Orange Bread
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A slice of orange bread is the perfect treat for breakfast or coffee break. Delicious on its own but addictive with a generous layer of butter and your favorite jam!
This orange bread is a yeast-free loaf which means there is no kneading nor proofing required. So if you are looking for a hassle-free citrusy sweet bread recipe, this is it.
My other favorite citrus bread recipe is lemon lavender loaf. If you top it with candied lemon slices it would make a great gift for the Holidays.
Other tasty quick bread recipes include honey cranberry bread or poppy seed banana bread. They too have easy preparation with no kneading required.
How to make orange bread
Get a large bowl and beat the eggs with sugar until pale. This takes about 2-3 minutes. Once done, add in zest from one orange, orange juice and butter.
Give it a quick mix. Use a spatula at this stage as using an electric mixer would turn messy. It only needs a quick stir.
When done, add flour and baking powder. Now it’s important that these two have been sifted and mixed together beforehand.
Now give everything a mix with the electric mixer until all ingredients are well combined and form thick-ish batter.
Pour this into a loaf tin that you have lined with baking parchment.
Baking this orange loaf cake takes about 1 hour. To make sure this orange bread is ready just insert a wooden skewer or toothpick inside and when it comes out clean you can take it out.
Extra tips
- If you want to gift this orange bread to your loved ones, go the extra step and garnish the top with candied orange slices. Dipped in chocolate or sugar they are the perfect topping for this tasty bread.
- To check for doneness always insert the wooden skewer/toothpick in the middle of the loaf as it can be done around the edges while still raw in the middle.
- Note that the baking time may slightly vary depending on the type of oven you have.
- Because you are using zest from the orange I recommend buying organic oranges.
- Try adding finely chopped candied orange peel to the batter for the extra citrusy flavor and different texture.
This orange bread recipe is based on a recipe from an old cook book called Bread, Cakes & Biscuits by Mary Norwak. I made some changes to the original recipe. Reducing the amount of sugar was one of them as the original orange bread was way too sweet to my liking.
My version has just the right amount of sugar in it. I think it’s better adding more sweetness by spreading it with honey or jam rather than having a loaf that is way too sweet on its own.
This is an old post that has been updated with new photos and more detailed instructions and tips as well as recipe card with measurements in cups and grams.
Want to see how to make orange bread? Watch the video!
Orange Bread
Ingredients
- 2 eggs (small-medium)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar (5.3 ounces/150 grams)
- orange zest (from 1 orange)
- 3 oranges , juice only (see note 2)
- 1 stick unsalted butter , softened (4 ounces/110 grams)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (10.6 ounces/300 grams)
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the eggs with sugar until smooth and pale.
- Add orange zest, freshly squeezed orange juice and softened butter. Mix with the electric mixer.
- Sift in the flour and baking powder (mix these two ingredients beforehand) and mix well with the mixer. Pour the batter into a loaf tin (10×4 inch/25×10 cm) lined with baking paper.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 375°F/190°C for 1 hour or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
- When ready, take out from the oven and pour some more orange juice over the loaf. Let it sit for about 10 minutes before transferring onto a wired rack. Let cool completely.
Video
Notes
- All-purpose flour (US) = Plain flour (UK).
- You will need to get ½ cup (120 ml) of orange juice for the batter + about ¼ cup (60 ml) for pouring over the baked bread. 3 medium oranges (150 grams each) should be plenty but if you have oranges that are rather dry on the inside you might need one extra.
- The baking time may vary slightly depending on your oven.
- For more tips I recommend reading also the text above the recipe card.
Why do you call it “bread”? … it’s “cake”…!
Some call it a loaf, bread, others cake. I’d say it depends where you live, Malou :).
Do you pour orange juice on the baked loaf? Wouldn’t that make it soggy?
Hi Patricia. Yes, you do. It has to be poured over right after you take the loaf out of the oven so it is still hot enough. It should not be soggy. If not sure, you can use slightly less juicy but it does give the orange loaf a ton of flavor.
I added chopped nuts on top before baking and frosted the top with cream cheese frosting….mmm good will be making more
Mmm…that sounds delicious, Rosie! :)
Hello! I’ve made this recipe 5-6 times because it’s become my husband’s favorite snack. The first time I baked it, it came out of the oven with a beautifully rounded top like your photo. Since then, for some reason, every time I make it, the top sinks. It still tastes delicious, but it doesn’t look as lovely as the first time I made it. Might you have any insight into why this is happening?
Hi Nina, do you remember changing something in the recipe or in the process? There are a few things that can cause this. Here are a few: opening the oven doors during baking, over-beating the batter, batter sitting too long before cooking, old baking powder… Baking is a science and sometimes even the slightest change (that we don’t even notice) can cause our baked products turn out differently. Hope this helps a bit and please let me know if you have any other questions.
I made the bread yesterday and added the orange citrus. The bread was good but topping it with the orange juice was a mess and I don’t think it added anything to the bread except to make it a bit soggy.
