Orange Cranberry Coffee Cake

Forgetting a promised breakfast for a kid’s school bake sale, with sudden panic waking me up before my alarm, is exactly what led to this orange cranberry coffee cake at six on a Tuesday morning. Standing in the kitchen with hair resembling a bird’s nest, aggressively zesting citrus and hoping nobody would notice the cranberries came straight from the freezer, felt like a genuine parenting emergency.

The tart berries and sweet citrus saved me from being the mom who shows up with store-bought donuts again. This cake looks impressive enough to fool everyone into thinking you have your life together. Here is exactly how I do it.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Forgiving batter. Mixing this while half asleep still turns out incredibly soft.
• Crowd-pleaser. The sweet and tart combo makes this cranberry orange coffee cake recipe a massive hit with adults and kids alike.
• Freezer-friendly. Baking it now and freezing it for later makes unexpected guests feel like a planned event.
• Budget-friendly. Basic pantry staples plus a bag of cranberries cost less than a fancy latte.

Tools You’ll Need

Nothing fancy, I promise.

• 9×13 Baking Pan You need a sturdy 9×13 baking pan to hold all this batter, preferably metal so the edges get slightly crispy.
• Microplane zester. This gets all the flavor out of the orange without grating your knuckles into the batter.
• Large mixing bowl. Folding cranberries in a small bowl sends them bouncing all over the floor.

Ingredients

For the Cake

• 2 cups self-rising flour – The lower protein creates that cloudlike texture, but watch out, self-rising flour expires faster than you think.
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour – Adds a slightly nutty flavor and makes me feel healthy.
• 1 cup granulated sugar – Do not skimp, cranberries are aggressively tart.
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter – Softened. If you forgot to take it out of the fridge, welcome to my world.
• 1 cup buttermilk – The acid makes the crumb incredibly tender.
• 2 large eggs – Room temperature if you have the patience, straight from the fridge if you are me.
• 1 tbsp orange zest – Wash the orange first, please.
• 2 cups cranberries – Fresh or frozen, just do not thaw the frozen ones or your batter turns pink.

For the Streusel & Glaze

• 1/2 cup brown sugar – Pack it in there.
• 1/4 cup cold butter – Cubed, for making that irresistible orange cranberry streusel cake topping.
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar – For the glaze, sift it if you care about lumps.
• 2 tbsp orange juice – Squeezed from the orange you just zested.

How To Make Orange Cranberry Coffee Cake

Set your oven and prepare to trick your family into thinking you woke up at dawn to bake.

1. Prep the oven and pan: Preheat the oven to 375°F and grease your pan. If you forget to grease the corners, you will be eating this straight out of the pan with a spoon—which is fine, but not ideal for sharing.
2. Mix the dry ingredients: Whisk the self-rising flour, whole wheat flour, and sugar together in a large bowl. Try not to aggressively whisk the flour out of the bowl onto your black shirt.
3. Cut in the butter: Cut the softened butter into the dry ingredients until it looks like coarse sand. If there are a few larger butter lumps, that is between you and the mixing bowl, nobody else needs to know.
4. Add the wet ingredients: Stir in the buttermilk, eggs, and orange zest until just combined. The batter will be thick; do not panic and add more liquid.
5. Fold in the berries: Gently fold in the cranberries. If you overmix here, you will smash the berries and end up with a weird pink cake.
6. Top and bake: Spread the batter into the pan, sprinkle with the streusel mixture of brown sugar and cold butter, and bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Check it at 40 minutes just in case your oven runs hot.
7. Glaze it: Let it cool before drizzling with the powdered sugar and orange juice mixture. A cranberry coffee cake with orange glaze is only good if the glaze doesn’t melt entirely into a sticky puddle.

Make it yours

• Pecan version. You fold chopped pecans into the streusel for extra crunch alongside the tart cranberries.
• Cream cheese swirl version. You dollop softened cream cheese into the batter before adding the streusel for a richer bite.

Perfect Pairings

This orange cranberry crumb cake suits two specific pairings particularly well.

• A mimosa pairs beautifully when serving this at a weekend brunch.
• A holiday morning breakfast spread needs exactly this kind of holiday cranberry coffee cake as the centerpiece.

Cranberry-Orange Coffee Cake

This orange cranberry coffee cake proves that a genuinely impressive holiday-ready bake can come together from a bag of frozen berries and a fresh orange. This cranberry orange coffee cake recipe layers a buttery streusel and citrus glaze over a tender, tart-and-sweet crumb, delivering everything a proper orange cranberry crumb cake should taste like. Whether served at a weekend brunch or as the centerpiece of a holiday cranberry coffee cake spread, this orange cranberry streusel cake earns a permanent spot in the regular rotation.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 50 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Servings: 12 servings

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Calories: 393

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 1 cup (85g) almonds sliced
• 3/4 cup (85g) King Arthur Unbleached Self-Rising Flour
• 1/2 cup (60g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2 cup (99g) granulated sugar
• 6 tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter melted
• 12 tablespoons (170g) unsalted butter softened
• 1 cup (198g) granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon King Arthur Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1 tablespoon (14g) orange zest
• 3 large eggs
• 1 3/4 cups (198g) King Arthur Unbleached Self-Rising Flour
• 1 cup (113g) King Arthur Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 cup (227g) milk
• 1 cup (114g) dried cranberries
• 1 cup (113g) confectioners’ sugar sifted
• 2 tablespoons (28g) half-and-half or milk
• 1/2 teaspoon King Arthur Pure Vanilla Extract

Equipment

• 9×13 baking pan
• Microplane zester
• large mixing bowl

Method

 

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9″ x 13″ pan.
2. For the topping: Mix together the almonds, flours, and sugar. Stir in the butter just until crumbs form; don’t overmix.
3. For the cake: In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, vanilla, and orange zest. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing until each is absorbed before adding the next.
4. Whisk together the flours and add them alternately with the milk, stopping to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Sprinkle with the cranberries, then crumble the topping mixture over the cranberries.
5. Bake for 38 to 45 minutes, until golden brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack.
6. For the glaze: Mix the ingredients together until smooth, adding more liquid or confectioners’ sugar to make a pourable glaze. Drizzle over the cake before serving.
7. Store leftovers, covered on the counter for up to 3 days; freeze for longer storage.

Recipe Notes

Cranberries: I use frozen most of the time, since they hold their shape better in the oven than fresh berries.

Self-rising flour: I always check the expiration date, since an old bag leaves the cake dense instead of light.

Orange zest: I zest the orange before juicing it, since a squished, juiced orange half is nearly impossible to zest.

Buttermilk: I use real buttermilk for the tenderest crumb in this recipe.

Butter: I keep mine cold for the streusel and softened for the batter, since each component needs a different texture.