Out of all the days of the year, Christmas morning is one of the most magical times. The allure of Christmas day has finally arrived and excitement fills the air. Enjoying a special breakfast together before opening presents (or after 😉 ) is a time-honored tradition, no matter how big or small. You can find us sipping on peppermint mochas and munching on Christmas Morning Cranberry Orange Coffee Cake this year. This coffee cake is the perfect sweet addition to breakfast, filled with festive cranberries and topped with a sugary crumb drizzled in an unforgettable orange glaze.
Let’s get baking!
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Inspired By Bobby Flay’s Orange Spiced Crumb Cake
If you’ve been following Abundance of Flavor for some time, you may have caught on to how obsessed Luke and I are with Brunch at Bobby’s by Bobby Flay. Each week we try to cook Sunday brunch and are consistently inspired with Bobby’s creations.
Christmas Morning Orange Cranberry Coffee Cake was inspired by Bobby Flay’s Orange Spiced Crumb Cake after we fell in love with the original recipe. The dreamy orange glaze had us both hooked! It was a fun experience to tweak the recipe to fit the festive spirit we have in our house!
I hope you enjoy this special Christmas treat and get a chance to share it with loved ones this holiday season!
how to: prepare the spiced crumb topping
Begin by preheating the oven to 350 degrees F to roast the nuts.
Bake pecans and/or walnuts for about 5 minutes, being careful they do not burn. Let them cool and coarsely chop.
In a pot over medium-high heat, melt butter and cook until it starts to brown. Whisk in the sugars and cook for 1-2 minutes or until it is smooth.
Remove from the heat and stir in flour, cardamom, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg. It should be VERY clumpy! It is best to keep this in the refrigerator until everything else is done.
how to: Bake the cranberry orange cake
This recipe works best in a 9×9 pan. Make sure it is thoroughly buttered to prevent the cake from sticking.
In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
In the bowl of your stand mixer (or another large bowl), whisk butter, milk, canola oil, orange zest, vanilla, and egg for 2-3 minutes until fully mixed.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until incorporated. Fold in the cranberries.
Pour the batter into the greased baking dish. Sprinkle the spiced crumb topping over the cake — it will seem like a lot of crumb topping, but it’s supposed to be! For extra color you can place a few cranberries in the crumb.
Bake until the topping is golden and a toothpick comes out clean, about 50-60 minutes.
How to: make the orange glaze
In a small bowl, whisk powdered sugar, butter, orange juice, orange zest, and vanilla extract until it forms a smooth texture.
Refrigerate until the cake is done, and then bring up to room temperature before pouring.
Drizzle over the cake once cool and enjoy!
Ingredients Needed
Materials Needed
Christmas Morning Orange Cranberry Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Spiced Crumb Topping
- 3/4 cup pecans and/or walnuts
- 8 tbsp butter, melted
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/4 cup cane sugar
- 1 1/3 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp cardamom
- 1/2 tsp `cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
Orange Glaze
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp butter, melted
- 1 tsp orange juice
- 1 tsp orange zest, finely grated
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Orange Cranberry Coffee Cake
- 1 1/2 cup flour
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 4 tbsp butter, melted
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 2 tsp orange zest
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1 cup whole cranberries
Instructions
Spiced Crumb Topping
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake pecans for 5 minutes and remove from the oven. Let cool and then coarsely chop. Set aside.
- Over medium-high heat, melt butter in a saucepan and cook until it starts to brow. Whisk in the sugars, cooking for an additional 1-2 minutes until smooth.
- Remove from heat and add in flour, cardamom, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg. Stir until mixed through and clumps form. Set aside.
Orange Glaze
- Whisk powdered sugar, butter, orange juice, orange zest, and vanilla until combined. Refrigerate.
Orange Cranberry Coffee Cake
- Butter a 9×9 pan. In a large bowl mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- In a medium bowl, whisk butter, milk, canola oil, orange zest, vanilla, and egg for 2-3 minutes. Pour into the large bowl with the dry ingredients and stir until incorporated. Fold in the cranberries.
