butter.
- 2 cups (225 g) almond flour
- 6 tablespoons (48 g) arrowroot starch
- 4 tablespoons (40 g) golden flaxseed meal
- 2 tablespoons (15 g) tapioca starch
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 4 tablespoons ghee or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly, plus more to grease the loaf pan
- 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) plain, unsweetened almond “milk”
- 1/2 cup (80 g) coconut sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons fresh orange zest
- 1/2 cup raw walnuts, chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped
- Preheat oven to 350F; generously grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/2-inch loaf pan with ghee or coconut oil.
- Whisk together the almond flour, arrowroot starch, flaxseed meal, tapioca starch, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and nutmeg in a large bowl.
- Whisk together the slightly cooled butter or coconut oil, eggs, almond “milk”, coconut sugar, vinegar, vanilla, and orange zest in a medium bowl.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry all at once and stir until combined, being careful not to over-mix. Fold in the walnuts and cranberries.
- Immediately pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45 to 50 minutes in a metal loaf pan (it may take less time in a glass pan).
- Cool on a wire rack before slicing and serving, and store any leftovers wrapped in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Hello and welcome! I'm Faith and I believe you can have your cake and eat it too. For breakfast.
Can you swap Xanthan gum and Guar gum for the arrowroot and tapioca?
Dana, I haven’t tried this recipe with those changes (I try to avoid gums because they usually give me stomach cramping, but that doesn’t happen to everyone), but they might work in this recipe. If you give it a try, please let me know how it goes!