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Cherry Bread

Heidi Larsenby Updated: Jul 20, 2026

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Dark sweet cherries are added to an almond-flavored batter for a light and tender cherry bread that’s perfect for sharing with friends.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“I made this last year and now that cherries are in season again I’m craving it. I’ll be making it this weekend!” -Ann, FoodieCrush reader

a loaf of cherry bread, sliced on cutting board

This post is sponsored by Land O Lakes®

This Is My Favorite Dessert to Make with Fresh Cherries

Photo of Heidi from FoodieCrush

This simple quick bread has an almond flavoring that goes oh so well with cherries. Rather than go the simple route of adding almond extract to the batter, I created a deeper, more intense flavor by using almond paste blended into Land O’ Lakes Super Premium European Style Butter. The European style butter is super creamy and rich thanks to a higher fat content that makes it perfect for baking.

The result is a bread that rises well yet isn’t too dense or heavy, with just the right crumb. My husband’s favorite part is the crispy crust. It’s the result of the almond paste butter mixture that creates a crisper shell as almond paste will do.

Of course you can enjoy a piece of this quick bread hot from the oven and slathered with butter. It’s so good that way. But don’t rule it out as the base of an ice cream dessert like Smudge created 3 nights in a row.

She even gave me a bite. It looks like sharing is in her genes.

Enjoy!

Heidi
ingredients for fresh cherry bread
fresh dark sweet cherries

Here’s What You’ll Need

The full recipe, with amounts, can be found in the recipe card below.

  • Sweet cherries — Save the tart cherries for making cherry pie! You’ll need to stem, pit, and halve the cherries before folding them into the batter.
  • Land O’ Lakes Super Premium European Style Butter — I usually use unsalted butter for baking so I can control the amount of salt myself.
  • Flour — Spoon the flour intro your measuring cup to prevent over-measuring.
  • Granulated sugar — Adds a neutral sweetness that doesn’t compete with the already sweet cherries.
  • Almond paste — Made by finely grinding up almonds with sugar and egg white. Although almond paste looks and tastes similar to marzipan, they’re not the same product!
  • Eggs — Binds the batter together.
  • Milk — Use any kind you like.
  • Baking powder — Helps the cherry almond bread rise and makes it fluffy.

Want to Use Frozen Cherries Instead?

Go for it! You’ll need to thaw them first and drain off the excess liquid before folding into the batter.

cherries being pitted
cherry bread batter in bread pan

How to Make Cherry Bread with Fresh Cherries

  1. Cream together the butter and almond paste. This helps distribute the almond paste throughout the batter without it clumping up.
  2. Add the sugar and eggs. Mix both until just combined — this isn’t a recipe where you want to whip tons of air into the batter.
  3. Add the dry ingredients. I suggest sifting them into straight into the mixing bowl to remove any lumps.
  4. Fold in the cherries. We do this last to prevent the cherry juice from bleeding into the batter.
  5. Bake. You’ll know your quick bread is done when the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan and the top is lightly golden.
slices of cherry almond bread slathered with butter

If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below, leave a comment to tell us what you think, and tag me on Instagram @foodiecrush.

3.64 from 25 votes

Cherry Almond Bread Recipe

Dark sweet cherries are added to an almond-flavored batter for a light and tender cherry bread that's perfect for sharing with friends.
Print
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword cherry bread
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings 9 (makes one 9×5-inch loaf)
Calories 302kcal

Ingredients 

  • ¼ cup LAND O LAKES® Super Premium European Style unsalted butter , at room temperature
  • 4 ounces almond paste (not marzipan!)
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • ¾ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup milk
  • 1 cup fresh sweet cherries , pitted and sliced or quartered*

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350ºF. Spray a 9×5-inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
  • Make the batter. In a mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter and the almond paste until well blended. Add the sugar and mix well. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until incorporated. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and add to the sugar mixture alternating with the milk. Gently fold in the cherries last.
  • Bake. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 55-60 minutes, or until the bread has pulled away from the sides of the pan and the top is golden brown.
  • Cool before turning out. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes

*If using frozen cherries: Thaw completely and drain excess liquid before using. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 302kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 57mg | Sodium: 153mg | Potassium: 175mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 249IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 67mg | Iron: 2mg
slices of cherry bread on counter
loaf of cherry bread on wire rack

More Fresh Cherry Dessert Recipes

More Quick Breads to Make This Summer

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This post is sponsored by Land O Lakes®. As always, thank you for reading and for supporting companies I partner with, which allows me to create more unique content and recipes for you. All opinions are always my own.  

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  1. Crickety

    1 star
    I struggled with this one. It was not very sweet (and I don’t care for very sweet things) and so dry and crusty, even after shielding the top to try to get the inside cooked. I can’t understand how these ingredients can come out tasteless, but they sure did unfortunately.

    Reply

  2. Patricia Phillips

    3 stars
    I followed the recipe. the instructions and resulting texture were more cakelike than quick bread. next time I’ll mix the milk in with the egg, and stir the dry ingredients in. just until mixed, more consistency with a muffin or quick bread.

    Reply

  7. Bernadette

    I have all the ingredients to make this right now–except the almond paste. I have almond flour though. Is there a way to substitute that?

    Reply

  9. Amanda

    Wow this look absolutely delicious and healthy! I will definitely give this one a try this weekend. I’m having some friends over for dinner, and I was thinking of preparing your recipe for dessert. Thanks for the inspiration :-)!

    Reply

  12. Amy @ Amy's Healthy Baking

    I love all of your tips for sharing! Especially how you already have certain families or houses in mind depending on what recipes you’ve made. I did the same thing too! Certain neighbors only had two in their household (and hated chocolate — can you imagine??), others had a few kids, and yet another house always had plenty of friends over and could make multiple batches of cookies disappear in minutes. ;) I definitely don’t blame your daughter for claiming half of this loaf all to herself — it looks amazing!! The butter must’ve given it the perfect texture, and I can just imagine how lovely it’d taste melted into all of the nooks and crannies of a warm slice… Yum!

    Reply

  15. Deb @ Wilde Orchard

    I love this recipe from beginning to end. But good lord did that multi-cherry pitter catch my eye!!!! One of those in the kitchen and no cherries would be safe. I imagine that you had a lot of fun making this cake and even more eating it. Gorgeous recipe.

    Reply

      • StevieGirl

        It seems rather rude to arbitrarily and capriciously reply to some comments or questions, but only the ones you wish to, while others you ignore. The commenter above asked you a reasonable Q: where can he or she buy the cherry-pitter shown? and because it didn’t suit you to answer it, you just blew them off. Just on GPs I would’t use your recipe after that. It seems you dumped too many needless calories into it anyway. I would have liked to know your answer to the person’s Q myself, but I have awesome search engine “foo”, so if it exists, I will find it myself.

        Reply

  22. Kim Beaulieu

    Oh my goodness, I am in love with this recipe. Cherry and almond are a match made in heaven. I can just imagine how flavourful this bread is. Gorgeous photos too. I wish I had a batch of this ready to smear some butter on first thing in the morning. Yum.

    Reply

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