This is another of my mother’s great recipes, a moist bread so fresh-tasting with cranberries and orange flavor that you’ll find your day just won’t start quite right during cranberry season if you haven’t had a slice of this for breakfast. But it’s also good for snacks, and a fairly guilt-free snack at that: with only one egg and two pats of butter, it’s low-fat, but with flavor.
Although the recipe makes one loaf, why stop there? All the photos below show me making up two loaves.
To make two, I first mix up the dry ingredients for one batch in the food processor…
…then transfer it to a bowl and start the second batch.
I cut up, then. . .
…pulse in the butter, then follow the recipe as written.
When you finish with one batch, scrape out the bowl well, then pour in the reserved dry ingredients and start again. No need to wash up in between.
Cranberry Bread (makes 1 loaf)
Place in mixing bowl of food processor:
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 scant tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. soda
1 and 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 Tbls. zested orange peel, from 1 large orange
Mix briefly, then add:
2 Tbls. real butter.
Pulse a few times to chop up butter, then add:
1 beaten egg, mixed with 3/4 cup orange juice.
Mix just to moisten. Add:
1 and 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
3/4 cup chopped walnuts.
Pulse 2 or 3 times, stirring in between pulses with spatula, if necessary.
Spoon into greased, floured loaf pan and bake at 350°F for 60 minutes. Cool 15 minutes in pan before removing. Then it should pop right out. Slice, wrap up for the freezer, or to share with a friend, and enjoy!
I used freshly squeezed orange juice.
In front are the reject berries: soft, underripe, or nearly goners.
