Healthier Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake

This healthier Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake is a lightened up version of a seasonal classic. With a few healthy ingredient swaps and the best ever orange glaze, it’s a beautiful (and easy) holiday cake recipe to add to your Christmas table!

Happy MONDAY. So, today I turn the big 2-7. 27 Sounds weird. It feels “old” but not really that old… I’m not sure if I feel older or younger than that… age is just a number anyways, right?

But it really had me craving a festive holiday cake that was moist and delicious, but a little easy on the waist given all the rich food we eat during the Christmas holiday! That’s where this Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake comes in! With the right swap of ingredients, it’s a healthy-ish version of the heavier holiday dessert recipes.

Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake

Like I said…with it being the holiday season, I thought it only appropriate I bring you a holiday cake today. I’m honestly not much of a traditional birthday cake eater anyway. Cookies? YES. Ice cream? DOUBLE YES. But mainly I was dying to try out my bundt pan that we got as a wedding gift. And I had some cranberries in the freezer, so I thought “What the heck. Who doesn’t love a good holiday bundt cake?” Or a Cranberry Orange Holiday Bundt Cake, to be exact! But with a few healthy substitutions…

Ingredients For Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake

• whole wheat white flour
• baking powder, baking soda, salt
• cinnamon + nutmeg
• orange zest
• coconut oil
• unsalted butter
• coconut sugar
• eggs
• greek yogurt
• orange juice
• milk
• almond extract
• orange extract, optional (for a stronger orange flavor)
• cranberries
• powdered sugar + orange juice, for the glaze

How To Make Bundt Cake with Cranberries and Orange

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease your favorite bundt pan.
2. Mix together the dry ingredients. Add the white whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and orange zest in a medium bowl and stir to combine.
3. Cream the fat and sugar. In the bowl of an electric mixer or with a hand mixer, cream the butter, coconut oil and coconut sugar until well combined.
4. Add the wet ingredients. To the fat-sugar mixture, add the eggs, greek yogurt, orange juice, milk, almond extract and orange extract (if using) and mix until well combined.
5. Add the dry ingredients in three batches. On low speed, until just combined.
6. Layer the bundt pan. Start with one-third of the cake batter, then add half the cranberries, add another third of the cake batter, and sprinkle with the remaining cranberries, finish with the cake batter.
7. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Cover the cake with foil after 20 minutes. Allow to cool for 30 minutes in the pan, then turn out on to a cooling rack.
8. Make the orange glaze. Mix together powdered sugar and orange zest in a small bowl. Glaze, then allow to sit for 15 minutes. Slice and serve!

The Orange Glaze

This one is just a simple powdered sugar and orange juice glaze. For best results, start with 1 Tablespoon orange juice and then add more orange juice, 1 Tablespoon at a time, until you reach your desired consistency.

Definitely takes the cranberry orange bundt cake up a notch. I wouldn’t really recommend going without it.

How To Get The Bundt Cake Out Of The Pan

But can I just tell you how nervous I was when I was ready to flip this bad boy out?! Oh man. I greased the heck out of the bundt pan, making sure to get all the crevices, because I did NOT want any mishaps. I used both butter and coconut oil, and lightly dusted with flour, just to be sure I wouldn’t have any issues. And it came out PERFECTLY.

Just make sure to allow the cranberry orange bundt cake to cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes before flipping over!

Tips For The Best Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake

• Cream the fat and sugar for longer than you think. The coconut sugar takes longer to dissolve into the butter and coconut oil, so it is best to mix for at least 2 minutes, or longer.
• Make sure to thaw frozen cranberries and dry completely. If the cranberries are wet, it will ruin the texture of the cranberry orange cake recipe.
• Cover with foil after 20 minutes of baking. This helps to prevent the holiday cake from browning too much on the bottom.

How To Store

This cranberry orange bundt cake will keep up to 5 days, tightly wrapped, or placed in an airtight container, and stored on your kitchen counter.

