Julie Clark
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Cherry Bread
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A simple quick bread with maraschino cherries in every bite. Don’t forget the almond cherry glaze on top this simple cherry bread.
I remember when Kinslee was just starting to read on her own, we got the Pinkalicious books from the library. Have you seen them? They’re super cute. They’re so fabulous for little girls who want to be a princess.
So when this pinkalicious cherry bread popped into my mind, I knew I needed to make it now. This bread would be great at Christmas time, since maraschino cherries pop up all over the place at the holiday season (hello merry cherry cheesecake bars). And it would also be fitting for a Valentine’s Day treat, being so pink-y. This Cherry Bread is delicious enough for special occasions but easy enough for every day.
Cherry Bread Ingredients
This quick bread is your traditional quick bread recipe. Sugar, milk, oil, egg, almond extract, flour, salt and baking soda and powder. I wanted every bite to be loaded with cherries, so I used two jars of maraschino cherries (for a total of 20 ounces).
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How to Make Cherry Bread
Before you begin, prepare the cherries. Drain the juice, but reserve about ⅓ cup of the juice for the glaze. Chop the cherries either in a small food processor or with a knife. We used our Ninja Express Chop for this. It worked like a charm and took about a total of 3 seconds.
- Prepare. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spray a 9″x5″ loaf pan with baking spray, or grease with shortening, then dust with flour.
- Mix the wet ingredients. In a medium bowl, stir together the sugar, milk, oil, egg and almond extract.
- Mix dry ingredients, then combine. In a separate large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.
- Add the cherries. Drain the maraschino cherries, reserving the juice for the glaze. Coarsely chop the cherries in a food processor or with a knife. Gently fold the cherries into the batter.
- Bake. Pour the batter mixture into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center of the bread should come out clean. Allow the bread to cool for 10 minutes, then remove the bread to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make the glaze. Combine the powdered sugar, melted butter, cherry juice and almond extract in a small bowl. Whisk until it is smooth. Once the bread is cool, spread the glaze on top of the bread. If you spread the glaze on while the cherry bread is still warm, it will melt and run off.
Baking Tip
As with any quick bread or muffin, it’s important not to overmix the cherry bread batter. It’s OK if there are still lumps or a tad bit of flour in the batter. It will all bake together so perfectly in the end.
Can I use fresh cherries in this recipe?
Yes, if you have fresh cherries, you may use them in this recipe. Pit the cherries and dice them, just as you would the maraschino cherries.
Can you freeze cherry bread?
My family each tested a small slice of this cherry bread, then we put the rest in the freezer for a later treat. I’ll have to say that I ate a slice or two while it was frozen and I think I liked the bread frozen more than fresh from the oven for some reason. That makes it a deliciously cool treat for spring and summer.
Wrap leftovers in plastic wrap, then freeze for up to 6 weeks.
Other Cherry Recipes
And then after our cherry bread, try our cherry hot chocolate, cookies, cherry almond cake and Amish cherry rolls.
Cherry Bread
A simple quick bread with maraschino cherries in every bite. Don’t forget the almond cherry glaze on top!
Servings 10 servings
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar 150 grams
- 1/2 cup 2% milk 4 ounces
- 1/2 cup canola oil (or vegetable or melted coconut oil) 4 ounces
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon almond extract* (or vanilla extract) 5 grams
- 2 cups all-purpose flour 260 grams
- 1 teaspoon baking powder 5 grams
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 3 grams
- 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 grams
- 2 jars maraschino cherries** (10 ounces each)
Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar 130 grams
- 1 tablespoon melted butter 14 grams
- 2 tablespoons maraschino cherry juice 30 grams
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract 2 grams
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spray a 9"x5" loaf pan with cooking spray, or grease with shortening, then dust with flour.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the sugar, milk, oil, egg and almond extract. ¾ cup granulated sugar, ½ cup 2% milk, ½ cup canola oil, 1 large egg, 1 teaspoon almond extract*
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
- Drain the maraschino cherries, reserving the juice for the glaze. Coarsely chop the cherries in a food processor or with a knife. Gently fold the cherries into the batter. 2 jars maraschino cherries**
- Pour the bread batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes***. A toothpick inserted in the center of the bread should come out clean. Allow the bread to cool for 10 minutes, then remove the bread to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the glaze, combine the powdered sugar, melted butter, cherry juice and almond extract in a small bowl. Whisk until it is smooth. 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon melted butter, 2 tablespoons maraschino cherry juice, ½ teaspoon almond extract
- Once the bread is cool, spread the glaze on top of the bread. If you spread the glaze on while the bread is still warm, it will melt and run off.
