Baking: Cranberry Bread!

Ever since last year around Christmas/December, I’ve been on the lookout for fresh cranberries. Its great to make cranberry sauce if I had to make a turkey for the holidays. For baking, fresh cranberries may be more sour than dried ones but its so much more moist or just better texture when using fresh stuff. That is why I bought three pouches of cranberries so after having a dessert that I did for New Year’s Eve with my best friend (forgot to take pictures), I still have room for some more baking adventures. The first one that I chose is Cranberry Bread!

This is a variation of the Pumpkin Bread that I posted before HERE taken from Betty Crocker’s Christmas Cookbook.

Cranberry Bread

Makes 1 loaf of 9×5 inch pan

Ingredients:

1 2/3 cups sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk
*2 tsp grated orange peel
*2 tsp vanilla
*4 eggs
*3 cups all purpose or whole wheat flour
*2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
*1/2 cup coarsely chopped nuts
3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries (thawed and drained)
1. Move oven rack to low position so that top of pan will be in center of oven. Heat oven to 350F. Grease bottom of pan with shortening or cooking spray (I use oil).

2. In large bowl, stir sugar, oil, milk, vanilla and eggs until well mixed. Stir in remaining ingredients except nuts and cranberries. Stir in cranberries and nuts.

3. Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan or wire rack.

4. Loosen sides of loaves from pan; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely, about 2 hours, before slicing. Wrap tightly and store in room temperature up to 4 days or refrigerate up to 10 days.

Some modifications:

Didn’t have so omitted: baking soda, grated orange peel, vanilla.
Misread so didn’t add in chopped nuts.
Substitute almond milk instead of regular milk
Substitute flour with gluten-free flour
Used 3 eggs instead of 4

This cranberry bread was pretty good. It was moist and very fluffy. The cranberries are a little sour so I used vanilla yogourt with it and it actually turned out pretty good. A very simple recipe and easy to put together. Loved it!

How do you use fresh cranberries? Loved to hear your ideas. I need to use up 1.5 pouches of it 🙂