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Put This on Your Plate and Pass It: Cranberry Bread!
There is nothing, NOTHING more beloved in our house than my mom's Cranberry Bread recipe. I was practically raised in a Massachusetts cranberry bog. Seriously, check out this google earth view of my neighborhood. See all the red? Yeah, that's cranberries. You can't read it in the photo, but the road to the right is called Cranview Road. So, cranberries? I know 'em and love 'em. And every fall my mom would stock up on the tart little berries and make loaves upon loaves of her cranberry bread, and we would wolf down every last crumb because it is the BEST bread in all the universe. And it has a surprising secret ingredient, which is fun all by itself.
Sadly, my fiance hated cranberries when we first met. Even worse, he thought he hated cranberry bread. This recipe is a lot of work so it seemed like a waste just to make it for myself, but nevertheless I couldn't live without it. So I made it, and fiance tried it, and then he promptly wolfed down two more slices. Now ten years later I bemoan that it is a lot of work and I hardly get to eat any of it! Anyway, it's a Thanksgiving tradition in our house, and it's the perfect hostess gift to bring along if someone else is doing the cooking. Here's the recipe:
Joan's Cranberry Bread
Recipe makes one loaf, but can be doubled to make two.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5x3 loaf pan. Measure all ingredients from flour to orange peel into a large bowl and mix. Cut in shortening. Add orange juice, stir until combined. (If batter is very dry at this point you may wish to add another small splash of orange juice.) Add egg and cheese, stir until combined. Stir in cranberries and nuts.
Pour into loaf pan, bake 60-70 minutes until knife inserted into center comes out clean. Invert pan and turn out loaf. Allow loaf to stand at room temperature at least overnight before serving to allow flavors to develop. Serve or freeze.
This loaf freezes exceedingly well, as do the cranberries. You can prepare and cut an entire bag of cranberries, then pop the extras into a baggie and freeze. Next time you make the bread, there is no need to defrost them, just dump them in frozen.
Enjoy!
There is nothing, NOTHING more beloved in our house than my mom's Cranberry Bread recipe. I was practically raised in a Massachusetts cranberry bog. Seriously, check out this google earth view of my neighborhood. See all the red? Yeah, that's cranberries. You can't read it in the photo, but the road to the right is called Cranview Road. So, cranberries? I know 'em and love 'em. And every fall my mom would stock up on the tart little berries and make loaves upon loaves of her cranberry bread, and we would wolf down every last crumb because it is the BEST bread in all the universe. And it has a surprising secret ingredient, which is fun all by itself.Sadly, my fiance hated cranberries when we first met. Even worse, he thought he hated cranberry bread. This recipe is a lot of work so it seemed like a waste just to make it for myself, but nevertheless I couldn't live without it. So I made it, and fiance tried it, and then he promptly wolfed down two more slices. Now ten years later I bemoan that it is a lot of work and I hardly get to eat any of it! Anyway, it's a Thanksgiving tradition in our house, and it's the perfect hostess gift to bring along if someone else is doing the cooking. Here's the recipe:
Joan's Cranberry Bread
Recipe makes one loaf, but can be doubled to make two.
- 2 C flour
- 1 C sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp grated orange peel
- 2 tsp shortening
- 3/4 C orange juice
- 1 1/2 C shredded mild cheddar cheese
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 C cranberries
- 1/2 C chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5x3 loaf pan. Measure all ingredients from flour to orange peel into a large bowl and mix. Cut in shortening. Add orange juice, stir until combined. (If batter is very dry at this point you may wish to add another small splash of orange juice.) Add egg and cheese, stir until combined. Stir in cranberries and nuts.
Pour into loaf pan, bake 60-70 minutes until knife inserted into center comes out clean. Invert pan and turn out loaf. Allow loaf to stand at room temperature at least overnight before serving to allow flavors to develop. Serve or freeze.
This loaf freezes exceedingly well, as do the cranberries. You can prepare and cut an entire bag of cranberries, then pop the extras into a baggie and freeze. Next time you make the bread, there is no need to defrost them, just dump them in frozen.
Enjoy!