- Pour the batter into the greased baking dish. Sprinkle the spiced crumb topping over the cake to form a thick a crumb layer. If desired, place a few cranberries into the crumb.
- Bake until the topping is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Once cool, drizzle with the glaze and serve!
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Does your family have any favorite Christmas morning traditions? I love opening stockings and enjoying hot cinnamon rolls (another family favorite 😉)
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This looks amazing. I don’t like cranberries usually but I’d be interested to try it with the orange and coffee flavours too.
The orange is the best part in my opinion!
This looks unbelievable 😍😍😍😍
Thank you!!
This reminds me of my Mum’s Christmas breakfast muffins, which were a treat! This recipe sounds even better — yum!
That sounds like such a sweet memory!
This looks absolutely delicious! I am a new fan of fresh cranberries and can’t wait to try this out! I’m sure it would taste great with a good cuppa! Thanks for sharing xx
Thank you! I was on a cranberry kick and had to use up a whole bunch 🙂
This looks so good! A perfect treat to wake up to on Christmas morning. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!
Thanks for reading!
Wow this sounds so yummy!
Rosie
Thanks!
OMFG looks delicious.
Thanks!!
This looks delicious..
Thank you!
Oh my lanta this looks delicious!
Thanks 🙂
Mmmh looks so soft and delicious, I would love to try cranberries but maybe I would put blueberries instead..
Blueberries would also work great!
You always have such great recipes, Kalin. Can’t wait to try.
Thanks so much Lauren!
This is right up my alley for Christmas breakfast. I always eat an orange on Christmas morning, and this would be a great way to incorporate it into a more filling breakfast. Thanks for sharing!
I always got an orange in my stocking growing up, so I associate orange with Christmas morning 🙂
This sounds perfect – easy, delicious and just the right level of special between a Christmas Eve feast and Christmas dinner
Definitely very easy! 🙂
This looks so delicious and I love the combination of orange and cranberry!
I love that combo!
Ooh, this sounds delicious! Orange and Cranberry and my absolute favourite!
I love them at Christmastime!
I love orange in cakes (and tea!) so this sounds really great! Curious how the cranberry combines with it as well, it sounds like a great combination.
Orange in tea sounds amazing too!
Yum! This looks delicious! I can’t wait to try making these 🙂
Thank you! I hope they turn out great for you!
Every year, for as long as I can remember, my mom has made cranberry-orange scones on Christmas morning. Now, I’m thinking she might need to try these! What a fun way to elevate those deliciously tart, fruity flavors!
That’s such a great tradition! There’s something about cranberry-orange that screams christmas
i love the combo! such a fresh and different recipe compared to the same ones ! sharing this with my mom so she gets the hit xD
Haha I love that! Thanks for reading!
Wow……cranberry + orange + coffee…….must have tastes awesome-licious . Thank you for sharing this recipe dear.
Such great flavors! Thank you
I’ve been looking for a good coffee cake recipe to make soon! This one looks delicious and a great combo of flavors.
It’s definitely a treat at Christmastime!
Cranberry and orange is one of my favorite holiday flavor combinations. This coffee cake has a spot on my holiday menu!
That’s so sweet, thank you!
This looks like a wonderful breakfast cake for the holidays!
One of my favorites!
I love a cake for coffee in the morning and this is so much special and festive! I saved the recipe and will make it for sure. I never used cardamom in cakes before and I can’t wait to see what it brings to the flavours.
this looks very yummy. I am gonna try this recipe for christmas breakfast
I hope it turns out great for you!
Love this! Looks delicious. I’ll definitely try it.
Thank you!
This looks so delicious! Can’t wait to try it.
Thanks Samantha!
Looks Delicious! Definitely going to try it out.
Thanks!
What a gorgeous and delicious coffee cake for Christmas morning! This could easily become a family tradition. Thank you for another wonderful recipe.
That’s so thoughtful, thank you!
This looks so incredible!!
Thank you!
Oh my goodness this looks amazing! I so very rarely eat coffee cake, but I absolutely love it, and your variation looked heavenly!
Thanks so much!
This looks so yummy, I really like cakes and I’ll totally eat this right now.
Thank you!