Gluten-Free Vegan Cranberry Orange Bread

My Gluten-Free Vegan Cranberry Orange Bread is an easy and healthy recipe made with clean, real food ingredients. It's the perfect plant-based breakfast or dessert that's made without white flour, butter, eggs or oil!

I rarely make gluten-free desserts with anything other than almond flour (and occasionally coconut flour, cashew flour or oat flour) because I don't like mixing all the various gluten-free flours and gums and other ingredients.

So when I do make something using a flour other than those listed above, I will usually use Bob's All-Purpose Gluten-Free flour.

I find it a little tricky though because it contains garbanzo bean flour which has a very strong flavor which I don't think does well in sweet recipes.

The last few times I've made something, I used Bob's 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour which has all the various gluten-free flours and gums already mixed together.  I don't use it that often, so using it works best for me.

For example, it contains the following ingredients: Sweet White Rice Flour, Whole Grain Brown Rice Flour, Potato Starch, Whole Grain Sweet White Sorghum Flour, Tapioca Flour, Xantham Gum.

For this recipe, I basically cleaned up the traditional cranberry orange recipe by swapping these ingredients:

• Regular bleached white all-purpose flour --> Bob's 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour
• Eggs --> plant-based flax eggs
• Refined white sugar --> organic unrefined sugar
• Butter --> organic refined coconut oil
• Orange peel/zest/juice --> organic orange sweet essential oil

Make sure you use organic cranberries, if possible because non-traditional cranberries can contain up to 13 different pesticides.

Made With Clean, Real Food Ingredients

Most bread recipes have unhealthy ingredients like this popular store-bought boxed version:

S.A.D. (Standard American Diet) Betty Crocker Cranberry Orange Quick Bread Mix Ingredients:

Flour Enriched Bleached (Wheat Flour, Barley Malted Flour, Niacin Vitamin B3, Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate Vitamin B1, Riboflavin Vitamin B2, Folic Acid Vitamin B9), Sugar, Soybeans Oil Partially Hydrogenated, and/or, Cottonseed Oil Partially Hydrogenated, Corn Starch Modified, Corn Syrup Dried, Cranberries, Leavening (Baking Soda, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate ), Oranges Peel, Wheat Starch,  Salt, Citric Acid, Flavors Natural & Artificial, Dextrin, Corn Starch, Cellulose Gum, Monoglyceride, Datem, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Caseinate, Colors (Red 40 Lake, Blue 2 Lake, Color Added), Eggs, Soy Flour 

It contains GMO ingredients (soybeans oil partially hydrogenated, corn starch-modified, corn syrup dried, corn starch, soy flour), GMO dairy (eggs), artificial flavors and food coloring.

And the homemade versions aren't much better with typical ingredients like these:

S.A.D. (Standard American Diet) Homemade Cranberry Orange Bread Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose white flour, 1 egg, ½ cup dark brown sugar, ½ cup white granulated sugar, 1 cup buttermilk, ⅓ cup canola oil or ¼ cup margarine

Again, white flour, white sugar, milk, and eggs.

My healthier plant-based version is vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, and contains no refined sugar.

Karielyn's Expert Tips + Ingredient Substitutions for Cranberry Orange Bread

Here are some of my expert tips to make this recipe perfectly:

Bob's 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Flour. I haven't tested the recipe with any other type of gluten-free flour, but if you have a favorite gluten-free flour that works for you, feel free to substitute.

Almond Milk. It is very important that the almond milk is at room temperature before adding to the recipe. If it is cold, the coconut oil will harden up and become solid and you won't be able to mix it into the batter. In addition, I like to use homemade almond milk, however, you can use your favorite non-dairy milk. Another great option is to use Joi Organic Almond Milk made with 100% organic almonds.

Unrefined Sugar. It can be substituted with organic coconut sugar, but the color of the bread will be darker.

Coconut Oil. If you don't like the taste or flavor of coconut oil, use organic refined coconut oil which has zero coconut taste or flavor.

Baking Powder. Make sure your baking powder is fresh for the best results!

Himalayan Pink Salt. This is my salt of preference, however, you can always substitute with sea salt.

Sweet Orange Essential Oil. I used Plant Therapy Organic Orange Sweet Essential Oil to give the bread an intense orange flavor and prefer to use it in lieu of orange peel because some oranges can have waxes and/or pesticides on them. I, personally, don't feel comfortable using the peel of an orange, but you can substitute the orange essential oil for grated orange.

What To Expect. Because this is a gluten-free AND vegan bread, it will not be exactly like a traditional bread recipe, especially one that calls for eggs. It is somewhat dense (not light and fluffy), holds together well and, for me, is a good substitute for the traditional version.  I hope you will enjoy it as well!

Want More Healthy Plant-Based Breakfast Recipes?

Check out these:

• Flourless Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
• Lemon Blueberry Blender Muffins
• Gluten-Free Vegan Cranberry Orange Muffins
• or my Real Food Vegan™ 14-Day Meal Plan Program with 42 plant-based vegan + gluten-free recipes made with clean, real food ingredients just like this one that you will love!