Cranberry Banana Bread (Leftover Cranberry Sauce)

This Banana Cranberry Bread is a delicious and moist quick bread. It’s the perfect way to use up leftover cranberry sauce this holiday season!

What’s the #1 thing that you have left over after Thanksgiving dinner? I bet its cranberry sauce! Cranberry sauce leftovers are a given in most households, because not everyone enjoys it as part of their Thanksgiving meal. What better way to use it up than make some yummy cranberry sauce banana bread for the next day!

“This was delicious. I never have any leftover cranberry sauce so I opened a new can and I was making a double batch and was short one banana so I just mixed the whole can in with the bananas and topped it with pecans. It was amazing!” – Kristan

Considering that I almost always have leftover cranberry sauce, I have quite the list of recipes that use up leftover cranberry sauce like these Turkey Cranberry Sliders, Easy Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip, Cranberry Meatballs, Cranberry Bars, and now, this Banana Cranberry Sauce Bread! 

I will admit that this cranberry sauce bread might be my favorite! I am a sucker for quick bread, as is the rest of my family. A loaf of this bread barely lasts a day in our house.

This Cranberry Banana Bread recipe makes one loaf but can easily be doubled! If you double the recipe, you’ll need to plan for about 6 overripe bananas and 2/3 cup of leftover cranberry sauce. 

I did use a standard size loaf pan for this easy bread recipe.

I used the canned cranberry sauce that has whole cranberries. You can also use jellied sauce but may need to heat it up gently to loosen it before incorporating it into the banana bread batter.

Feel free to use your homemade sauce as well! Homemade sauce usually incorporates orange juice and orange zest, which gives this delicious leftover cranberry sauce bread even more yummy flavor! Cranberries and oranges are a classic flavor pairing.

“Made a single recipe today in 3 small loaf pans. Very good and I will definitely make this again. I may do as another poster did and mix the cranberries directly into the banana mixture and top with pecans, that sounds amazing!” – Debbie

Recipe Substitutions

This easy recipe has several possible substitutions. I think it’s always best to use what you have on hand rather than make an extra trip to the grocery store! Here are some ideas:

• I used the whole canned cranberry sauce, but you can absolutely use your homemade cranberry sauce or leftover cranberry relish. 
• Substitute brown sugar for white sugar. 
• I have had success using gluten-free flour for this cranberry banana bread recipe. My favorite is Bob’s Red Mill 1:1.

Want more easy bread recipes? I recommend: Easy Irish Soda Bread | Fresh Pear Bread | Craig’s Famous Banana Bread | Peach Bread with Pecans

How to store Cranberry Banana Bread

Be sure your Banana Cranberry Bread is fully baked through and completely cooled before storing it. Once it is cooled, you can store it at room temperature in an airtight container or Ziploc bag. There is no need to refrigerate banana bread. 

And yes, you can freeze banana bread! If you make an extra loaf and want to keep it for a different week, wrap your banana bread in foil and then in a plastic Ziploc bag. Make sure as much air is removed as possible before freezing. You can freeze banana bread for up to 6 months. 

More Ways to Use Leftover Cranberry Sauce

If you STILL have more cranberry sauce to use up after making this yummy Cranberry Banana Bread, try some of these ideas out!

• On turkey sandwiches
• On top of searched chicken breasts or pork chops with a dash of soy sauce or balsamic vinegar
• Swirl through vanilla yogurt and add granola to make a parfait

Banana Cranberry Bread

Yield: 1 standard loaf

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 55 minutes mins

Total Time: 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Author: Michelle Goth

This banana bread recipe is a great way to use up leftover cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving!

4.86 from 61 ratings

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Ingredients

 

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Wet Ingredients:

• ▢ 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• ▢ 1 cup sugar
• ▢ 2 eggs
• ▢ 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Dry Ingredients:

• ▢ 2 cups all purpose flour
• ▢ 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt

For the swirl:

• ▢ 4-5 tablespoons cranberry sauce

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a standard loaf pan with cooking spray.
• In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar using a hand mixer or your stand mixer. 
• Add eggs, mashed bananas and vanilla extract. Mix to combine. 
• In a medium mixing bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients. Combine flour, pie spice, baking soda and salt, stir to combine. 
• Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, mixing to incorporate.
• Pour batter into a prepared loaf pan.
• Top banana bread batter with 4 tablespoons of cranberry sauce. Using a butter knife, draw lines through the cranberry sauce to swirl it throughout the top of the banana bread.
• Bake for approximately 50-60 minutes until the top of the bread starts to turn golden brown, and the center is cooked through.  Remove and allow to cool on a wire rack.
• Enjoy!

Notes

Leftover Cranberry Sauce Muffins: Follow the preparation instructions and place banana batter in muffin tin, then place a small dollop of cranberry sauce on top and swirl with a toothpick. Bake time will be right around 15 minutes.

Serving: 1, Calories: 307kcal, Carbohydrates: 50g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 11g, Saturated Fat: 6g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 62mg, Sodium: 249mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 27g

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