Mom’s Cranberry Walnut Bread

I don’t usually share family recipes on this blog.  But I wanted a way to hand them down to my kids and I plan on taking these treasured family recipes and making a book one day to give to each of them to have.

One of those recipes is my mom’s delicious Cranberry bread.  There isn’t a holiday that I can’t remember this bread being a staple on our dining room table.  I look so forward to the first bite into this bread filled with cranberries and walnuts with a slathering of butter on top!

It is a classic quick bread and very easy to make with Fall being the best time of year to make this it because the cranberries, oranges and walnuts are all in season.

I will forewarn you on two things.  The first is it can be a bit of a pain to cut the cranberries in half because they roll around on the counter.  You can certainly put them in a food processor if you don’t mind them not being uniformly cut in half.

You could use one of those Pampered Chef food chopper things – you know the one that you put the food under and then pound it over and over?

My method is just to get a very sharp small knife and cut one at a time.  It only calls for a cup so it doesn’t take THAT long.  But if I’m in a rush I will use the food processor, it does get a little noisy though.

Once you’ve got all your cranberries set aside start sifting the dry ingredients in a large bowl

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and very gently fold it all together.  This will take some muscle and I have broken a wooden spoon or two doing this.  But the key is to not overmix!

Bake it in the oven for approx. 55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean,

I think what I like the most about this bread is it isn’t doughy or soft, it has a different texture all together.  It’s firm, yet soft, fresh and all the ingredients are so flavorful on the tongue.

There’s nothing I don’t like about this bread.  I hope you enjoy one of our treasured family recipes.

Mom’s Cranberry Walnut Bread

• Author: Debi

Ingredients

DRY INGREDIENTS:

• 2 Cups White Whole Wheat Flour (I use Bob Mils)
• 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
• 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 Cup Organic Cane Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Sea Salt

WET INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Organic Large Egg
• 1/2 Cup Organic Orange Juice
• Grated Orange Zest
• 2 Tbsp Organic Butter, melted

OTHER INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Cup Fresh Cranberries, cut in half or chopped in food processor
• 1/2 Cup Walnuts, chopped

Instructions

1. Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350° F.
2. Spray a loaf pan with non cooking spray (and/or line it with parchment paper)
3. Sift the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.  Add the cranberries and stir.
4. In another bowl, beat the egg and add the remaining wet ingredients.
5. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix using a strong rubber spatula or wooden spoon.  Be careful not to overmix.  Gently stir in the walnuts.
6. Scrape the batter into the loaf pan with the spatula and even out.
7. Bake for 50-55 min, check for doneness by inserting a knife into the center of the bread.
8. Allow to cool and cut into even slices.  This can be served as is or with cream cheese or butter.