Next time I’ll just sprinkle it with some sugar as I do with my banana bread.
Hi Joni. The juice intensifies the orange flavor and when poured over a hot loaf, it will soak up the juice. It should not be soggy. However, you can omit this step if you prefer a lighter flavor.
I made three loaves yesterday and OMG delicious
Amazing!!! I did half whole wheat and half white flour and also did 1 cup of sugar and added chocolate chips. Turned out to be a perfect loaf and the OJ absorbed nicely after baking! A++
Thanks so much for your feedback, Kristen. I am so happy to hear your substitutions worked well and you enjoyed this orange bread.
I made this yesterday and EVERYONE at home LOVED IT! It is SO GOOD!!!! Thank you so much for sharing it.
That’s great to hear, Maria F. Thanks so much for finding time to leave feedback!
This is a wonderful recipe as written. On my second bread loaf, I wanted to bump up the fiber content so added:
2 TB (20 grams) ground flaxseed
2 TB (20 grams) chia seeds
3 TB (30 grams) sunflower seeds.
That second loaf also turned out great.
Highly recommend the original version, or my own adjustments should you desire more fiber.
Hi Bruce. Thank you for your feedback and also for finding time to leave your version of this recipe! Other readers will definitely find useful! Happy Baking :)
It’s amazing, super delicious ! A favorite from
Now on!
Why zest a whole orange and then only use half?
Hi Diane. Thanks for pointing that out! It was an error in the recipe card that has already been fixed.
You forgot to let us know when to add the butter.
Hi Mary. Please see step 3 in the recipe card. You can also watch the video that is above the recipe card or check process photos, if you are not sure about something. Happy Baking!
I just made this orange cake. I used 1 cup All-Purpose-Flour and 1 cup Whole Wheat Bread Flour. For the topping, I mixed the juice with some butter and pour it onto the cake. The cake is moist and delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Thank you for your feedback, Wern. And thanks for letting us know that your substitutions worked well!
Hi Julia,
I very rarely leave comments on recipes that I try. But your orange bread is so delicious, I could not leave it unsaid. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I am making it again today – but 2 loaves instead of one. One is gobbled up too quickly :)
Best,
Tanya
Thanks so much for finding time to leave a comment, Tanya. It means a lot! Happy baking :)
I’ve made this bread now twice. It is absolutely delicious. Mine doesn’t split at the top but still wonderful. I used blood oranges the first time and navel oranges today. When cooled I’m slicing and taking plates to friends. I made 2 loaves today.
.
Hi Jenni, I am so happy to hear that. Happy baking! :)
Thanks . It is yummy but I’ll try what you recommend.
Mine sank in the middle too, but the taste is absolutely amazing! So delicious! I will make this again this weekend.
Thanks for your feedback, Carly! I am not sure what the problem can be: The most common reasons for cakes to sink in the middle are: an over-filled cake tin, over-mixing the batter or high oven temperature. Try reduce the oven temp slightly and use a large loaf tin if you have one. Hope this helps!
Made your orange cake and it turned out lovely except it was a little dry.I work in grams instead of cups and on my conversion chart it converted 2 cups of all purpose flour to 240 grams instead of 300 grams do you think this could be what made it slightly dry.I will make again and try adjusting the flour.Many thanks for the recipe.
Hi Susan. I recommend using my conversion when they are provided as I convert them myself and they are more accurate. However, using less flour should not cause the bread turn dry. Did you use enough orange juice? Did you pour the remaining orange juice over the baked bread? That usually helps. Another think that could have caused it is the altitude you live at. It affects baking in many ways – i.e. liquids evaporate faster so it would be worth having a look at it, if that is your case. This recipe was developed at a sea level. Hope this helps!
Can you use self rising flour and if you can then you don’t put in the salt and baking soda, correct? Or am I wrong?
Hi Charlotte. I haven’t tested this recipe with self raising flour so not sure.
Perfect gift recipe. I plumped dried cranberries in orange juice and added to batter. I also added them to the top of the loaf. Beautiful! Another gift could have orange icing dripped on top.
Great suggestions, LizD. Thanks so much for your feedback and rating!
I made this cake yesterday. It fell in the middle probably from too much stomping around in the the kitchen. I remember my mother chasing me out of the kitchen when I was a kid so her cakes didn’t “fall”. I think you should change the directions about adding the juice to “add 1/2 cup of the juice to the batter” in case someone skips the notes and adds the whole 3/4 of a cup. Also is it zest from 1 orange or 1/2 orange? Ingredients list says whole orange, directions say to add zest from 1/2 Orange I used zest from a whole small orange. It was fine. Also my oranges weren’t super sweet so I added some honey to the juice that I poured over the cake.
We all agreed it was delicious. Thank You.
Hi Jack. Thanks for your feedback. I will try to fix the recipe and make it more clear for our readers! Hope you find here more recipes you like!