Tangy Cranberry Orange Bread

I love fall!  There are so many unique flavors that you don't really capitalize on the rest of the year.  One of these flavors is the tart and tangy taste of cranberry.  Cranberries are a native North American fruit and are mostly grown in the New England states here in the U.S.  The fresh berries make their appearance in grocery stores in November and December only.

Did you know that you can freeze cranberries and enjoy them year-round?

I put the whole unopened bag in my upright freezer and use them whenever I have a craving for cranberry muffins, bread, or bread pudding or just plain old cranberry sauce!  I use them within a year so that I can refill my freezer when the fresh ones come back around.

Here's a terrific recipe for one of my favorite ways to use cranberries.  The mayo in this recipe may seem like a strange ingredient but it replaces oil or butter and makes the bread nice and moist.  You can use low-fat (light) mayo, but don't use the non-fat.

Cranberry Orange Bread
(click here to print recipe)

2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

2 eggs
3/4 cup orange juice (I like Florida's Natural--tastes like fresh-squeezed)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp. orange peel, grated or scant 1/4 tsp. orange oil (for more on orange oil, click here)

1 1/2 cups cranberries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup chopped pecans (or another nut you like)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In large bowl, combine the dry ingredients.  In another bowl, combine eggs, mayo, orange juice and orange zest.  Mix well.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.  Pour in the liquid ingredients along with the cranberries and nuts.  Stir until just moistened.  Batter will be thick.

Spoon into 1 large (9 1/2 x 5 1/4") or 2 smaller (7 1/2 x 4") greased loaf pans.  You can put a topping on the bread for a pretty presentation by combining an additional 2 T. sugar with 1/2 tsp. orange peel.  Sprinkle over top of loaf.

Tart and tangy cranberry bread



Bake for 1 hour for a large or 50 minutes for 2 smaller loaves.  Then cover loosely with foil and bake for an addtional 10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Note that if you use frozen berries, the loaves may take longer to bake.  Cool in pans for 15 minutes, then remove (run knife along edge of pan to loosen) and cool completely on a wire rack.  This can be tightly wrapped and frozen for later, if desired.