One of our favorite holiday recipes is this orange cranberry nut bread. This holiday season, stock up on fresh cranberries so you can enjoy year round!
I love cranberries. I love their bold bright color. I love their sweet tartness. And I love how versatile they are – from baked goods to chutneys to savory sides – these plump little berries can be used in almost anything.
Along with my professed love for cranberries, I also love quick breads. And whenever I can combine two of my favorite snacks – I’m in my glory, which is how we came to today’s recipe for an Orange Cranberry Nut Bread.
With Thanksgiving fast approaching, I find myself scouring the market for bags of fresh cranberries. I have a slight obsession with them and if you stop by my home in November, you’ll find bags (upon bags) of Oceanspray berries hiding in my freezer. I stockpile them as soon as they show up on the shelves to ensure that I’ll always have cranberries on hand whenever I get a hankering for them.
ORANGE CRANBERRY NUT BREAD
Makes: 1 (one), 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf
Bake: 350°F for 50-60 minutes
Adapted from Joy of Baking
Bread Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup walnuts
- 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, coarsely chopped
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon orange zest (I use McCormick’s Dried Orange Peel Valencia – after all, this is a “quick” bread!)
- 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1 large egg, well beaten
- 3/4 cup Bolthouse Amazing Mango smoothie (you can substitute with OJ if you want, but a smoothie adds more depth to the bread)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Orange Glaze Ingredients:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon Bolthouse Amazing Mango smoothie
- 1/2 – 1 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon orange zest (McCormick’s Dried Orange Peel Valencia)
Directions:
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place rack in the center of the oven. Grease (or spray with a nonstick vegetable spray) a 9 x 5 x 3 inch (23 x 13 x 8 cm) loaf pan.
Step 2: Toast the pecans or walnuts for about 8 – 10 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Let cool and then chop coarsely.
Step 3: In a small bowl, combine the beaten egg with the orange juice and vanilla extract.
Step 4: In a large bowl, whisk the flour with the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and orange zest. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend it into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs.
Step 5: Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir in the chopped cranberries and nuts.
Step 6: Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 50 – 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.
Step 7: Mix together the glaze ingredients. Then remove the bread from the pan and drizzle the glaze on top. Let cool completely before slicing. This bread can be frozen, without the glaze.
Happy Cranberry Hoarding,
Denine
The original recipe can be found on Joy of Baking’s website.
Want more cranberry recipes?
After weeks of longing for time to make this, I finally did yesterday morning. There’s about a 1/4 of the loaf left…it is SO good! I will be making another loaf this weekend to stick in the freezer. Thanks for sharing!