Cherry Bread

Our Maraschino cherry bread recipe made with cherries in a jar that’s great for breakfast or dessert. Perfect for Valentine’s Day sweet bread or cupcake treat for friends.

I originally made this cherry bread almost 20 years ago when I was tinkering around in the kitchen.  Since I wasn’t a blogger then I didn’t have anywhere to share it. The other day when a friend asked how I made it ALL those years ago I thought I’d write up the instructions!

I forgot how much I enjoyed it, and definitely should’ve made it again sooner to share with my kids. If you’re having people over for brunch, or a holiday is coming up and you want something special, you should try this or chocolate cherry bread.

If you want to make this pinker for a Valentines Day cake of sorts you could with some food coloring. That isn’t important to us so I don’t bother but you could. I prefer Wilton’s gel vs. liquid coloring if you want to add some.

Ingredients and Notes

You are going to want almost a whole jar of maraschino cherries and some of the cherry juice out of it that will add color instead of just using water for the liquid in the batter.

Almond extract and vanilla extract in this gives it a deep almost marzipan flavor to each slice which I love. I mean you could add cherry extract but honestly these are better.

Flour and baking powder, make sure you know how to measure flour instead of scooping it out of the bag or it will be dense. That is the key to baking fluffy baked goods y’all.

Sugar for sweetness of course, white granulated is used in this case. Eggs added at room temperature will get you the ideal texture, fluffy and rich.

Oil vegetable is what I use typically but there are many alternatives as far as this goes. You could use pumpkin puree or Greek yogurt really. Use Powdered sugar and Heavy whipping cream for glaze.

I bake this in a 8×4 or 9×5 inch loaf pan with some non stick spray and two bowls to mix together batter too. As with any other baking recipe, you’ll want to mix dry ingredients in one bowl. Then add the eggs and wet ingredients in another. Then slowly combine the two and gently fold in the cherries at the end.

Variations

Mini chocolate chips, 1/2 cup could be added. Chopped nuts – walnuts in small pieces might be nice. You could sprinkle sliced almonds on top of your glaze too

Tips

Use a bit of non stick cooking spray inside your prepared pan before pouring in the batter.  You could line with parchment paper too. Set it on a cooling wire rack and cool completely before slicing if you want slices to stay in tact. I don’t feel like you need anything on it beyond the homemade icing but you could leave that off.

I use this same 8×4 loaf pan to make our pumpkin apple bread and it works great. Make sure you don’t over bake this As soon as a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, take it out! Don’t flip it over and remove it right away, cool for 10 minutes.

Can you use frozen cherries?

You could but Maraschino Cherries are sweeter and recommended. If you do want to use fresh just remove the pits and dice. For frozen cherry bread you want to defrost them first, chop and then fold into your batter at the end so they don’t break apart too much.

Can you bake this into muffins?

Now you could make this into muffins like we did with our cherry brownies too. Just use paper liners and bake for about 18 minutes or until the toothpick comes out mostly clean with moist crumbs attached.

How do you keep leftovers moist?

Wrap leftovers in plastic or aluminum foil. Keep it at room temperature for no more than two days ideally. If after that time you don’t think you’ll finish it, wrap it in tinfoil, and then inside a gallon freezer bag. Freeze so it lasts longer. To thaw frozen bread, leave it on the countertop until it is defrosted to maintain moisture.

Can I use maraschino cherries for baking?

Yes! This jarred variety are made from royal ann cherries, we have made it to make cherry crisp too. If you’ve ever tried one you know they are extremely sweet. It is a bit like our cherry coffee cake but that is made with cake mix and pie filling. Want to add them to a glaze for this or our 4 ingredient banana bread?? Great idea.

What can I use leftover cherry juice for?

Beyond this cherry bread we use it to make Shirley Temple’s which my girls love! I add a touch to my favorite Pineapple Rum Cocktail. It’s super versatile to sweeten up just about any recipe. Looking for other quick bread recipes?

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