The best seasonal coffee cake! So moist and full of festive flavor, this cranberry orange coffee cake with almonds is perfect for a Christmas morning breakfast or holiday treat!
It seems all of my recipes start with “I bought too many of X.”
Jump to RecipeIn keeping with that tradition, this time coefficient X is cranberries!
And I realized I hadn’t created a breakfast recipe yet. With all these holidays coming up one after the other, it seemed the perfect time to make a festive coffee cake!
When I was little, every year my mom and I would hunt for the perfect Christmas morning breakfast pastry to have with our once-a-year bacon breakfast.
We thought we found the perfect one, a cranberry cheese danish from H-E-B. But then ever-changing H-E-B stopped making these beautiful breakfast treats and we had to go on the hunt again. We never found one.
And thus began my breakfast pastry crusade!
Now, mom hasn’t tested this recipe yet, so don’t get too excited but I think…think…this could be the one. Why?
- Sour Cream: Sour cream thrown in makes the cake extra moist.
- Orange Juice: Using part orange juice instead of all milk fills it with flavor (and makes it a pretty shade of orange.)
- Whole Fresh Cranberries: I’m partial to the tart, jammy quality of whole-baked cranberries. And they look so pretty set off with the orange cake.
- Filling: Let’s be honest, no one comes to coffee cakes for simple. You’re looking for heaps sugary flavor. This filling full of almonds, nutmeg, cinnamon, and sugar gives you what you ask for. Layer it heavily to cut up the cake layers and thank yourself later.
- Crumb Topping: Added winter spices make it extra warm and festive. This recipe makes enough that you can really pack it on for extra crispy sugary goodness.
I choose not to add a glaze to my baked coffee cakes. Powdered sugar glazes tend to overwhelm all the other flavors and add way too much sugar. You lose out on all those spices and fruits! And this cake is moist enough you don’t need extra glaze anyway.
Why I use Metal Loaf Pans
I made sure to specify metal tins for a reason.
Every type of cookware cooks slightly differently. Glass and ceramic are insulators and take more time to heat up, but transfer heat more quickly. They also tend to make softer breads.
The metal pans I use are nonstick and “standard” sized (8.5 inches by 4.5 inches).
Aside from the fact that they make it so easy to unmold and remove the cake, they also cook the loaf in a single hour. I can always rely on their cooking time. And they create these beautiful crisp browned edges that are just the right amount of crunchy!
I also recommend using some parchment paper! I’d never been a big believer in parchment paper until recently. It seemed like an unnecessary step. After all if you’re greasing a pan well enough the bread should just fall out into your hand no sweat, right?
Well after a few attempts I discovered the no-fail way to make sure your bread lifts out in one easy piece…parchment paper! Just grease the pan and cut a piece of parchment paper to the right size. (You’ll want overhand on all four sides, so you end up making a sort of plus sign shape with your paper.)
The bread is so easy to slip out of the pan when you can just grab the edges of your paper and lift. No effort required. Just remember to also grease the parchment paper before you pour your batter in or you’ll end up with some stuck areas on your cake.
Of course, you can absolutely cook this in a plain old greased cake pan as well if you want a different presentation. Just be aware that if you change the size, shape, or material of a recipe, you’ll have to adjust the cooking time.
For a cake pan, I’d recommend cooking for an hour and then testing for done-ness using the knife test. (A knife inserted in the center should come out clean!) You may need to add 30 minutes more based on material, size, and oven settings.
There you have it! My new favorite breakfast treat!
Next step for me? Testing it out on Mom when I make it for Christmas morning…
But of course this cake can be consumed other mornings as well. Like Thanksgiving morning, or New Year’s Day, or some random morning in December when it’s cold and grey and you want something to cheer you up.
Serve it with some Homemade Turkey Sausage Patties for an extra cozy breakfast.
And if you’re looking for something even more unique to serve for holiday breakfast, try this rustic Persimmon and Ginger Galette! Or try this Mushroom, Leek and Bacon Quiche for a protein packed breakfast!
What do you love to eat on Christmas morning? Let me know in the comments!
An easy, festive version of this classic breakfast treat!
- 1/4 cup Sliced Almonds
- 1/2 cup Brown Sugar packed
- 1/2 cup Flour
- 2 tsp ground Cinnamon
- 2 tsp ground Nutmeg
- 4 tbsp Butter cold, softened
- 4 tbsp melted Butter
- 1/2 cup Sliced Almonds
- 1/2 cup Brown Sugar packed
- 2 tsp ground Cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground Nutmeg
- 3/4 cup Granulated Sugar
- 2/3 cup Light Brown Sugar packed
- Zest of 1 Orange
- 1 cup Butter softened
- 3 Eggs
- 2 tsp Vanilla
- 3/4 cup Sour Cream
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 2 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 cup Milk
- 1/4 cup Orange Juice
- 3 1/2 cups Flour
- 1 1/2 cups Cranberries cut in half or whole
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Combine the almonds, spices, sugar, and flour.
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Add in the cold butter and work with your fingers until you have marble sized clumps. Not all of the flour and sugar will be incorporated!
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Add in the melted butter. Stir until all ingredients are wet and incorporated. Set aside.
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Combine the almonds, spices, and sugar. Set aside.
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Cream the butter until light. Add in the sugars and orange zest and beat until mixed, fluffy, and fragrant. About 2 minutes. (It should smell like sugary orange.)
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Add in the eggs, vanilla, sour cream, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat until well mixed.
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Alternate between adding flour and adding liquid (milk and orange juice), beating after each addition.
(I usually do 1/2 cup flour, beat, 1 cup milk, beat, 1 cup flour, beat, 1 cup milk, beat, 1 cup flour, beat, orange juice, beat, 1 cup flour.)
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Stir in the cranberries.
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Grease a loaf pan.
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Measure parchment paper to the size of a loaf pan. Leave some overhang! Grease this parchment paper as well.
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Add enough dough to fill 1/4 of the pan. Sprinkle filling to cover the first layer. Repeat until you reach 1/2 inch from the top of the pan. (End on a layer of batter, not filling.)
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Sprinkle your topping over the final layer of batter. Repeat on pan 2.
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Bake in a 350°F oven for 1 hour until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. (If you overstuffed one of your pans like I did, you will need to bake an additional 30 minutes!)
*You can choose to slice your cranberries, coarsely chop them, throw them in a food processor, or bake them whole. I did a mixture of halved and whole.
I love cranberries this time of year, especially treats like this one! This cake is so moist and perfect for the Holidays!
Thanks, Patty! I love this time of year, cranberries and all sorts of delicious winter fruits are in season!
Oh yum what a great coffee cake to make for the holidays! The texture looks amazing, will be trying it real soon!
Thanks, Carrie! It’s so moist and festive, I love it. Let me know how it goes!
What a great looking coffee cake and cranberry and orange go so well together.
Thanks, Andrea! Cranberry and orange are so good together!
That is one yummy looking coffee cake. I wouldn’t mind waking up on Christmas morning with this as my breakfast. 🙂
Thank you, Anita! =) My favorite kind of Christmas.
Cranberry and orange are among my favorite flavor combinations, and this coffeecake looks so moist and so delicious, it’s going on my weekend baking list! Can’t wait!
Cranberry and orange were made for each other. So festive! Let me know how it goes!