Grandma’s Sweet Cherry Bread
My grandma used to make the best cherry bread. I’d give anything to watch her make it again and write down what she did. But since that will never happen, I had about 17 emails up and back dialoguing with my mom about how she thought Grandma made it. My mom pieced together some of her own notes and a recipe from a 1948 cookbook that she thinks is what my grandma used. After reading it all over and brainstorming about this bread on multiple 8-mile runs, I made a few tweaks and finally made it. This cherry almond bread is a soft, sweet, and an easy quick bread recipe to make. It’s perfect for Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, baby or bridal showers, and would be so pretty for a brunch. My daughter inhaled this sweet, soft cherry bread and her slices were flooded with glaze. You can never have too much pink. Or glaze. My grandma loved pink and it was her favorite color. I have a feeling she would have been thrilled seeing all this pink.
Recreating Grandma’s Recipe
I know my grandma didn’t use an electric mixer, and since she would have made it by hand, so did I. I have a feeling she used shortening, but I know the word shortening causes immediate clicking off the page by most modern bakers, so I went with a little canola oil instead. I was tempted to add buttermilk or Greek yogurt to the batter because I do swear by them for keeping things lighter, softer, and moister, but I know my grandma wouldn’t have used them, so they were out. My grandma didn’t glaze her bread, and it didn’t need it. But I couldn’t resist reserving a bit of the cherry juice and making a cherry-almond glaze.
Glazed Cherry Bread Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this cherry dessert recipe (I know it’s a quick bread, but trust me when I say this is a dessert!):
Maraschino cherries (+ their juice!) All-purpose flour Granulated sugar Baking powder Salt Eggs Canola oil Almond extract Vanilla extract Confectioners’ sugar
How to Make Cherry Bread with Almond Glaze
This is a quick and recipe for cherry bread. Check out the recipe card at the end of this post for full instructions!
More Cherry Dessert Recipes:
Cherry Cream Pie — An old-fashioned pie with homemade scratch crust topped with NO-BAKE layers of sweetened cream cheese along with juicy cherry pie filling!! If you like cherry pie, you’re going to LOVE this amped up version!! Tried this recipe? Leave a review! Consider leaving a 5 star rating if you’ve made and loved one of my recipes! Mini Cherry Oreo Cheesecakes – EASY mini cheesecakes loaded with cherries and an Oreo cookie crust!! The hit of your Valentine’s Day party! Mini food is IRRESISTIBLE!! Glazed Cherry Pie Bars — The cherry bars are like cherry pie but easier. There’s a buttery, soft, tender crust topped with cherry pie filling before being baked and glazed. Chocolate Chip and Cherry Blondies — These cherry bars use my favorite blondie base and turn out perfectly every single time! You can use fresh or frozen cherries, or a blend of mixed berries. These bars are seriously so good! Glazed Cherry Bonbon Cookies — These cookies are just so fun. Soft, buttery, pink cookies with the surprise of a juicy, sweet maraschino cherry in the middle that also helps keep the cookies moist. Cherry Turnovers with Vanilla Cream Cheese Glaze — The turnovers are so good that people will think you bought them from a local bakery, but they’re so easy, ready in 20 minutes, and you’ll never need to settle for store-bought turnovers again! Maraschino Cherry White Chocolate Cookies — These cherry bars use my favorite blondie base and turn out perfectly every single time! You can use fresh or frozen cherries, or a blend of mixed berries. These bars are seriously so good! Triple Chocolate Cherry Cake — This cake is loaded with juicy cherries and topped with an easy homemade chocolate frosting. I used a few shortcuts in this recipe to save time, but this cake tastes completely homemade! Originally published February 11, 2014 and republished with updated text May 8, 2020.
