Orange Cranberry Bread

This Orange Cranberry bread is one of our favorite snack breads to make in the winter. There is usually a stash of cranberries left in the freezer after the holidays that need to be used up. Don’t be tempted to reduce the amount of sugar, as it is needed to balance the tartness of the cranberries. Orange zest adds a lot of flavor, so don’t skip this step.

I’ve never tried making this Orange Cranberry bread with dried cranberries, but I imagine it will work. If using dried cranberries, I’d use less sugar since dried cranberries are usually very sweet, and would soak them in the orange juice to plump them up first.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp of baking soda
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• zest and juice of one orange
• 1/4 cup canola oil, or other flavorless oil*
• 1/2 buttermilk* (approximately)
• 1 egg
• 1 cup of fresh cranberries (frozen are fine – do not defrost), halved
• 1/2 – 1 cup walnuts or pecans**
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325F (165C).
2. Grease a 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan with butter or an oil spray. A 9 x 5 inch pan will work too, but the baking time will need to be less.
3. In a bowl combine flour, sugar, salt, baking soda.
4. In a measuring cup combine orange juice, oil, and enough buttermilk to equal 1 cup. Add the egg, orange zest, and vanilla.
5. Pour the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and thoroughly combine.
6. Fold in the cranberries and nuts.
7. Pour the batter in the loaf pan and bake for 65-75 minutes (or 60 minutes for a 9 x 6 loaf pan). Start checking the doneness about 10 minutes before the time, as all ovens vary. The bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
8. Cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling wrack.

Notes:

*Milk and butter can be used instead of buttermilk and oil. The original recipe I used calls for milk and butter. Both versions are good, but I prefer making this bread with buttermilk and oil.

** I like to lightly toast the nuts for one minute in the microwave before adding to the batter.