More Bundt Cake Recipes You’ll Love:

• Yogurt Blueberry Bundt Cake [Gluten-Free]
• Lemon Poppyseed Bundt Cake [Gluten-Free]
• Whole Grain Greek Yogurt Pumpkin Bundt Cake
• Cardamom Grapefruit Greek Yogurt Cake
• Triple Chocolate Zucchini Cake [Dairy-Free]

If you make this Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake recipe, be sure to leave a comment and review on the blog! I love hearing from you, and it helps others learn more about the recipe too! Xx Ashley

★★★★★

4.7 from 3 reviews

How to Make…

Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake

This healthier Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake is a lightened up recipe of a holiday classic. It’s a beautiful addition to your Christmas table!

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 40 minutes
• Total Time: 50 minutes

• Yield: 16 1x
• Scale: 1x2x3x

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Ingredients

For the cake

• 2 1/3 cups whole wheat white flour*
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg (optional)
• 2 tsp orange zest (about 2 medium oranges)
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, softened
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup coconut sugar (or dry sweetener of choice)
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 7oz (~3/4 cup) plain greek yogurt (I used Fage total)
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup milk (I used non-dairy)
• 1 tsp almond extract (or vanilla)
• 1/2 tsp orange extract if you want stronger orange flavor, but not necessary
• 1 heaping cup cranberries, fresh or thawed, roughly chopped (measured, then chopped)

For the glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 TBS orange juice** (I used the juice of the oranges)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Thoroughly grease a 10-15″ bundt pan with butter (or coconut oil) and lightly dust with flour. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and orange zest. Whisk until combined and set aside.
3. In a large bowl using a stand mixer with paddle attachment or electric hand mixer, cream together softened butter, coconut oil and coconut sugar on medium-high speed. The coconut sugar takes a little longer to cream with the butter and oil, so make sure to cream about 2 minutes, until coconut sugar crystals are less noticeable. Scrape down the sides before the next step.
4. Add in eggs, greek yogurt, orange juice, milk, almond extract and orange extract (if using). Mix on low-medium speed, until evenly combined.
5. Add in your flour mixture and gently combine on low speed. Adding in batches if needed. Batter will be thick.
6. Layer your bundt pan with a small amount of batter, then evenly spread 1/2 cup of cranberries. Layer with more batter and rest of cranberries, finish with batter on top.
7. Bake cake for 35-40 minutes. Cover loosely with foil after 20 minutes to prevent cake from browning too much. Check cake with inserted toothpick to see if done. Cake should come out with little to no crumbs.
8. Allow cake to cool in pan for 30 minutes before removing. Make the glaze while cake is cooling. Combine powdered sugar and orange juice in a small bowl.
9. Once cooled, gently bang pan on counter to loosen cake. Flip onto cooling rack. Place plate under cooling rack to catch glaze. In a zigzag pattern, pour glaze over cake. You may have reserve glaze that catches on the plate. I used this to go over the cake a second time.
10. Once glaze has set, about 15 minutes, slice and serve.

Recipes Notes:

*You can probably use half whole wheat, half all purpose, but I have not tested this myself.

**Depending on how thick or thin you want your glaze, start with 1 TBS of OJ, then add 1-2 more TBS of OJ if you want it thinner.

Cake should keep up to 5 days fresh at room temperature, tightly wrapped and covered.

Nutrition based on 16 servings, but cake could easily serve 20 with small slices.

Recipe adapted from Joyful Healthy Eats

Nutrition Information:

• Serving Size: 1 slice
• Calories: 211
• Sugar: 17
• Sodium: 160
• Fat: 8
• Saturated Fat: 5
• Unsaturated Fat: 1
• Trans Fat: 0
• Carbohydrates: 32
• Fiber: 1
• Protein: 4
• Cholesterol: 32

Category: Dessert Method: Oven Cuisine: American
Keywords: Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake, Bundt Cake Recipe, Holiday Cake Recipes
Author: Ashley @ Fit Mitten Kitchen

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