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Cranberry Pecan Pumpkin Bread

Cranberry pecan pumpkin bread baked with warm cinnamon and clove for a soft, moist loaf with a lightly crackled golden top. This easy quick-bread recipe folds in tart dried cranberries and toasted pecans, then bakes until the center tests clean.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 10 servings
Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: American
Calories: 320
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Flour
  • 1.75 cup all-purpose flour
Leaveners and seasonings
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 0.5 tsp baking powder
  • 0.5 tsp salt
  • 1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 0.5 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 0.25 tsp ground cloves
Wet ingredients
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
  • 0.5 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 0.25 cup packed brown sugar
  • 0.33 cup water
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
Mix-ins
  • 0.75 cup dried cranberries
  • 0.75 cup chopped pecans, plus extra for topping

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan
  • 1 cast iron skillet
  • 1 stand mixer

Method
 

Prep and preheat
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan.
Toast pecans (optional for extra flavor)
  1. Heat a dry cast iron skillet over medium heat and toast the pecans for 3–5 minutes, stirring often, until fragrant and slightly darker.
Mix dry ingredients
  1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves until evenly combined.
Mix wet ingredients
  1. In a separate bowl, whisk the pumpkin puree, vegetable oil, eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, water, and vanilla extract until smooth.
Combine wet and dry
  1. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir just until combined; do not overmix.
Add mix-ins
  1. Fold in the dried cranberries and chopped pecans until distributed through the batter.
Fill and top
  1. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top, then sprinkle a few extra pecans over the surface.
Bake
  1. Bake 55–65 minutes at 350°F, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, tenting with foil if the top browns too quickly.
Cool and slice
  1. Cool in the pan 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Notes

For the best moist crumb, mix wet into dry only until no dry streaks remain—overmixing can make quick bread tough. Store wrapped at room temperature up to 3 days or refrigerate up to 5 days; freeze slices up to 2 months. For a lighter option, replace the vegetable oil with an equal amount of neutral applesauce for a slightly softer texture.