When I make cranberry bread, I always chop the cranberries by hand whether they are fresh or frozen. I’ve never done anything special and have never had them sink to the bottom. Now I’m going to crave cranberry bread with cream cheese on it! :)

re baking time, adjust as needed…. cutting the berries takes a while.

You could try a mezzaluna or other bowl chopper for fresh. If you're chopping into less than 1/4” pieces, which is what I think of, they shouldn't be too heavy, and the cut shape gives more resistance than round, and as PM said, you could skip the flour. By the time you've chopped frozen, they should have had enough time out, air and friction not to be all that frozen anymore. You shouldn't need extra time. Since the flour coating comes out of the flour from the recipe, if you feel like flouring the chopped, perhaps to soak up the juice, there's no reason why you can't. Generally, I only dust before and while chopping if the fruit is really sticky, like dates. It's basically which is the least mess, most benefit. I'd think flouring frozen cranberries before chopping would be messy, but you might like it. Perhaps a couple tbsp flour in the food processor would make the frozen more even? I've never tried it. Please let us know how it goes.

A bowl chopper is a really interesting idea! I've chopped enough roly poly or slidey things that I could see owning one. I'll bet that would great for chopping nuts....

Indeed! But a spring chopper is even better for nuts. I think my father made my chopping bowl, but they're popular again, and Amazon, among others have a variety.

Indeed! It was actually a ”fail”. I have some gorgeous bowls he made, but I love my humble chopping bowl.

I chop fresh cranberries in the food processor. The trick is to only chop one layer at a time. It takes a little longer, but is still faster for me than chopping with a knife.

I too hate cutting up each berry so they don’t get too small or turn to mush. I have a great recipe for Orange Cranberry Bread from Oceanspray and would like an excuse to make it more often and so am reading with interest.

Cranberries chop easily by hand, I just line up a bunch at a time and start rocking a chef's knife through them. I've also used a food processor, doing about one layer at a time as Fun2BHere said, but then I have to clean the food processor, so I usually just use a knife instead. :-) If you're worried about their sinking (although this is one ingredient I've never had sink in a quick bread), stir some of the recipe's flour into them after chopping, but I wouldn't add that with the fp. ... Cranberry Fruit Nut Bread from Ocean Spray is a year-round favorite here! https://www.oceanspray.com/en/Recipes/By-Course/Breads-and-Muffins/Classic-Cranberry-Nut-Bread

When I use frozen cranberries, I rinse them in a colander and that thaws them enough to easily chop coarsely with a large chef's knife.

FWIW, I have several large chopping bowls I inherited. I don't use them for chopping any more, tho. I have the choppers for them too, and our family used them often when I was a kid - mostly for chopped liver, but also chopped salads. They look like this:

I also chop/halve mine by hand, and it goes pretty quickly.

This is one of my faves for cranberry bread.

Cook's Illustrated Cranberry Nut Bread

1/3 cup fresh orange juice
1 T. grated orange zest
2/3 cup buttermilk
6 T. butter, melted
1 large egg, beaten lightly
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. table salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 cups cranberries (about 6 ounces), chopped coarse
1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped coarse

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Grease bottom of 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Stir together orange juice, zest, buttermilk, butter, and egg in small bowl. Whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in large bowl. Stir liquid ingredients into dry with rubber spatula until just moistened. Gently stir in cranberries and pecans. Do not overmix.

3. Scrape batter into loaf pan and spread with rubber spatula into corners of pan. Bake 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees; continue to bake until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean, about 45 minutes longer. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool at least 1 hour before serving.

Hate those spring loaded choppers...I chop by hand with a chef's knife or in a bowl with a mezzaluna, of if I have a lot a few at a time in the processor....there is a fine line between a quick pulse and a too long buzz....but then there is the issue of washing the FP...so for half a cup or less it's by hand.

My beloved sping chopper fell and broke. The replacement will prove itself making the charoset soon...