Full of fresh tangy cranberries, orange zest, and toasted nuts, Cranberry-Orange Bread create a beautiful festive looking bread. It’s perfect to serve during the holidays or to give as a gift.

Cranberry-Orange Nut Bread

Ingredients:

Batter:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

2/3 cup buttermilk, chilled

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1 tablespoon grated orange zest (about half of 1 orange)

1½ cups fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped

½ cup toasted walnuts or pecans, coarsely chopped

Tip: See Toasting Nuts and Seeds. Use a citrus zester and citrus juicer for fresh zest and freshly squeezed juice. Use standard measuring cups and spoons or scales for accurate measuring.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Prepare one 9x5x2¾ inch loaf pan; lightly grease the pan with shortening and dust with flour. Tip: to make baked bread easier to remove from pan, lightly grease the pan, line with parchment paper, and then lightly grease the top of the parchment paper and dust with flour.
   
   Batter:
2. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
   
   
3. In a large bowl, combine sugar, egg, buttermilk, melted butter, orange juice, and orange zest; whisk together until well blended. Add flour mixture; stir just until blended. Add cranberries and nuts; lightly stir to mix in.
   
   Bake:
4. Pour batter in the loaf pan. Bake 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove pan from oven and let cool about 15 minutes. Grabbing the top edges of the parchment paper, lift bread from loaf pans and place on a wire cooling rack to finish cooling. Remove parchment paper and discard.
   
   Makes 1 loaf
   
   TheBakingPan.com
   
   Recipe Adapted from The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook
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