- Slice and serve. Store any leftovers at room temperature in an airtight container. The bread freezes well, too.
Video
Notes
*I often add an extra teaspoon of vanilla or almond extract to the bread batter (along with the wet ingredients) for an extra boost of flavor. I do this especially if I’m not putting the glaze on top. The bread has the most flavor when you add the cherry glaze!
**Many maraschino cherry brands come without red dye in the cherries. If you pick up a jar like this, your bread will not be pink. If you want pink bread, be sure that the cherries you use actually have red coloring in it. You can always add additional red coloring if you want the bread to have more of a pink flavor.
***The exact baking time will depend on the exact type of pan you use. If it is smaller, it will take longer to bake. I have used a metal pan that is just slightly smaller (8.5″x4.5″) and it takes about 60-65 minutes to bake. Glass/Ceramic/Stone pans will all bake different. The bread is done when the inside of the bread is about 200ºF.
**The calories shown are based on the bread being cut into 10 pieces (and all of the frosting used), with 1 serving being 1 slice of bread. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate.
Nutrition
Serving: 155g | Calories: 378kcal | Carbohydrates: 59g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 25mg | Sodium: 92mg | Potassium: 130mg | Sugar: 39g | Vitamin A: 115IU | Calcium: 55mg | Iron: 1.3mg
On the cherry bread can I make cupcakes out of it? What is the temp and timing?
Can I bake it with strawberries instead of cherries?
Excited to try this! But my problem is that I have a Costco sized jar of maraschino cherries! Can you give me an idea how many cups of cherries are in two jars please?
The Carb content is so high, Can I use almond flour or coconut flour?
Made this bread for the first time ever. Had 3 jars of mar maraschino cherries & came across this recipe. My MIL ate 3 slices that I know of… may have been more I made the frosting as instructed but it ran onto the plate but seem to be the perfect amount …definitely would not use all the frosting. Placed it on a rectangular white plate and sliced part of it…it looks pretty when it is sliced. As all my cakes I refrigerate before serving overnight if possible… received many compliments on this recipe! Will definitely try more bread recipes… Read more »
Made this for my brother’s birthday as his favorite cake is cherry chip. This was so good! My husband doesn’t like cherries and he had two pieces and had to stop himself!
Plz let us first timersknow what consistency of the batter..will be mine was not cake..dough..soft..it was dense….like cookie dough… can you..add that description of how thedpugh..batter should be…so we can know what to expect..and it will let others know if we have done something wrong…
Can I use fresh chopped cherries in place of the maraschino ones? Not a fan of those!
Could I double the recipe and put it in a full size bunt pan?
I made this for Valentine’s Day using almond extract and I added some pecans. I probably only ended up using 1/4 of the glaze that the recipe made. Most of it ran off the sides but the amount that remained was perfect. It is delicious and so easy. Thank you!
Can you use mini bundt cakes with this recipe?
Just made this to be a surprise breakfast treat Valentine morning!
Can you make this dairy free? Make it with almond milk and vegan butter? Would the amounts be the same?
When making the icing,could I use cream cheese in place of butter?
My granny always topped it with a chocolate fudge frosting!! Delish!